Help . . . Is The £ Going Into Free-fall?

[VegasVic]

The America Banks British Banks and the Iceland are falling, but the Thailand banks are the strongest may all who write good English put their last saving in

I would think anyone with some Thai Baht would be far better advised to be buying one of the cheap currencies ie Euro or Aus $

Lets see if I have this right, you are advising people to sell one of the worlds few strong currencies (albeit an artificially strong one) in order to buy the Euro or the aussie dollar which are falling like a rock? By any chance were you one of the ones buying Enron on the way down thinking that it can't fall too much further?

[torrenova]

The pound is at 50 bht today...

Thank god I am paid in US$.

Aussie $ is 20 bht today.

Thank buddah I am paid in Thai baht

[billd766]

I found this link on TV a little while ago though its works better during Monday to Friday when the baks are open.

http://bankexchangerates.daytodaydata.net/default.aspx

[tijnebijn]

I read something on the news that the gathering of the EU / Asian summit that they agreed

a proposal of sarkozy , who wants to have unanimous cooperation of all World leading countries

to regulate the financial system , change it or whatever .

Similar to the agreement made after World War 2 , which exchange rate modification was also made ,

what i understand is that they want to regulate in a matter the exchange rates , as it was in that time of crisis .

The Euro and pound lost more then 20% of its value and the Won 30% against the dollar .

Seems like they want to take a halt on the rapid downturn on this , and the 15th of November ( Usa summit ) the problem is probably on the table , or just after the date its on the table , from what I read on Bloomberg .

I just want to ask some of the more knowledgeable members than me on Thaivisa what they think it would mean

if they do something with the exchange rates as it was on the treaty back then , what will it mean for us expats ?

Guess at least it could bring a halt to the rapid downturn of all other major currencies to the dollar except one the other direction ( Yen ).

Didn't read this scenario yet on the forum .

[OriginalPoster]

Not long ago a small group of Brits were cheering and gloating the demise of the US Dollar. The more the Dollar dropped, the louder they cheered. It now appears the shoe is on the other foot. Not much fun is it?

The decline of the pound is different though, it's not just a matter of the shoe being on the other foot now. The reason that people were cheering and gloating over the demise of the US dollar was because Americans are horrible people and deserve whatever misfortune comes their way. If Americans are now gloating over these recent and unjustified deep declines in the pound, A$, and NZ$, that would be just plain crass and would be yet more proof that Americans are horrible people.

Edited October 25, 2008 by OriginalPoster

[Marvo]

Watch out for incoming....

[VegasVic]

Not long ago a small group of Brits were cheering and gloating the demise of the US Dollar. The more the Dollar dropped, the louder they cheered. It now appears the shoe is on the other foot. Not much fun is it?

The decline of the pound is different though, it's not just a matter of the shoe being on the other foot now. The reason that people were cheering and gloating over the demise of the US dollar was because Americans are horrible people and deserve whatever misfortune comes their way. If Americans are now gloating over these recent and unjustified deep declines in the pound, A$, and NZ$, that would be just plain crass and would be yet more proof that Americans are horrible people.

There are some really great Brit, Aussie and European expats out there who are getting hurt very severely with the downfall of their respective currency, on the other hand a narrow minded and hateful individual like yourself deserves everything that is comig your way and then some

[VegasVic]

I read something on the news that the gathering of the EU / Asian summit that they agreed

a proposal of sarkozy , who wants to have unanimous cooperation of all World leading countries

to regulate the financial system , change it or whatever .

Similar to the agreement made after World War 2 , which exchange rate modification was also made ,

what i understand is that they want to regulate in a matter the exchange rates , as it was in that time of crisis .

The Euro and pound lost more then 20% of its value and the Won 30% against the dollar .

Seems like they want to take a halt on the rapid downturn on this , and the 15th of November ( Usa summit ) the problem is probably on the table , or just after the date its on the table , from what I read on Bloomberg .

