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  • Showing only topics in ~finance with the tag "european union". Back to normal view / Search all groups
    1. Should I boost my monthly ETF investments? (Europe/Germany)

      I know most here are US-based, but I thought I'd give this a shot. I've been running a pretty straightforward ETF portfolio through Ergo in Germany for a while now. Here's my current breakdown:...

      I know most here are US-based, but I thought I'd give this a shot.

      I've been running a pretty straightforward ETF portfolio through Ergo in Germany for a while now. Here's my current breakdown:

      • 25% in iShares MSCI EM IMI ESG Screen UCITS ETF
      • 25% in iShares MSCI Europe ESG Enhanced UCITS ETF
      • 50% in iShares MSCI World SRI UCITS ETF EUR

      I've recently freed up an extra €500 monthly that I'm looking to invest and am wondering if it would make sense to just bump up my monthly contribution from €1,000 to €1,500 while keeping the same allocation percentages, or should I consider doing something different with this extra cash?

      For context, I've got my emergency fund covered (one year's expenses) and no debt to worry about.

      I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

      19 votes
    2. Euro reaches parity with dollar

      I didn't find any great links so made this a self post. Here are some just from Google but they mainly just say what's on the tin:...

      I didn't find any great links so made this a self post. Here are some just from Google but they mainly just say what's on the tin:

      https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-11/euro-plunges-to-fresh-two-decade-low-as-dollar-runs-rampant

      https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/11/investing/euro-dollar-parity/index.html

      https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/safe-haven-dollar-stands-tall-inflation-energy-jitters-2022-07-11/

      As of 5:00 pm Eastern on July 11th 2022, if you check the exchange rate, the dollar is now 1:1 with the Euro.


      In terms of effects, it seems complicated. Europe has a decently export heavy economy, unlike the US (for which only 10% of its GDP comes from manufacturing), so a weak Euro will help that.

      However, it will make all imports more expensive. This is another supply shock, as most of continental Europe already faces heavy issues with regards to energy given the sanctions on Russia, one of the primary energy providers.

      So it will certainly make domestic inflation worse (note: domestic inflation and the value of the currency on FX are different things - although they can mutually affect each other). If nothing else, the LNG Europe is buying from the US will be more expensive. The ECB has struggled to raise interest rates to fight inflation given Spain and Italy's high debt levels, and this won't help.

      Winter could potentially be very, very bad.

      For the US, a strong dollar is probably fine. The US is not a heavy export country, and the dollar surge helps cement reserve currency status from which the US gets a number of benefits. A slowdown in exports will also help tamper inflation.

      The pound for the most part has tracked with the Euro, brexit or not.

      17 votes