donwauchope

Where is the best place to pick the spot rate?
I look at oanda.com but am never sure which rate the transfer agent will use.
Calling them every day for spot rates seems a waste of time!

Iain Mc

Most of the brokers have live exchange rate tables/charts. HiFX have a very good one, but note you'll have to subtract probably a cent/cent & a half off the inter-bank rates quoted to reflect what you might actually be offered*

Cheers, Iain

* depending on what you're moving, obviously; if you're exchanging a million squillion pounds your rate will be a lot closer to that figure.

steve666

About right, yesterday HiFX gave me an exchange quote of Can 2.14 when the mid rate was Can 2.27. I told her I wasn't going to buy as I was looking for at least 2.20, there was a pause then she came back and said ok we can do 2.20, so I bought.

Iain Mc

Always good to know how much people have wrung out of them, thanks!

ann m

That's a huge difference

May I ask what sum of money you were talking about, ie, a smallish amount like $20,000 or even several hundred thousand $$$ - oh, to have the million squillion pounds mentioned above - but that really is a vast difference in rates ...

steve666

Sorry Ann, I have a problem with numbers when I type fast She quoted $2.194, I got $2.200. that's 0.06 of a cent more. That was on £17,000, (spare cash I found in my wife's handbag). Not that much of a difference when you look at it in isolation, but as Iain said, depends on how much you're exchanging...
It gave me another $102, the price of a slap up meal for 2 when we arrive

But think house sale, £300,000 - that's $1,800 difference...

pennyhp

When were mid rates at $2.27 any time this week?????

and who with??

When the mid rate is $2.27 you should be getting around $2.23 to $2.25

We have got to change our money by tommorrow and are hoping for $2.20.

Penny

Danny B

$2.21 right now, it's dropping 1c every couple of days.

steve666

See mistake on other post above

pennyhp

Oh good. I would hate to think we'd missed out on a good rate.
We asked Moneycorp yesterday to buy for us if the rate hit $2.20 today.
We asked at the Nat West what their spot rate was while we were in the bank, and they would have given us $2.1909.
We went home sure that Moneycorp would have bought our currency as they claim always to beat the banks, but when my husband phoned and asked they offered him $2.18.
He mentioned their claim that thay always beat the banks and that our bank could have done better and he admitted that it had been at $2.20 earlier in the day, but that they hadn't bought our currency!!!

We have to change tommorrow come what may so I hope it does something overnight.

Penny

steve666

Given the trend of the last few days I would suspect you'll get 2.18 and a bit.

cneldred

Huge financial data out at 1.30pm UK time today. basically it is the US unemployment and wages data, the market will be very quiet in the morning and then very very busy in the afternoon.

ann m

I'll be watching !

Good busy - or bad busy ! For those at the UK end ?!

cneldred

afraid that depends on the numbers...to be good for GBP£ versus CAD$ we need to see bad numbers from the US. Which means the payroll data to be lower than the 100k expected, with unemployment rate higher than 4.5% or average hourly earnings to climb above the expected +0.3% month on month.

As expected though the markets are ghostly quiet at the moment, everyone sat tight waiting for 1.30pm.


Fingers crossed for you.

Iain Mc

Call me an economic ignoramus but doesn't good news from the US = more chance of a Fed rate cut = more chance of a positive differential vs UK interest rates = better exchange rate for those wanting to move £ to $?