I just want to ask some of the more knowledgeable members than me on Thaivisa what they think it would mean

if they do something with the exchange rates as it was on the treaty back then , what will it mean for us expats ?

Guess at least it could bring a halt to the rapid downturn of all other major currencies to the dollar except one the other direction ( Yen ).

Didn't read this scenario yet on the forum .

Whatever comes out of Bretton Woods 2 (that is what it is being called) will not likely go into effect right away, and so I feel that the Pound, Euro ,Won and Aussie dollar will continue their slide for a while longer. Thats just my take looking back at history and seeing how slowly international bodies have actually enacted programs in the past. The truth is that nobody really knows just what will come out of Bretton Woods 2, but to expect this diverse group of world leaders to all get together and hold hands and sing kumbaya and enact immediate, comprehensive and binding world wide policy is a little naive! I think that this is a good step but it is just the begining, there will be major sticking points on trade policies and governmental subsidies to say the least.

[tijnebijn]

I read something on the news that the gathering of the EU / Asian summit that they agreed

a proposal of sarkozy , who wants to have unanimous cooperation of all World leading countries

to regulate the financial system , change it or whatever .

Similar to the agreement made after World War 2 , which exchange rate modification was also made ,

what i understand is that they want to regulate in a matter the exchange rates , as it was in that time of crisis .

The Euro and pound lost more then 20% of its value and the Won 30% against the dollar .

Seems like they want to take a halt on the rapid downturn on this , and the 15th of November ( Usa summit ) the problem is probably on the table , or just after the date its on the table , from what I read on Bloomberg .

I just want to ask some of the more knowledgeable members than me on Thaivisa what they think it would mean

if they do something with the exchange rates as it was on the treaty back then , what will it mean for us expats ?

Guess at least it could bring a halt to the rapid downturn of all other major currencies to the dollar except one the other direction ( Yen ).

Didn't read this scenario yet on the forum .

Whatever comes out of Bretton Woods 2 (that is what it is being called) will not likely go into effect right away, and so I feel that the Pound, Euro ,Won and Aussie dollar will continue their slide for a while longer. That's just my take looking back at history and seeing how slowly international bodies have actually enacted programs in the past. The truth is that nobody really knows just what will come out of Bretton Woods 2, but to expect this diverse group of world leaders to all get together and hold hands and sing kumbaya and enact immediate, comprehensive and binding world wide policy is a little naive! I think that this is a good step but it is just the beginning, there will be major sticking points on trade policies and governmental subsidies to say the least.

Thanks for your thoughts on that one .

Although I might be one of those naive ones , my feeling is that that little French guy Sarkozy can move

mountains , cause as head of the EU right now and the full backing of them , he's got a bigger voice to do so .

Surprised me as well that from the recent Asian talks they came very quickly to an agreement on some very important points .And only strong leadership can make that happen .

I think the world leaders understand there is no time to waist if they want to be able to halt the worst from the worst .

I will not be surprised it will be the opposite what ' normally ' will occur , interest and problems .

Even Bush will go along , he doesn't want to lose his face even more , hes got to make something of his last chance .

Perhaps we got to be a little more positive on this thing , there is too much at stake for all countries .

Anyway I'm calculating , 1 Eur = 1 $ , just hope the greenback will appreciate to 40 to the baht in the meantime .

[colibra]

Don't worry the pound will rebound soon after gold crashes. $400 per oz before the end of the year. yes it would be good to buy some of those depressed currencies while the baht is strong as this condition will not last long. If the derivities bubble pops all bets are off. but I don't think this will happen.

[VegasVic]

Don't worry the pound will rebound soon after gold crashes. $400 per oz before the end of the year. yes it would be good to buy some of those depressed currencies while the baht is strong as this condition will not last long. If the derivities bubble pops all bets are off. but I don't think this will happen.

