'Franc Fort' reminds me of the misadventures of Bush Sec Treas. Paul O'Neil. He apparently had not grasped what Junker indescretely made clear later in his famous dictum and let go with an unfortunate burst of candor:

``When I was Secretary of the Treasury I was not supposed to say anything but `strong dollar, strong dollar,''' O'Neill said today. ``I argued then and would argue now that the idea of a strong dollar policy is a vacuous notion.''

The U.S. currency today fell to a record low against the euro, and has declined 15 percent against its European counterpart in the past year.

``The markets actually have control over those relationships. When people say strong dollar, if they don't mean that `we believe intervention can work and we're prepared to intervene,' then `strong dollar' is ridiculous.''

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."