| Currency | Rate Last
Week | Rate This
Week | | EURO | 1.399 | 1.388 | | CY£ | 0.809 | 0.807 | | US$ | 2.066 | 2.030 | | CAN$ | 2.062 | 2.036 | | AUS$ | 2.326 | 2.310 | | NZD | 2.671 | 2.602 | | CHF | 2.318 | 2.298 | | ZAR(Rand) | 13.963 | 13.583 | Charles's Thoughts: Sterling lost ground against everything this week. The Bank of England cut UK interest rates by 0.25%. A slight surprise but on the back of weak economic data, including falling house prices and poor retail sales, better to start the cuts earlier rather than too late. There will be further reductions in UK interest rates next year. Will lead to weakness in the short term but longer term probably a plus for sterling. The US$ made gains last week and now sits at 4 month highs against sterling. A slight surprise given that the Fed is expected to cut US interest rates next week and the US economy is far from booming. In fact given the over hang in unsold properties, new and old, further problems are only a matter of time. In fact one of the major US property developers sold a significant proportion of its unsold new properties to a finance house for 40 cents in the US$1. Better to have the cash. Not a bad sentiment all round. The Euro is still the flavour of the month. The European Central Bank kept Euro land interest rates on hold and even inferred that inflation was still their major concern. Clearly they are dancing to a different beat in Euro land relative to the UK and the USA. I wonder how self delusional the ECB's position is. France and Italy have been complaining about the strong Euro since the summer and as noted previously the Irish and Spanish property markets are suffering. I still believe sterling is oversold and that it is a good time to bring back Euros. We will have to wait and see if I am right. The commodity backed and high interest rate countries all gained. Canada did reduce interest rates this week as their economy is suffering as the US market is a key market. New Zealand and Australia kept interest rates on hold. Why is Currency Management So Important? Using a bank could cost you £3-4,000 per £100,000 transferred. Buying at the "wrong" time could cost you many £'000's more as rates can move as much as 3% in a very short period of time. Then add in transfer costs that the banks charge for sending and receiving funds and you could be looking at additional costs of £10,000 per £100,000 transferred. By developing a currency strategy and by working with a specialist currency broker these losses could be minimised if not eliminated. Smart Client Testimonial: "Recent transaction was completed very efficiently. The process was well explained, all questions answered with confidence. The process was very simple to follow with excellent feedback throughout the process. Plus a great rate of exchange was provided. I will definitely use the service again" John Derek Thompson If you haven't opened a Smart account yet, call me on freephone 0808 163 0102 or fill out our online Account Form at: http://www.SmartCurrencyExchange.com/application.htm How much will a Property Cost? To estimate the cost of a property simply DIVIDE the price of the property by the appropriate currency rate noted above. But note this is based on the inter bank rate so the actual cost will be slightly more. 
Charles Purdy
Smart Resources Currency Strategy Worksheet
Need help creating a Currency Strategy? Download our Currency Strategy Worksheet:
http://www.smartcurrencyexchange.com/downloads/CurrencyStrategyWorksheet.pdf Currency Report
Have your read our 10-page Currency Report that outlines the top 3 mistakes that overseas buyers make when exchanging and transferring their money overseas? Get the report here:
http://www.SmartCurrencyExchange.com/downloads/ThreeMistakes.pdf Currency Quotation
Are you interested in a currency rate for Euros, US$'s, CYP, NZD, or any other currency, please fill out our Smart quotation form at: http://www.SmartCurrencyExchange.com/smartquotation.htm
| 
