Easy Speculation

Psst... want to speculate against the dollar? It's easy -- even if the amateur lacks the cash or savvy to deal in the big-time foreign-exchange markets. For $26.75 almost anybody can buy a traveler's check denominated in German marks or Japanese yen; $32.95 gets one denominated in Swiss francs. The buyer can hold it as long as he likes and then cash it in at the exchange rate prevailing that day.

Most issuers of traveler's checks, including American Express, Thomas Cook and big banks, sell checks denominated in foreign currencies -- 15 to 20 of them in the case of Deak & Co., the big currency dealer. They are intended for tourists but can be bought by stay-at-homes too. Deak reports that its sales of foreign-currency traveler's checks have doubled in the past year and estimates that 25% of the purchases are pure speculation. Nor is it only a poor man's game. Executive Vice President Otto E. Roethenmund recalls one customer who bought between $50,000 and $100,000 worth of Swiss franc checks early in the summer -- candidly telling the staff that he had no intention of going to Switzerland. Says Roethenmund: "To my knowledge the gentleman still owns them, so he has an appreciation of 23%."

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