Thats really terrible to give people false hope like that! The Pound is currently the weakest link (yes even weaker than the Aussie dollar) in the major world currency chain and you have no idea how much longer the BOT will continue to prop up the baht! Also your premise is self contradictory as it presumes that the Dollar will fall along with gold, if the dollar falls gold will skyrocket. Back to the drawing room for you my friend, and think this thing through a little more

[flying]

The decline of the pound is different though, it's not just a matter of the shoe being on the other foot now. The reason that people were cheering and gloating over the demise of the US dollar was because Americans are horrible people and deserve whatever misfortune comes their way.

Whoa I cannot even believe you wrote that!

Please dont lump us all into one neat pile to hate.

Please do not confuse us with our government.

There are good & bad folks all over the world.

I do not know your nationality but I assure you I do not blame your

country for your post.

Have a nice day

[Naam]

Typical 1 million baht house today is worth £18,867 @ 53 baht/£1

1 million Baht "houses" do not exist

Last week you week right but next month most homes will be under 500,000 baht. I hope you understand and believe my writing.

Sell Sell Sell Sell Sell Sell Sell

and live on a boardwalk?

[lannarebirth]

Not long ago a small group of Brits were cheering and gloating the demise of the US Dollar. The more the Dollar dropped, the louder they cheered. It now appears the shoe is on the other foot. Not much fun is it?

The decline of the pound is different though, it's not just a matter of the shoe being on the other foot now. The reason that people were cheering and gloating over the demise of the US dollar was because Americans are horrible people and deserve whatever misfortune comes their way. If Americans are now gloating over these recent and unjustified deep declines in the pound, A$, and NZ$, that would be just plain crass and would be yet more proof that Americans are horrible people.

And they say we Americans can't do irony. Well, at least I got it.

[colibra]

Don't worry the pound will rebound soon after gold crashes. $400 per oz before the end of the year. yes it would be good to buy some of those depressed currencies while the baht is strong as this condition will not last long. If the derivities bubble pops all bets are off. but I don't think this will happen.

Thats really terrible to give people false hope like that! The Pound is currently the weakest link (yes even weaker than the Aussie dollar) in the major world currency chain and you have no idea how much longer the BOT will continue to prop up the baht! Also your premise is self contradictory as it presumes that the Dollar will fall along with gold, if the dollar falls gold will skyrocket. Back to the drawing room for you my friend, and think this thing through a little more

I think you miss understood what I was trying to say. It would be good to buy pounds now while there cheep and then when they rise you could sell them. It had nothing to do with the dollar.

[VegasVic]

Don't worry the pound will rebound soon after gold crashes. $400 per oz before the end of the year. yes it would be good to buy some of those depressed currencies while the baht is strong as this condition will not last long. If the derivities bubble pops all bets are off. but I don't think this will happen.

Thats really terrible to give people false hope like that! The Pound is currently the weakest link (yes even weaker than the Aussie dollar) in the major world currency chain and you have no idea how much longer the BOT will continue to prop up the baht! Also your premise is self contradictory as it presumes that the Dollar will fall along with gold, if the dollar falls gold will skyrocket. Back to the drawing room for you my friend, and think this thing through a little more

I think you miss understood what I was trying to say. It would be good to buy pounds now while there cheep and then when they rise you could sell them. It had nothing to do with the dollar.

O.K., I still think your premise is way off base though, you have to realize that the Pound@ $1.59 is not cheap right now, it is merely cheaper than it use to be! The Pound could very well drop to the $1.30- $1.35 area (or lower) vs. the Dollar over the next 6 months. The U.K. economy and the U.K. banks are in far worse shape than most E.U. countries and you have seen how the euro has depreciated as of late. If I knew someone who wanted to get out of baht, I certainly wouldn't encourage them to buy Pounds, they should perhaps buy Yen or Dollars or just stay put in baht since the BOT seems very stubborn about keeping the baht below 35/Dollar. Also the price of Oil and Gold and the value of major currencies around the globe most definately has something to do with the Dollar

[colibra]

I guess we will have to wait and see. if all this is due to the fleecing by the powers that be or simply just greed gone wild.

