A beginners guide to the Currency Markets....

[kristieuk]

I have seen a fair few posts asking about the $ rate and whether it will rise or fall, and it's something I always wonder about - what makes it rise and fall, and when is a good time to buy? Should I buy now, or should I wait? As others have said, when you are buying a couple of £k, a few cents either way makes a difference.

The market rate is around 1.78 which is the highest it has been for a while. I was hunting around for some information as to whether it is likely to continue to rise, and I came across this site :-

http://www.fxcmtr.com/education/what-moves-rates.html

There is some very basic information about what makes the $ rise and fall. I'm sure many people appreciated this already, but I confess although I had some idea about interest rates / general economy, I wouldn't know whether this would send the $ up or down!

There is a practice account where you get a fantasy bundle of cash and bet on the currency markets. I think I need to research a bit more first!

Anyhow, just thought this might be of interest to others

 

[Halo]

Thanks Kristie.

Rather than attempting to accurately forecast the way rates move, from reading previous posts it appears that the American Express Travellers Cheque Card offers a good means of locking in to US$ for your holiday when you think the rate is good. I believe that if you transfer funds in to it from an Amex card it counts as a purchase on that card rather than a cash advance so not only can you build up your supply of $ but if you already hold an Amex card you can do so in a cost effective manner.

 

[kristieuk]

Yes, that's right - you're not charged to buy or reload the card with an Amex card which is good - I'm thinking of adding to ours today....just waiting to see how the $ fares later - Amex update their rates at 8:30 in the morning, so if it goes up more today, might be worth waiting for the morning....this is becoming an obsession!!

 

[paulh]

if we could all predict what happens we would all be millionaries
Paulh

 

[kristieuk]

Well yes, but I don't suppose any of us have the kind of money to hand you would need to make millions! Just a few extra $ spending money each trip will do for me.