Best place to buy sterling

JAMM222

mods if this is the wrong forum please move it. I am wondering where is the best place to buy sterling at the moment? is the the banks or somewhere else? who offers the lowest commision rates? i reckon now that sterling is at 85p to the euro its a good time to buy it what do ye think?

mickdw

Im wondering the same thing. How do you go about buying sterling just to hold and sell off again if it moves te other way. I mean I dont want to actually get the cash. Is it possible to just change the balance in the bank to sterling giving the bank the transfer commission?

pocketdooz

Currency specualtion.

What makes you think Sterling is a good buy at the moment ? Because it is falling ? Or because the British economy is entering recession ? Or because British unemployment climbing by the month ?

Either way, I'd advise you to do a lot more research before you get into it. You should crawl before you walk in these types of activities. Find out what drives forex rates. Which way people think interest rates will do in the different economies over the next 12 - 18 months. Find out the rates, fees, transaction costs.

If you are lucky enough to be correct in your guess that now is a good time and Sterling falls 10% in the next year against the Euro, after the 1/2 point spread on either end, 1% transaction fees on the way in and the way out - you'd only clear 7% - less than the 8% Anglo are giving in their savings accounts !! Although the currency market is the biggest, most active and liquid market in the world, it is also the most volatile and notoriously difficult to predict which way it will move.

Either way - I happen to be doing the same thing (but not for the same reasons) and am using www dot xe dot com - they are pretty good. There is another one called forex dot com.

If you use the retail banks, their spreads are so big and fees so large that, unless you are extremely accurate and lucky, you will not make any money after costs are taken into consideration.

I hope this helps somewhat







.

mickdw

Is it plausible or possible to change savings into sterling and still have it sitting in the bank earning a good interest rate?

jetski

Hi all.

Looking to get some sterling myself although not for investing in. ive bought furniture and some house appliances i need to pay the balance in sterling.


ive heard some shops up the north in the likes of newry are offering 90p for your euro and no commission?

spillcoe

I was going to start a new thread for this question but this looks like it's the same topic.

Has anyone used this site before? Any feedback? Thinking of buying a car in the UK and this seems to be a lot cheaper than using an Irish bank to transfer the cash.

http://fxglobaltransfer.oanda.com/

pocketdooz

spillcoe wrote: »

I was going to start a new thread for this question but this looks like it's the same topic.

Has anyone used this site before? Any feedback? Thinking of buying a car in the UK and this seems to be a lot cheaper than using an Irish bank to transfer the cash.

http://fxglobaltransfer.oanda.com/

Yes I have used them - they are fine - everything was smooth.

Oanda have been around for years and are very well regarded

JAMM222

pocketdooz wrote: »

Yes I have used them - they are fine - everything was smooth.

Oanda have been around for years and are very well regarded

Pocketdooz you seem to know what you are talking about are there any books you would recommend on trading currencies, basically what i am trying to figure out is why sterling is getting weak and what concequences that will have?

Cheers,
J

Scottie99

I've used this crowd a couple of times with no problems

http://www.hifx.co.uk

spillcoe

I've heard you get a decent rate if you make a purchase by credit card. Does anyone know if this is true and if so how would it compare with the rate shown on xe.com for example? Most places put a charge on using a credit card for large amounts but I'm wondering would it be offset by the better rate.

ondarack

I'm looking to buy sterling in the coming week, i'm just looking to find the best value. is the rate the same in all banks or does it differ? If some banks offer a better rate do you need an acc with them to purchase there? Do credit unions or post offices sell at reasonable rates? I think i missed a trick there latey, a friend of mine bought at 87p and when I went in to buy in my bank it was 84p