Yes dollar up and gold going down. Now that there are very cheap buys out there . they want a strong dollar. Perfect timing. There are a number of things that were manipulated to create this crisis. How many can you find. I'm sorry but this whole crisis was manipulated from the beginning. The fleecing is almost over for this round. The banking war is almost over so move along nothing to see here.

[chiang mai]

I guess we will have to wait and see. if all this is due to the fleecing by the powers that be or simply just greed gone wild.

they want a strong dollar. Perfect timing. There are a number of things that were manipulated to create this crisis. How many can you find. I'm sorry but this whole crisis was manipulated from the beginning. The fleecing is almost over for this round.

Life is just one big conspiracy theory, to some folks!

[Gary A]

I know nothing about investing. If I did know anything my nest egg would NOT have lost 60 percent. I also have no idea why the dollar is strengthening as it is. My logic tells me that a strong dollar is only good for expats and that the the country will suffer from it. Exports are more expensive and will not be competitive as well as the massive debt must now be paid with expensive dollars.

Sometime back I read an article that said the GBP was the most overvalued major currency in the world. Who knows?

[MJP]

Hi guys . . . .

we're about to sign the contract to start building our house

and I need to transfer 750.000 bht soonish (next 3 weeks)

Would you

transfer now

transfer later

mixture of the two?

Every time I check the rate it's dropped another few satngs.

Just my luck to be stuck in the UK in July when the rate was much better!

David

PS Can I go into my Thai bank with a charged up debit card and take the lot out in one go?

I use Foreign Currency Direct plc.

Have for the last 5 years. Never let me down.

http://www.currencies.co.uk/

[MJP]

Soon Thai's will be coming to Britain. But I doubt the prospect of seeing fat, balding 50 something's in G-strings swinging round gogo poles will do much for the UK's sex tourism industry.

[Naam]

I guess we will have to wait and see. if all this is due to the fleecing by the powers that be or simply just greed gone wild.

Yes dollar up and gold going down. Now that there are very cheap buys out there . they want a strong dollar. Perfect timing. There are a number of things that were manipulated to create this crisis. How many can you find. I'm sorry but this whole crisis was manipulated from the beginning. The fleecing is almost over for this round. The banking war is almost over so move along nothing to see here.

macro-economics was not your favourite subject, right?

[colibra]

Hey naam nice of you to drop in. Its just one perspective and all those guys with the phd's in economics. Well I'll just let the current situation speak for it self. So tell me you belief that there is no manipulation of the markets that were and are going on.

Edited October 26, 2008 by colibra

[colibra]

I guess we will have to wait and see. if all this is due to the fleecing by the powers that be or simply just greed gone wild.

they want a strong dollar. Perfect timing. There are a number of things that were manipulated to create this crisis. How many can you find. I'm sorry but this whole crisis was manipulated from the beginning. The fleecing is almost over for this round.

Life is just one big conspiracy theory, to some folks!

Yes, and.

What is it that you think is the cause of this financial situation is. Oh those bad greedy people look what they've gone and done. Bad, Bad

Edited October 26, 2008 by colibra

[Naam]

I know nothing about investing. If I did know anything my nest egg would NOT have lost 60 percent. I also have no idea why the dollar is strengthening as it is.

you are in good company Gary. it is a well known fact that most Joe Plumbers, Hank Carpenters, Bill Bluecollars and Buck Bubbas know nuttinmuch about investing/finances except the keywords "401k, IRA, DOWn, S&Poor and Mutch-you-all Funds". BUT as a consolation i might offer the insight that a huge number of "Haaahvaaahd graduates, MBAs, Ph.D.s, anal-lusters and the like lost MUCH MORE than you

[Bizz]

The spillover from lehmans is still there soon the British pound will join the €

Euro and British Pound Drop As Lehman CDS Deadline Increases Dollar Demand.

