In response, traders bought dollars and sold marks and yen.

Traders sold the United States currency to buy marks.

Those remarks were seen as a signal to buy marks.

And it was a week of struggle for the dollar as investors rushed to buy German marks.

"Every time the dollar goes up" against the mark, he said, "people jump right in and buy marks."

In any case, the Bank of England continued to sell pounds and buy marks.

Since investors seek the highest yields, many are expected to flee the dollar and buy German marks.

In this example, if a company committed to buy marks at a certain rate and the German currency later fell, the contract would lose value.

For American tourists, a cheaper dollar means that their dollars buy fewer German marks.

Thanks, ironically, to pressure from Washington to open their capital markets, the Japanese are now free to buy dollars or marks.