freebo

freebo

Gold was £720/oz when the above was posted 3 months ago, now £780/oz. or in AUD $1250 vs $1300.

CNBC is not your friend...

bcworld

The Pound seems to be toying with a new 25 year low vs. AUD. Down to close to $1.624 today.

charlie brown

i think a new escape plan is needed by me and my crew,

wilf70

Freebo's and amazlu's comments are right on the ball.The behaviour of the £/aus$ rate is bizzare considering that the gov't is making the right sounding noises also the euro/£ rate and US dollar rates are steady---I think someone is speculating wildly.Any views??

freebo

10 days later, gold is now £850/oz or AUD $1,400/oz. The paper money I exchanged for gold (and I wish it had been more) has been protected from the fall in the £ and has even profited in the AUD, I'm still buying, gradually although at these prices I take a deep breath on every purchase.

CNBC is still the enemy...

MrCro

added good 2 cents back by end of day - all over shop at mo!!

bcworld

What a difference a few days make!

Risk aversion is back in fashion & as usual A$ is getting sold off.

$1.69....and A$ also down to US$0.84....sharp fall.

dave7370

Cobblers!

Changed at $1.64 yesterday! Arrrrggggghhhhh!!!!

xzibit

$1.71 at the moment.

Please keep going up and up and up.

bezzanbob

Imagine looking at house on RealEstate.com and being able to a very simple and quick half price conversion - a fair way to go yet but just 10 c really does make a difference.

Any idea where we're heading anybody?

Bermudashorts

I noticed that too, I need to change some money in the next couple of days.

Anybody know what might have caused the gains today? I don't think sterling is gaining against other currencies, so seems to be an AUD thing.

johnandjoanne

Found this link on Blomberg, fingers crossed the rates on the up

Dated 19.5.2010




http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=atDtGD7TRN3w

Australia’s currency slid to an eight-month low against the greenback as consumer confidence weakened the most in 19 months. The New Zealand dollar fell to a nine-month low as central bank Governor Alan Bollard said a gradual drop in the currency is desirable. The euro touched a four-year low after Germany banned naked short-selling on sovereign debt and some financial stocks.

“Greek debt concerns, the German ban and the very sick commodities prices and some very genuine concerns about China are all reasons to sell the Aussie,” said Robert Rennie, head of currency research at Westpac Banking Corp. in Sydney. “The consumer confidence survey also highlighted the risks that homebuyers are becoming concerned about the outlook for the Australian economy.”

Australia’s currency, known as the Aussie, weakened 2.7 percent to 84.11 U.S. cents at 12:53 p.m. in New York and touched 83.58 cents, the least since September, from 86.45 yesterday. The Aussie slid 3.6 percent to 76.85 yen.

New Zealand’s dollar, called the kiwi, fell 3.1 percent to 67.23 U.S. cents, from 69.41 cents. It touched 66.60 cents, the weakest since August. The kiwi declined 4 percent to 61.46 yen.

Carry Trades

The Aussie and kiwi briefly pared losses on speculation European leaders might announce steps to support its common currency. They resumed their fall amid concern European budget turmoil will encourage investors to reduce carry trades, in which they buy higher-yielding assets with amounts borrowed in nations with low borrowing costs, such as Japan.

Australian consumer confidence slumped in May after the central bank boosted borrowing costs two weeks ago for the sixth time since October and as concern about European debt triggered turmoil on financial markets.

The sentiment index decreased 7 percent to 108 points, according to a Westpac Banking Corp. and Melbourne Institute survey of 1,200 consumers conducted from May 10 to May 16 and released today in Sydney.


I other words, the weaker the AUs $ gets the more we get for the English pound.

MrCro

I've said it lots b4 on here it doesn't matter how crap the £ is as when the A$ sinks against the american $the pound goes up against the aussie.

In Oct 2008 when Lehman went bust the £ dropped from 2 US$ to worst low of 1.35 I think, Aussie dropped from near parity to about 68c I recall and meantime £ had gone from average A$ 2 upto over 2.60!!!

So a 31c drop in A$ vs US$ equaled a gain of 60c £ vs A$!

Aussie now dropped 10cents in last month or so against american and long may it continue!

It had to happen, big investors have been riding their luck based on higher interest rates in Oz but they know how volatile it is and drops harsh when it happens. There are people out there who stands to make hundreds of thousands and probably some big banks millions for the growth their aussie $ investment has made them and when it's time to sell and take profit BANG!

All good news for us holding £'s and wanting A$, just worries me that property bubble looking likely in Oz and they could well be 2 years behind the recession curve and get hit soon.

Which means although our £'s will buy more A$, the job prospects might not be too good and property investment will be risky!

freebo

Best advice I can offer is buy on the dips (in the AUD), I've been here 2 weeks and changed a little money before I left at $1.67, if I buy a little more now I'll be able to buy the new car in cash and pay the rental bond (when we find a decent house for $1,000 per week or less, not easy). I've just started work so should be living off my AUD salary soon.

After that I plan to change a bit more if/when it gets to 1.75,1.80 etc, doesn't matter that much how long it takes as I won't be buying property over here at this point, the market loooks very dodgy. I'm amazed how property obsessed they are here, then I remember the UK in 2000-2007, its just like that, everyone is into BTL, and when everyone is onto a "sure thing" the best thing to do is not join in.