Dollar hits 12-year low against yen Oil touches new high of $111 a barrel

"Whip out dollars at the French flea market now, and they'll shoo you away," he said at his store near apartment buildings where Europeans are snapping up units because they've become dirt cheap. "Before it was like the second coming of Christ, but now they don't want it or if they do take dollars, they're going to take their pound of flesh."

The dollar has steadily eroded in value against the euro and other currencies since 2002 as U.S. budget and trade deficits ballooned, but fears of an American recession and credit crisis have sent the dollar to stunning lows amid predictions the slump will continue for a long time.

The dollar fell to a 12-year low against the Japanese yen Thursday, dropping below 100 yen to the dollar for the first time since November 1995. The euro rose to all time high and is currently trading above $1.55. Meanwhile gold hit a new benchmark today at $1,000 an ounce. That's a jump of nearly 20 percent just since Jan. 1.