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Euro drops toward 17-month lows, dollar holds gains after Fed minutes

(Reuters) --The case in Europe is that for a while they've operated a bit in a welfare-state type mode, spending a lot of money, not really bringing in a lot of revenue, and it's finally biting them. Considering also the fact that everybody has had to spend more money on energy, the outlook is not good," said Juan Perez, senior director of trading at Monex USA in Washington. "The focus is on Europe, and it's a very, very negative one."