Venezuelan Bolivar Demand Plummets As Bond Demand Soars.

BLOOMBERG/
Venezuela’s "strong bolivar" weakened in the unregulated parallel market after President Hugo Chavez said demand for a government dollar bond sale in the local market was MORE than SIX TIMES the $3 billion offered.
The bolivar fell 1.9 percent to 5.66 per dollar, according to traders. Chavez said that the government received orders worth $19.5 billion from investors, who buy the bonds with bolivars and re-sell them in international markets to circumvent currency controls and obtain dollars. The amount of bids sparked concern that investors who are shut out of the offering may turn to the parallel market to buy dollars.

Caracas Is World's 15Th Most Expensive City.

LAHT.
Caracas is more expensive than London in a new survey.
While London slipped out of the world's top 10 most expensive cities for the first time since 2001 -- sliding to 16th place from third--Caracas surged from 89th to the 15th most expensive city in the world.
Mercer's Cost of Living Survey reports that the strong US dollar and a Venezuelan bolivar that is fixed to it, made Caracas more expensive than London.