Currency
Feb 21st 2013, 2:53 am
#106
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Re: Currency
True, very true, I did, but I did live in Oz for a total of nine years, and have only lived in NZ for just over six years. (Mind you, I didn't make the same mistake again - got my citizenship 5 years and three weeks into the stay, this time! Ceremony was on ANZAC Day, last year, with Madam Mayor, and no nonsense about singing an anthem, either!)
Sorry - totally OT here - I just had to dive outside as my house was being buzzed by a biplane and a single wing prop job with RAF markings!!!! They were flying rings about my house, less than 200 feet up, for at least ten minutes, before heading off to play elsewhere! No idea why, except that Mrs DUP was strolling around outside... but they were beautiful against a crystal clear blue sky. (Temperature outside is presently 31.5C. according to my little weather station readout.)
Where was I? Sorry - sitting here with a silly grin on my face....
Bullion - I think of it like "Old School" money. Currency used to be backed by gold, when it was called "The Gold Standard". Gordon Brown, of course, made a mess of things when he sold off half of the UK physical gold reserves at bargain basement prices, while he was CotE...! Google "Gordon Brown sells UK gold". It's heartbreaking.
In fact, the coins I have bought ARE currency - they have a face value of $5 Canadian, but as they are a PM (Precious Metal) they are worth the value of the silver they contain, as bullion, rather than just the face value.
So, yeah, it's money, like any other currency. The most important thing is to have it in your physical possession, like cash. Of course, you can't "spend" it like "cash", you have to convert it first, unless you are dealing with like-minded individuals who would love to get their hands on some "real value" money. But here's the best bit - the price of PM bullion - gold, silver, platinum, etc - have nothing to do with currency fluctuations. The value is independent of currencies (any of them) as they are worth what the market will pay, and the market is paying handsomely.
As I said in an earlier post, this is not a get rich quick scheme. You have to buy and sit on the bullion for a reasonable period of time before you'll see a profit, but that's what buying bullion is all about - at least maintaining the value of your property, while currencies take a dive into the toilet.
I remember one story of a Chinese family (way back when) who managed to get their family fortune out of China before the Communists took over. They brought out their kitchen implements - spoons, ladels, and all that, beaten, battered and blackened by fire.... only to melt them down when they got to freedom. See, all of those implements were made of pure platinum!! They walked them through customs because they looked like junk.
And that's what bullion is - it's insurance. No matter what happens to your currency, you have something of value. You can start again.
Don't be frightened of bullion - it could be your best friend.
Sorry - totally OT here - I just had to dive outside as my house was being buzzed by a biplane and a single wing prop job with RAF markings!!!! They were flying rings about my house, less than 200 feet up, for at least ten minutes, before heading off to play elsewhere! No idea why, except that Mrs DUP was strolling around outside... but they were beautiful against a crystal clear blue sky. (Temperature outside is presently 31.5C. according to my little weather station readout.)
Where was I? Sorry - sitting here with a silly grin on my face....
Bullion - I think of it like "Old School" money. Currency used to be backed by gold, when it was called "The Gold Standard". Gordon Brown, of course, made a mess of things when he sold off half of the UK physical gold reserves at bargain basement prices, while he was CotE...! Google "Gordon Brown sells UK gold". It's heartbreaking.
In fact, the coins I have bought ARE currency - they have a face value of $5 Canadian, but as they are a PM (Precious Metal) they are worth the value of the silver they contain, as bullion, rather than just the face value.
So, yeah, it's money, like any other currency. The most important thing is to have it in your physical possession, like cash. Of course, you can't "spend" it like "cash", you have to convert it first, unless you are dealing with like-minded individuals who would love to get their hands on some "real value" money. But here's the best bit - the price of PM bullion - gold, silver, platinum, etc - have nothing to do with currency fluctuations. The value is independent of currencies (any of them) as they are worth what the market will pay, and the market is paying handsomely.
As I said in an earlier post, this is not a get rich quick scheme. You have to buy and sit on the bullion for a reasonable period of time before you'll see a profit, but that's what buying bullion is all about - at least maintaining the value of your property, while currencies take a dive into the toilet.
I remember one story of a Chinese family (way back when) who managed to get their family fortune out of China before the Communists took over. They brought out their kitchen implements - spoons, ladels, and all that, beaten, battered and blackened by fire.... only to melt them down when they got to freedom. See, all of those implements were made of pure platinum!! They walked them through customs because they looked like junk.
And that's what bullion is - it's insurance. No matter what happens to your currency, you have something of value. You can start again.
Don't be frightened of bullion - it could be your best friend.
Feb 21st 2013, 2:55 am
#107
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Feb 21st 2013, 6:49 pm
#109
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Feb 21st 2013, 6:57 pm
#110
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Location: St Albans, Christchurch
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Re: Currency
So I've had a look and found a dealer in Chch selling silver maples. After being done over by Crown Currency exchange I'm a little weary of handing over $$$ on good faith, waiting for something to be delivered. Should Kiwibullion or any other similar company go under with your cash, I guess this will leave you shafted?
Feb 21st 2013, 7:16 pm
#111
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Re: Currency
These coins ARE bullion! Each is a 1 troy ounce of pure silver. Face value is $5 Canadian, but present bullion value is hovering anywhere from $40 each (if you buy in bulk) to $50 if you buy a single coin on TradeMe.
Sorry - I should have clarified.
Sorry - I should have clarified.
Feb 21st 2013, 7:29 pm
#112
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Re: Currency
So I've had a look and found a dealer in Chch selling silver maples. After being done over by Crown Currency exchange I'm a little weary of handing over $$$ on good faith, waiting for something to be delivered. Should Kiwibullion or any other similar company go under with your cash, I guess this will leave you shafted?