The Euro fell to its lowest level in nineteen months as the appetite for dollars was fueled by today’s deadline for settlement of Lehman Brothers CDS’s. Rumors are that banks and other sellers are hoarding cash to payout a estimated 91% loss on the investments. Meanwhile, France’s government announced the investment of 10.5 billion euros in the country’s largest banks including BNP Baribus SA, Societe Generale SA, and Agricole SA.

[Naam]

Hey naam nice of you to drop in. Its just one perspective and all those guys with the phd's in economics. Well I'll just let the current situation speak for it self. So tell me you belief that there is no manipulation of the markets that were and are going on.

Colibra, i don't deny but am convinced AND have proof that markets have been and are still manipulated on a daily basis. but that does not mean that i accept baseless statements like "they want a strong dollar" and that the prevailing crisis was created deliberately. i can't really think of any people who will gain from the crisis, especially if it spreads further and a real doomsday scenario (shutting down of transfers et al) surfaces. then the gold/platinum/silver/iridium/rhodium/palladium bugs who are owners of their precious metals by means of some paper, and me -the Triple A and cash bug- can wipe our @sses with the paper we have in our hands if we don't have the cash and the precious metals handy under the mattress or hidden in a cookie jar in the kitchen.

even those who sit (like me) on a rather comfortable cushion of cash, triple A government bonds and what not are quite concerned (see explanation above)! of course we are not afraid, especially not us brave Klingo warriors, but every time we change our underwear we check whether the egyptian triple combed cotton is still pure white or slightly brownish. did i make myself clear?

[Naam]

The spillover from lehmans is still there soon the British pound will join the €

Euro and British Pound Drop As Lehman CDS Deadline Increases Dollar Demand.

The Euro fell to its lowest level in nineteen months as the appetite for dollars was fueled by today’s deadline for settlement of Lehman Brothers CDS’s. Rumors are that banks and other sellers are hoarding cash to payout a estimated 91% loss on the investments. Meanwhile, France’s government announced the investment of 10.5 billion euros in the country’s largest banks including BNP Baribus SA, Societe Generale SA, and Agricole SA.

spelling in this report (Reuters? Bloomie?) = correction (i am a great nitpicker in the eyes of the LORD!) as specified hereafter:

-BNP Paribas (formerly Banque Nationale de Paris et des Pays-Bas)

-Société Générale

-Crédit Agricole

thanks for listening. neither applause nor money required. sending beer by PM attachment will suffice

[Gary A]

I know nothing about investing. If I did know anything my nest egg would NOT have lost 60 percent. I also have no idea why the dollar is strengthening as it is.

you are in good company Gary. it is a well known fact that most Joe Plumbers, Hank Carpenters, Bill Bluecollars and Buck Bubbas know nuttinmuch about investing/finances except the keywords "401k, IRA, DOWn, S&Poor and Mutch-you-all Funds". BUT as a consolation i might offer the insight that a huge number of "Haaahvaaahd graduates, MBAs, Ph.D.s, anal-lusters and the like lost MUCH MORE than you

About a year and a half ago, I had this really bad feeling that the stock market was going to crash. I instructed my broker to sell me out. He did sell me out and recommended these good safe ETF's that paid a good dividend. I did have a 10 percent stop loss on the stocks so I would have been totally out and would not have lost so much had I stayed in the market. Since the ETF's were considered safe, I didn't think about a stop loss. I would NEVER have believed that things could drop so far and fast.

Actually I have lost nothing yet because I'm not selling. I am hoping for the miracle that they will go back up. If not, well, I'm still better off than many others.

[lannarebirth]

My logic tells me that a strong dollar is only good for expats and that the the country will suffer from it. Exports are more expensive and will not be competitive ...

That's right Gary. The American bashers should take solace from the fact that most Americans are hurt by a stronger dollar. Funny how they got it wrong when the dollar was weak, causing the rise of every other asset class on earth. The rubber band only stretches so far. at any given time.