ex_exile

Oh yeah! AUD is at 98.3 cents and Dow is down 198 points on open, Fannie and Freddie have had to be rescued by the fed and shirts are being lost all over the place. This could be the day the Aussie goes 1-1 with the mighty US Dollar.

http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=FOREX_AUDUSD&v=w

torcraw

Dude, the AUD rising further (and the equity markets falling) is not good for those of us here on this board who will be migrating to Australia in coming months and will need to cash out and then convert our money. The CAD and GBP has been following the USD down relative to the AUD. We're hoping things start going back into the other direction.

ex_exile

I apreciate that its not good if you are cashing out but the AUD has been heading up against the GBP and USD for at least 5 years, its just we maybe reaching a milestone today.

Centurion

Indeed sadly true, however its very good for those of us who live in Australia.

jad n rich

On the fannie and freddie score, sky news reporting if aussie banks go the same way there wont be a bail out, sharholders and investors will wear the losses.

Now being sky news I am not sure exactly how reliable this info is, but my latte curdled all the same

Australia_bound?

If prices are rising in Australia how is it any good to them unless they go overseas ???

bcworld

Well for a start oil is traded in USD. So at today's oil price of around USD135 that would equate to AUD135. However rewind 5 years or so when the A$ was as low as US$0.48 - a barrel of oil would cost A$281! Think of the flow on effect to petrol prices and everything else in the economy.

torcraw

One of the reasons oil is so high (although by no means the only one) is because the USD is at its current lows.... because oil is always priced in USD as the international standard, all other things being equal, the quoted oil barrel price has to go higher than it otherwise would to ensure it's still the same cost in other major currencies.

ex_exile

Yep if you can find an Oil/ Euro chart, which isnt easy, you can see that oil has remained relativly stable

Amazulu

I was in California recently and having AUD (or GBP or Euros for that matter) to spend is fantastic. Everything is cheaper over there - and I mean everything. I went to a massive outlet shopping centre at Vacaville near Sacramento and I reckon 75% of the people shopping there were European. Same in downtown SF - all I could hear was Swedish, German, French, Pommy accents. I think the only Yanks in the Apple store were the staff! With our $ being so strong, a lot of things are half the Aussie price - sometimes even less.

asprilla

Yet, I don't think that we are seeing the increased purchasing power of the AUD flow through to benefit consumers here. It seems to me that it is just as expensive as ever to buy imported goods.

Amazulu

Which is why I buy very little in Australia now. I think if more Aussies were more internet savvy, then a lot of local retailers would be going out of business. Aussies have been conditioned to accept high prices and being ripped off. Retailers know that and price accordingly.

bridie

Not all of us, my earnings are from the UK in ££s and they're dropping dramatically because of the rate.....!

What would happen if one of the banks folded here and you had a mortgage with them? Just wondering....

ex_exile

The debt / asset would be bought by another institution, you would be fine. The question is what would happen to any deposits you have in a failed bank.

Hutch

Deposits? What are they?