pound devaluation

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kenwaic

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Hi all, has anyone any thoughts about the value of the pound ?
Seeing as it has shed nearly thirty percent of it's value over the last few months,will it be a wise move to move some of my money into euros before (hopefully not) it drops to 1 euro to the pound ? :(
 
Depends if you need Euro or not.

I have a house in France, which in sterling terms has dropped in value by a significant percentage. But it's in France, and therefore its sterling value is irrelevant to me.
 
Depends if you need Euro or not.

I have a house in France, which in sterling terms has dropped in value by a significant percentage. But it's in France, and therefore its sterling value is irrelevant to me.

I've got a house in France too. Isn't it worth more pounds as the Euro rises?
 
to answer the OP probably yes (though I think the best value has already gone). Our currency will be a bit of a basket case for a while yet so european excersions will be increasingly expensive.
 
Arguably Sterling had been overvalued against the Dollar for sometime.

The long term average is somewhere around the $1.60 mark...so I feel this is more of a correction than a devaluation.
 
Unfortunately, I think there is more devaluation to come, the Governments proposed spending spree and its borrowing plans, mean that GBP is heading for parity against the Eur...
 
It's a plan by the governments and banks to diffuse the opposition of changing to the Euro, as it has always been the case that most people want to keep the British Pound because of it's believed value. But once that is removed, what the hell, why not......

Well, that's my theory.

Ciao.
 
It's a plan by the governments and banks to diffuse the opposition of changing to the Euro,

Why would the banks want to change to the Euro, they make money from all the currency exchanges we make.
 
I hear Red Rum isnt running anymore.................................but if you want a punt ........because it is nothing else but a punt..


I agree that the pound was over valued against the dollar - I can remember living there and seeing it at $1.12 to the £1.

As for the euro - if you are aware that all the european countries have declared their financial position and that the central bank isnt going to slash interest rates then take a punt..
 
I've got a house in France too. Isn't it worth more pounds as the Euro rises?

Yeah, probably...

But as I said, it's irrelevant to me anyway.
 
The big swing away from the USD up to this year was in a large part due to post-9/11 restrictions on money (oil money) into and out of the US. Basically, the Dept. of Homeland Security can seize assets at risk of being linked to terrorism and it made investors nervous and they took their money out of USDs. Euro interest rates were very low so a lot came to the UK transferred into GBP. After we started dropping interests rates and things in the UK looked shaky these were first switched to Euros and then latterly back to USD - betting on the rising strength of the USD/Euro to make money for the investors.
It is all cyclical and things will work their way back to our mean/median range against the USD/Euro at some stage. At that point whichever gov't is in power should seize the initiative and adopt the Euro so that we only have USD swings to worry about rather than the GBP/Euro dynamic as well.
 
It is all cyclical and things will work their way back to our mean/median range against the USD/Euro at some stage. At that point whichever gov't is in power should seize the initiative and adopt the Euro so that we only have USD swings to worry about rather than the GBP/Euro dynamic as well.

I think the argument against that is by adopting the euro we have no control over our interest rates. It strikes me as hard that a range of varying economies in different countries are linked by one common interest rate. Perhaps in time it may make sense - but I cant see that coming soon.
 
Its just that i am in the lucky position of that i managed to sell my house a few months ago and the proceeds are sitting in a bank until i decide what to do with it.
I figured that moving sterling into another currency would be a bit safer if mr clown starts printing some money to pay for that huge(not) cut in vat.
Probably a bit too late now anyway with the impending cut in interest rates....off to buy some gold now and bury in the back garden:D
 
I think the argument against that is by adopting the euro we have no control over our interest rates. It strikes me as hard that a range of varying economies in different countries are linked by one common interest rate. Perhaps in time it may make sense - but I cant see that coming soon.
Agreed it is a risk but they have done well over the last few years and done better against a tougher inflationary backdrop across the EU economies than the BoE. The only significant issue appears to be higher unemployment than the UK but 2009 might see that trend reversed.
The problem is that while we wait our trade with the EU is declining as people source their materials/products within the Eurozone free from currency concerns. Of course as the pound weakens we may see a temporary increase but long term our prospects aren't good.
Our business has a Bristol office and work which should go their way ends up being done through Amsterdam to avoid GBP issues.
The US is a so much smaller trading partner for us now than the EU (50%ish against 20%ish) that we should reconsider whether the perfectly valid concerns of control/sovereignty/status/nationhood really outweigh the economic arguments.
 
Agreed it is a risk but they have done well over the last few years and done better against a tougher inflationary backdrop across the EU economies than the BoE. The only significant issue appears to be higher unemployment than the UK but 2009 might see that trend reversed.
The problem is that while we wait our trade with the EU is declining as people source their materials/products within the Eurozone free from currency concerns. Of course as the pound weakens we may see a temporary increase but long term our prospects aren't good.
Our business has a Bristol office and work which should go their way ends up being done through Amsterdam to avoid GBP issues.
The US is a so much smaller trading partner for us now than the EU (50%ish against 20%ish) that we should reconsider whether the perfectly valid concerns of control/sovereignty/status/nationhood really outweigh the economic arguments.
Good to hear some sanity and realism on this topic. The time to have linked into the Euro was before all of the current problems but some of the other outsiders are also now looking to opt in.
Lots of problems ahead for teh Euro bloc though and this will be an interesting test as to whether the currency, in its current form, can weather the storm. If it does it could be established for a long time to come with the pound waxing and waning against it.
Problem for the UK, as I see it is the lack of any fundamental base, except the Finance industry that will continue to create wealth. Some may disagree however.
 
Problem for the UK, as I see it is the lack of any fundamental base, except the Finance industry that will continue to create wealth. Some may disagree however.
The construction industry & its various suppliers. Also the arms industry- regardless of ethical views it's a big industry.
 
Pharmaceuticals - IT-

We are not such a lame duck as some would like to paint us.

Hmmm aren't we also big in motor manufacturing - just because the plants are not British owned - they do contribute to the UK economy...and with the pound weak manufactured goods in UK are cheap abroad....(all we now need is a market ...:D :D )
 

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