Smart Weekly Currency Note - 14th August 2009

Smart Currency Exchange - Weekly Currency Rates

Weekly Currency Interbank Exchange Rates 14th August 2009

Currency Rate Last Week Rate This Week EURO 1.175 1.163 US$ 1.669 1.653 CAN$ 1.809 1.810 AUS$ 1.990 1.987 NZD 2.479 2.440 AED 6.121 6.069 CHF 1.803 1.772 ZAR(Rand) 13.395 13.374   Charles's Thoughts: Sterling lost ground against most currencies during the course of the week. On Wednesday we had the Bank of England’s Quarterly Information Report. This gave some background as to why the BoE had increased the amount of quantitative easing to £175bn, a major factor behind sterling’s recent fall. “The UK recession was deeper than originally thought which means that spare capacity is high. Even though a range of economic indicators are forecasting positive growth this spare capacity will be a drag resulting in UK interest rates being kept low for longer than the markets were expecting.” The BoE continues to proffer the long hard road to recovery for the UK economy. This point is backed up by the International Monetary Fund who has long said that of the major economies the UK will suffer the most given its dependence on the finance sector. Overall sterling is trading in a narrow range against the € and US$ and is likely to do so until there is some catalyst to push it one way or the other. The US$ also had a mixed week. Even though retail sales disappointed and foreclosures are happening at record rates, the stock market continues to go up. The Federal Reserve met this week and painted a less gloomy picture than the BoE. But it did make it clear that interest rates were going to be kept at low levels for quite a while. The Euro Zone had the best of it this week with better than forecast growth for the second quarter and two of its major economies, Germany and France, even managed to show positive growth. This was a surprise as business confidence in both the manufacturing and service sectors lags that in the UK. However the expectation is for positive growth from the Euro Zone as a whole in the third quarter. The commodity backed currencies continued to benefit from buoyant commodity prices and expectations that they will lead the way when interest rates are started to be increased. The Australian $ continues to hold below the A$2/£1 mark. 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: "Thank you for making our transactions go so smoothly. As promised, our account was opened within hours. Your traders were pleasant and efficient, and each transaction was very much at the exchange rate I expected...ie not a million miles away from the inter-bank rates and certainly much better than my high street bank could quote. All in all, an easy experience and we will have absolutely no hesitation in recommending your services to any of our friends buying property abroad." Ian Pritchard If you haven't opened a Smart account yet, call me on freephone 0808 163 0102 (+44 0207 898 0541) 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 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 Smart Currency Exchange Limited

email: Charles@SmartCurrencyExchange.com free phone: 0808 163 0102 (if calling from outside the UK, please use +44 0207 898 0541) web: http://www.SmartCurrencyExchange.com

Smart Currency Exchange | 1 Lyric Square | Hammersmith | London | W6 0NB | UK © 2005-2009 Copyright  Smart Currency Exchange Ltd THIS PUBLICATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE ADVICE WITHIN THE TERMS OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES ACT (OR ANY SUBSEQUENT REVISIONS, ADDITIONS, OR AMENDMENTS). Disclaimer Exchange rates can move very quickly. The above rates are the interbank rates and valid at a moment in time. The interbank rate is the rate at which the banks deal with each other in the foreign exchange markets. Suggestions should not be taken as advice or fact. The market does what it wants to do.  We have no crystal ball and as ever we suggest that if an exchange rate works for your budget then don't try and wait for an even better exchange rate, as Murphy's Law says the rate will go against you and cause you maximum trouble!

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