steviedeluxe

GeorgeOsbourneSterlingcollapse

Oh dear. There's an old expression "When there's nothing left to be said, some fool always says it" The shadow chancellor has gone on record saying that he fears a collapse in sterling because of the extra borrowing to boost the UK economy. Already there's been (right-wing) commentators on Sky News this morning stating that his rationale was correct, but making this public at this time was extremely foolish. If a further slump takes place next week el Gordo will be able to deflect some of the blame onto George "talking Britain down".

It's not much use in the short term to many on this forum, but the fall in the pound may actually give a boost to the UK economy (becomes an attractive place for foreign tourists and buyers). Plus, with interest rates at such a low point, there will come a point where (probably foreign) buyers will start venturing back into the uk housing market. My gut feeling is that we have 6-9 months more descent in the UK economy (and a falling pound to boot) before we see a sudden reversal in many sectors. And so the madness will continue. Fasten your seat belts.

bigglesworth

Not sure the boy George can take responsibility for anything.
But when the Prime Minister himself is talking sterling down as hard as he can, and the Governor of the Bank of England is doing the same (anyone still believe it is 'independent'?) tere is only one way to go. Sure the decline is sterling will boost our ability to export and perhaps curb our enthusiasm for those nice teak patio seats.. But with Government total debt at close to 150 percent of total GDP, I wouldn't hold my breath looking for a fast recovery. There is no such thing as a free lunch and the UK has been stuffing its face since 2000. The bill is about to be presented. And don't rule out a request to the IMF for a bailout again - trouble is there is a long queue.
So expect lots of high flown rhetoric from Gordon the Moron, but remember he was the navigator on this Titanic of an economy of ours. And he thinks we should pursue exactly the same course again - borrow more at low interest rates. You ain't seen nothing yet!

poshnbucks

Gordy went to the cupboard to sell a little gold he had been keeping for a rainy day, now that it was almost at an all time high...............Then he remembered the cupboard was bare as he had sold the gold when it was at an all time low...This cost you Two Billion Pounds.The Times reports below, Do you remember...... Hes good, Glad you voted him in now, He was told time and time again not to sell but he did.



http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle1655001.ece

DENISE WALTERS

I am now in panick mode suppose to complete on property soon £ lowest ever what to do???????
Could place property out of my budget unless seller lowers price which seems so unfair to seller also
BAD times folks never know this situation before ever

coralsoft

Movements in exchange rates cost us about £40k when we were finally able to transfer funds from the sale of our UK house to buy the house we'd already committed to. Fixing an advance rate would have been nice if we'd been able to do it but then knowing our luck it would have moved the other way.

It's also been killing us over the past year, since I'm paid in Sterling by my client. Despite a rate rise, we are living on less than we were getting 2.5 years ago.

And on Monday the client announced, like a lot of other financial institutions have recently, that rates for contractors and consultants would be cut by 10%. It doesn't pay to be nice in this climate and the eejits seem oblivious of the fact that though people are unlikely to move on in this poor market, they're not exactly going to be inspired to keep their workrate from dropping by more than 10%.

I've already warned my management that my work on a key initiative is likely to be disrupted by having to spend time distracted by figuring how to pinch more pennies beyond cuts we've already made.

shirley and anthony hide

You can buy your currency in advance . fx comps should be able to quote you a rate for delivery 1 year forward and maybe beyond. you pay a perentage upfront with balance on delivery.If you are buying euro forward ag Gbp you would usually have to pay a premium because gbp interest rates have always been above euro rates. Not the case anymore Basically at par wiv each other so in theory should not pay a premium as the premium is only a calculation of fx "pips" derived from interest rate differential over that period.calcualtion is relatively simple and i would calculate it first before going on to buy or sell forward so the fx guy knows you know the score and don't try to pull a fast one.

steviedeluxe

You can bet that that financial institution won't be reducing its prices by 10%. In fact a lot of credit card issuers are currently increasing their monthly fees.

03630

Assuming you contracted in Euros you are stuck with it. There is a possibility that the seller will agree to a lower price rather than lose the sale particularly if the seller wants sterling. You can but ask. If you cannot afford the property you cannot afford it.

Fred James

Although the UK government doesn't like it, I can see why the banks are doing this.

The interest rate on credit cards has always been way above the banks normal lending rates. The reason for this is that the higher rate has to cover the very high level of debt defaulters who just run up a huge bill and declare bankruptcy.

Looking at the current situation, this can only get worse and the banks have to increase the rate to cover the expected increased losses. It is the same with unauthorised overdraft charges - the banks are now under pressure to reduce the penalties but the people who do not abuse the system end up paying higher charges to cover the idiots who abuse the system.

If you are lucky enough to have a high, reasonably secure income, then the premium credit/charge cards do not charge anything like the rates charged on the "normal" credit cards. I pay less than 11% for my credit with Natwest if I use any credit on my card. This will be reduced by 1.5% next month in line with the BOE interest rate reduction.

betris

If you have a reasonably secure high income then you shouldnt have to use any cedit cards in the first place.

shirley and anthony hide

Well if you have a reasonably high income then you should definitely use credit cards as you get up to 6 weeks free credit and if you pay the balance in time it cost you nothing ,and some cards even give you "cashback" ie they pay you a small percentage of what you spend.You just have to ensure you have the funds to pay
The problem is that banks have doled out credit cards left right and centre to gain market share .A lot of these have gone to people who think if they pay by card its not real money and hope there lotto ticket will cover everything whne they get the six numbers up.Its the same with mortgages. There were just too many Banks etc in UK market chasing market share which meant they lowered their lending criteria to gain it.So we have the joke last year of people being offered 110 percent and more mortgages. Pure madness!!

betris

I agree with you.so as long as you pay it in time.so the rates are nothing to worry about because your using not borrowing.my point was more or less.if you have a high regular income then if you have nothing put asside and you have to borrow.baring for the unforseen then your spending too mutch.

olivia

I have had £200 off mty easyjet flights in one year and not paid any credit charges on my Easyjet credit card. Its Great.

GCM

Pound comeback?

Is there hope for many of us on this forum who need to transfer pounds over to fund our living in the sun?

I see the pound is climbing nicely (again) today - I just can't find a reason on the financial websites - maybe it has just been beaten down too much?

Now when do I do my next transfer, that's the big question.

Mark

bigglesworth

Short term it could go anywhere, but isn't the ECB is about to make a cut in interest rates? If they do, then you might see a gain for sterling.
The real risk is of course that Government finances are now so blown that international investors continue to shun the pound, indeed they could even dump it.
Longer term, the last year's run on the pound makes exports more viable and imports more expensive, so, provided the Government cuts its spending like the rest of us (a big "if", I grant you), sterling could retrace some of its losses in a year or two. Although it will take at least ten years to undo all the damage of the last ten.