World's highest-paid supermodel bets against U.S. dollar

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Last month, NYU finance expert Nouriel Roubini cautioned that the United States could be in serious financial trouble and that a financial meltdown is not inconceivable. Veteran investor Jim Rogers recently sold out of his dollar investments and declared, "The US economy is undoubtedly in recession.... Many parts of industry are actually in a state worse than recession. If it were not for [Federal Reserve Chairman Ben] Bernanke putting huge amounts of money into the market, the stock market would probably be down much more than it is." And now, the world's highest paid supermodel, Brazil's Gisele Bündchen, is refusing to be paid in U.S. dollars.

According to the BBC, Gisele demanded that Proctor & Gamble pay her in euros to represent the company's Pantene products in their recent deal, and Dolce & Gabbana acceded to the same terms in their efforts to get the supermodel to promote the company's "The One" fragrance. Her sister and manager explained, "Contracts starting now are more attractive in euros because we don't know what will happen to the dollar."

The Bündchen sisters are making a smart move. Late last month, both the euro and the pound rose to new highs against the dollar, and there's little confidence in the markets that the trend will reverse any time soon. Moreover, with $33 million earned during the past year, Gisele's certainly been making some good financial decisions. We'll have to wait and see whether her gloomy outlook for the dollar is justified—and if certain other parties start to follow her lead.