What's with the Baht? ???

[simoh1490]

4 hours ago, Berkshire said:

Perhaps the Chinese dumping some of their US treasuries contributed to the weakening of the USD....

 

[China's holdings of US government debt fell to a six-month low of $1.17 trillion in January, according to Treasury Department data published Thursday.]

 

http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/16/news/economy/china-treasury-holdings-fall-january/index.html

I doubt it, look at the numbers:

http://ticdata.treasury.gov/Publish/mfh.txt

[Berkshire]

51 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

I doubt it, look at the numbers:

http://ticdata.treasury.gov/Publish/mfh.txt

See your point...

[Banana7]

CAD continues to plunge 23.80 baht today in BKK.

[ExpatOilWorker]

11 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

I doubt it, look at the numbers:

http://ticdata.treasury.gov/Publish/mfh.txt

 

16 hours ago, Berkshire said:

Perhaps the Chinese dumping some of their US treasuries contributed to the weakening of the USD....

 

[China's holdings of US government debt fell to a six-month low of $1.17 trillion in January, according to Treasury Department data published Thursday.]

 

http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/16/news/economy/china-treasury-holdings-fall-january/index.html

Funny how it is a 6 month low, but a 12 month high.

[simoh1490]

25 minutes ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

 

Funny how it is a 6 month low, but a 12 month high.

And of course, if you were a journalist looking for a somewhat sensationalist headline you'd pick the low, after all, there's no story to be made out of business as usual.

[watgate]

I am wondering why the British pound is so strong. Yes it has fallen since the Brexit vote but it is still above 43 and not long ago it was over 50. What makes it so special compared to other countries?

[simoh1490]

1 minute ago, watgate said:

I am wondering why the British pound is so strong. Yes it has fallen since the Brexit vote but it is still above 43 and not long ago it was over 50. What makes it so special compared to other countries?

Um....from 50 to 43 means it's getting weaker, you're buying fewer Baht with the same Pound!

 

And since one Pound is worth about 1.40 US and one US is worth about 32.........you get the picture.

[watgate]

You missed the basis of my question. I realize the British pound has fallen but it is still substantially higher then most countries and Unions and what makes the British pound command a higher exchange rate then most other countries?

[simoh1490]

26 minutes ago, watgate said:

You missed the basis of my question. I realize the British pound has fallen but it is still substantially higher then most countries and Unions and what makes the British pound command a higher exchange rate then most other countries?

I missed nothing, you fail to appreciate the ratio of GBP to USD. Every currency has a (mostly) unique value, when you equalise those values you'll see that they come out broadly the same, ergo, 1 GBP = 1.4 USD, 1 GBP = 43 Baht, 1 USD = 32 Baht. The underlying worth of USD is based on the US economy and the Dollar Index, the underlying value of GBP is determined by the UK economy - think GDP, debt, budget surplus/deficit, unemployment, base rate etc.

[Brunolem]

20 hours ago, watgate said:

You missed the basis of my question. I realize the British pound has fallen but it is still substantially higher then most countries and Unions and what makes the British pound command a higher exchange rate then most other countries?

It depends on the purchasing power of each currency.

It is likely that one can buy more stuff with one pound than with one dollar, not to mention one yen or one rupiah.

Thus, obviously the exchange rate between currencies cannot be one for one...except maybe later when they will all reach their intrinsic value of zero.

At the time of creation, some countries prefer to start with a low value currency: yen, lira, rupiah and so on, while other prefer to start with high value currency: british pound or euro, whose value was determined by the pedantic eurocrats such as to be higher than the dollar.

With time, and erosion, currencies fluctuates, generally depreciating rather than appreciating, thanks to inflation.

When I was in high school in the 70s, a pound was worth 13,5 francs, or 2 euros in today's currency.

Today the pound is not far from one euro, and the latter has depreciated a lot against the baht, going from 52 to 37 in about 12 years.

And the trend is certainly not in favor of a reversal...more pain is coming for Americans and Europeans on fixed income...

 

[helloagain]

On 3/6/2018 at 6:57 AM, MaeJoMTB said:

 

Yeah, it's a funny old country,

UK was getting 50bht to the pound for ages, then Brexit dropped it to 42 a year or so back.

Funny thing is before Brexit I was getting 70 peso, and now the rate is 72 peso.

 

It's only the Thai Baht that is doing well in Asia.

If I were starting out here again, it would be in the Philippines.

At least they can speak english

[Percy P]

On 3/5/2018 at 4:41 PM, simoh1490 said:

Conspiracy theorists will tell you it's the Bangkok elite who are keeping THB strong for their own purposes. Sane people on the otherhand will point to extreme Dollar weakness and a Thai economy that is in far better shape than many of its western counterparts - low external debt, high foreign currency reserves, current account surplus, balance trade surplus etc etc. All of that makes the Baht a currency that is in demand from tourists who visit here in record numbers and from exports which are paid in foreign currency and ultimately used to buy THB, it's the supply and demand of THB that makes it so strong. BOT is not especially happy with THB being so strong and it has taken steps to weaken currency controls and this has been positive, not positive enough however to prevent Trump from labelling Thailand a currency manipulator but what can be done when everyone wants to buy the Baht.

Your 100% right. Its tourists who are flocking here. Theirs no manipulation of money, there is no need.

[CharlieH]

Inflammatory comment removed.

[Huayrat]

On 3/17/2018 at 12:54 PM, simoh1490 said:

Um....from 50 to 43 means it's getting weaker, you're buying fewer Baht with the same Pound!

 

And since one Pound is worth about 1.40 US and one US is worth about 32.........you get the picture.

