Re: Pound slumps again..
 

Mind going back to 70,s Germany had a reputation and still does for producing good quality products, UK stopped producing much and got the reputation of what it did produce being shoddy quality.

Re: Pound slumps again..
 

The £ to $ rate has crashed this year. In December we got $1.615 for a pound and that was just on a creditcard. Today it's about $1.54.

Re: Pound slumps again..
 

Is that not due to them avoiding the fiscal cliff for a while. UK will be quite happy at the moment for weaker pound euror dollar or whatever. Although isn,t this being discussed i.e. currency wars?

Re: Pound slumps again..
 

Yes, every country seems to want a low currency right now. From a selfish point of view I wouldlike to pound to be low. From friends in Spain I feel for them.

Re: Pound slumps again..
 

This report in the NY Times is very gloomy about the UK. Despite a low pound it has failed to become competitive, whereas other EU countries like Spain and Italy have.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/bu...business&_r=1&

Re: Pound slumps again..
 

I wonder if the marketing idiots who shipped production of HP sauce or Cadburys products abroad, are now regretting their decision? Or is it us who are idiots for continuing to buy products outsourced abroad?

Re: Pound slumps again..
 

This article does not add up, labour would only be a small part of the overall cost of catalytic converters. If the pound has lost a third of its value cheaper metal imports would more than compensate for higher labour costs.

Re: Pound slumps again..
 

Stevies links rarely do make sense, but best not upset the lad.

He's probably spent half the day googling away to find a one that fits his agenda. ;)

Re: Pound slumps again..
 

HP sauce production was shipped to Holland when Heinz bought it from Danone.

Now Heinz is soon to be owned by Warren Buffet - who knows where it will go then.

Re: Pound slumps again..
 

I think the bank of England by printing money so much money via quantitative easing is partly the cause of the pound falling, it is also creating higher inflation in the UK making imports more expensive but it will help businesses by making our exports to the EU and elsewhere cheaper for people to buy.

Spain no longer have the tools to devalue their currency....not good for their tourist industry or for the British buying Spanish property.

Re: Pound slumps again..
 

At least it was a proper newspaper unlike most of his links, corner.ru or something:rofl:

Re: Pound slumps again..
 

the major part of catalytic converter cost has to be the platinum that is integral within their construction.

platinum is not just any old "metal" it is defined as a rare metal and if you look at its price relationship to gold you will find it moves around like a faithful dog.
I used to work for a company that lost a packet by not watching their pricing -couldn't understand why our platinum product sales were so good, until they realised each one was at a loss.

that is why there have been so many CC's stolen from high up 4X4's in the UK, the market is there for them, although all platinum is id marked to enable tracing of the source, some scrappies aren't too scrupulous.

`

Re: Pound slumps again..
 

Is not platinum also priced in $ so the exchange rate that matters is the £/$ for how the finished product is priced.

Re: Pound slumps again..
 

Either way the euro is strong so Spain would be at a disadvantage. Besides European car sales are plummeting, why would anyone want to produce in Europe for cars that are to be sold elsewhere?

Re: Pound slumps again..
 

First the new governor at the BoE tells us the UK is a crisis economy (along with other EU countries). Now the ratings agencies issue a downgrade... Not that the ratings agencies have a good track record, but it will encourage the speculators to try and extract their pound of flesh..
Looking very dodgy for the pound again.... :thumbdown:

but, there is a bright light on the horizon. Japan is going to inflate, and the US is already doing so. If their economies get motoring again, we may all feel the benefit..Let's hope so.