Like I said earlier, I've been using http://www.bulliondeals.co.nz/, and have had no problems (touch wood, coz I just placed another order!
) but like any company, I suppose that if they take your money and do a moonlight then yer stuffed! This lot are doing a special - if you buy 100 ounces (not just maples, but any silver,) you get free delivery, free insurance, and $150 off - so that's $1,013.32NZD for a 25 coin tube of Canadian Silver Maple Leafs, as of today - times 4 for 100 coins/ounces, and that's $4,053.28, less $150, and no charges for delivery / insurance, gives a total cost of $3,903.28, or $39 each. Individually, they're $43 each, and you have delivery and insurance costs on top. As usual, buying in bulk saves money.Other companies might have better deals. I don't know - I haven't looked.
As I've said all through this thread, Do Your Homework, make your own decisions, do whatever you decide, and good luck.
(I can also see rose gardens springing up all over NZ, as you guys start looking for safe locations for your stashes!
)
Feb 21st 2013, 7:38 pm
#113
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Location: St Albans, Christchurch
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Re: Currency
Well, as you're in ChCh, why not walk in, flexible friend / cash in hand, and walk out with them?
Been burnt before so will only contemplate immediate transactions. as the little guy is always at the back of the queue when firms go under.
Will start digging my end of the world bunker next week and hoarding dried food next
Feb 21st 2013, 7:41 pm
#114
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Re: Currency
Thsi is why I won't touch gold and silver futures - it's just paper. If the firm goes bust (i.e. the directors head for the Carribbean with your hard earned dosh) you have no comeback.
Feb 21st 2013, 10:41 pm
#115
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Re: Currency
Shiver me timbers - get your hands off me trezzure!
Feb 23rd 2013, 4:21 pm
#116
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Joined: Feb 2013
Location: Drury, Auckland
Posts: 91
Re: Currency
I too watch with dismay at the tumbling value of the GBP vs NZD. We are planning to return to NZ after 15 years away and are contemplating when to move money. It's a gamble at any stage, I realise, and no one can know with any degree of certainty what will happen. It would perhaps be wise therefore to look to long term trends, but with the NZD is in unchartered territory at present, it is hard to hold firm and wait for a return to a more usual rate. Without a degree in macro economics, I am relying on the opinions of others posted on the internet. Recently I found a currency trader who believes that NZD pairs are an opportunity, as he believes (and provides lots of complicated looking graphs to show) that while the GBP/NZD may drop as far as 1.7, it will return to 2.4 sometime in 2014. His name is Vladimir Ribakov and he states this in his weekly review of Feb 2013. He says that the UK is winning the undeclared currency wars, with the BOE's Governor talking down the UK economy hoping for an export led recovery. Recovery seems a long way off here in the UK (I have a business and it is really tough trading), but this guy seems to think that the NZD/GBP pair will return to long term trend levels because the NZD is overvalued, not because of any UK recovery. So I am crossing fingers, and toes!
Feb 23rd 2013, 6:25 pm
#117
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Re: Currency
I too watch with dismay at the tumbling value of the GBP vs NZD. We are planning to return to NZ after 15 years away and are contemplating when to move money. It's a gamble at any stage, I realise, and no one can know with any degree of certainty what will happen. It would perhaps be wise therefore to look to long term trends, but with the NZD is in unchartered territory at present, it is hard to hold firm and wait for a return to a more usual rate. Without a degree in macro economics, I am relying on the opinions of others posted on the internet. Recently I found a currency trader who believes that NZD pairs are an opportunity, as he believes (and provides lots of complicated looking graphs to show) that while the GBP/NZD may drop as far as 1.7, it will return to 2.4 sometime in 2014. His name is Vladimir Ribakov and he states this in his weekly review of Feb 2013. He says that the UK is winning the undeclared currency wars, with the BOE's Governor talking down the UK economy hoping for an export led recovery. Recovery seems a long way off here in the UK (I have a business and it is really tough trading), but this guy seems to think that the NZD/GBP pair will return to long term trend levels because the NZD is overvalued, not because of any UK recovery. So I am crossing fingers, and toes!
Feb 23rd 2013, 7:16 pm
#118
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Posts: 91
Re: Currency
Sorry - I am not an expert either! Pair means NZD/GBP or NZD/USD or NZD/EUR. If you google him, he does a youtube discussion with graphs etc. He invented some sort of software for currency trading. He is in London, not NZ from what I can gather. I found it pretty hard to follow tbh - in addition to the esoteric nature of the material his accent is also fairly strong!
Feb 23rd 2013, 7:18 pm
#119
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Re: Currency
OK, I'll stick my neck out here. I don't think the rate will go lower than $1.7 - £1. If I'm wrong, I humbly apologise, but I don't believe it will.
$2.4 to the £1 in 2014? - IMHO, I doubt it, though I'd love to be proven wrong. The rate is killing exports from NZ, and even though the UK has today lost it's 'AAA' rating, the feeling seems to be that this will revert in a couple of years time.
From my personal perspective, if it doesn't recover to at least $2 - £1, I'll not return to NZ, even though (for me) it is the best place in the world to live, and that will make me very unhappy!
$2.4 to the £1 in 2014? - IMHO, I doubt it, though I'd love to be proven wrong. The rate is killing exports from NZ, and even though the UK has today lost it's 'AAA' rating, the feeling seems to be that this will revert in a couple of years time.
From my personal perspective, if it doesn't recover to at least $2 - £1, I'll not return to NZ, even though (for me) it is the best place in the world to live, and that will make me very unhappy!
Feb 23rd 2013, 10:11 pm
#120
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Re: Currency
10 year history of GBP to NZD: I don't think a sudden reversion to 2.50 to 1.00 is likely in the foreseeable future. Especially not by 2014.