You're way out.. No where near $1.40.. It is $1.31

[simoh1490]

1 hour ago, Huayrat said:

You're way out.. No where near $1.40.. It is $1.31

"On 3/17/2018 at 12:54 PM, simoh1490 said"

 

Presumably, you don't understand the difference between March and October either!

Edited October 17, 2018 by simoh1490

[Farang99]

15 hours ago, Huayrat said:

You're way out.. No where near $1.40.. It is $1.31

At 0800 today the baht stood at 42.66/£ . Don't care what it is against the $. That's enough to worry about!

[soalbundy]

 

At 0800 today the baht stood at 42.66/£ . Don't care what it is against the $. That's enough to worry about!

Take another look, 8:50 the baht went up again against Dollar Euro, and Pound and it went up a lot, crazy.

[metisdead]

An off topic post has been removed. This is not about real estate prices in Vancouver or Toronta, Canada. 

[Farang99]

22 hours ago, soalbundy said:

Take another look, 8:50 the baht went up again against Dollar Euro, and Pound and it went up a lot, crazy.

Now down to 41.63/£

 

[soalbundy]

31 minutes ago, Farang99 said:

Now down to 41.63/£

 

correction 40.75

[wordchild]

the pound is now (today) at its lowest level v Thai Baht since 1997; just prior to the Thai financial crash.

I doubt Thailand is heading for another crash, at least in the near term, but the pound weakness (against the Baht)  is starting to look somewhat overdone to me. 

Edited December 5, 2018 by wordchild

[Henryford]

I am holding off changing any Pounds until after the current Brexit chaos. Once we are back in the EUSSR it should improve.

[wordchild]

I dont have a particular  dog in this fight, not having significant investments in either currency these days ; but to my eyes the pound looks pretty good value now and the politics, as i read them , seem to be moving in the direction of a soft Brexit. The Thai economy, in my opinion, has some potential challenges ahead .

For the pound, I think that a bigger worry, for many investors (myself included) , is the prospect of Corbyn as Prime Minister. 

Edited December 5, 2018 by wordchild

[cliveshep]

The Government suffered 3 commons defeats yesterday, and got a slapping for not showing the full legal advice given to them, an action which means that those responsible will be investigated and could face actions.

 

Meanwhile the sheer pig-headedness and cowardice of Theresa May in the brexit "negotiations" - abject surrender really - plus the gobby remarks of Carnage Carney and Hammond the ham have assisted the exchange rate on it's downward spiral to 41.627 right now this morning.

 

All of this affects ME personally as my pension is close on 25% less than it once was so while I thought taking back sovereignty and getting out of the EU was best for Britain I never thought that there would be protracted divorce deal, rather stand in Brussels, say "I divorce you" three times and clear off and do our own thing. By now things would have been sorted and GB UK well on the way. Instead they've succeeded only in miring the entire system down in a bog of bovine excrement from which there seems little chance of escape.

 

So from a selfish point of view, abandoning Brexit which is within the Government's power without Parliamentary approval would be best for little old me as the rate would almost certainly go up. As for the fate of the UK - caveat emptor - you got what you wanted! And you Tory idiots will probably be out of work soon while a terrorist loving traitor become PM along with his clueless fat girlfriend as Home Secretary!

[SheungWan]

On 12/5/2018 at 11:32 AM, cliveshep said:

Meanwhile the sheer pig-headedness and cowardice of Theresa May in the brexit "negotiations" - abject surrender really - plus the gobby remarks of Carnage Carney and Hammond the ham have assisted the exchange rate on it's downward spiral to 41.627 right now this morning.

The biggest dynamic pushing GBPTHB down is the risk of a disorderly Hard Brexit.

[SheungWan]

On 12/5/2018 at 10:50 AM, wordchild said:

I dont have a particular  dog in this fight, not having significant investments in either currency these days ; but to my eyes the pound looks pretty good value now and the politics, as i read them , seem to be moving in the direction of a soft Brexit. The Thai economy, in my opinion, has some potential challenges ahead .

For the pound, I think that a bigger worry, for many investors (myself included) , is the prospect of Corbyn as Prime Minister. 

If you are anticipating a soft Brexit then Sterling has some significant upside potential, so maybe not such good value now. However, if you are projecting forwards to the risk of a Corbyn government and downwards projection to sterling, then time to sell sterling in the space inbetween the two events, assuming that space presents itself. An even more negative long-term projection for sterling might have you either selling or downsizing assets out of the UK and initiating now.

[Henryford]

On 12/7/2018 at 6:15 AM, SheungWan said:

The biggest dynamic pushing GBPTHB down is the risk of a disorderly Hard Brexit. 

Not sure it's just that. The Pound was in the low 40s in 2013 well before Brexit. Basically the general UK economy is rubbish. 2 Trillion debt, low interest rates, massive QE, massive fiscal deficit and balance of payments deficit. Compare that to Thailand.

[BritManToo]

On 12/7/2018 at 6:15 AM, SheungWan said:

The biggest dynamic pushing GBPTHB down is the risk of a disorderly Hard Brexit.

The biggest dynamic pushing the pound down is indecision.

[soalbundy]

9 minutes ago, Henryford said:

Not sure it's just that. The Pound was in the low 40s in 2013 well before Brexit. Basically the general UK economy is rubbish. 2 Trillion debt, low interest rates, massive QE, massive fiscal deficit and balance of payments deficit. Compare that to Thailand.

and they want their country back ? ? ?

[whiteman]

I feel sorry for all the older moaning poms over here that will now clog up the foot paths outside 7/11s with beer in hand after moving out of the bars. The pound is crashing