Collapse of Sterling

eeja

gozomark wrote: »

where from ? the countries with large trade surpluses - China, Japan, Middle East

Really believe these countries will assist us Brits ? You must be joking.

China first ; Did you not know that most Chinese outside the major cities are poverty stricken and eke out a living on less than a dollar a day.
They need every penny..yuan to improve the lot of their peasant population

Ditto the Middle East ...a few Arab sheiks with perhaps 1 percent of the population control almost all the wealth and most is already invested in Sovereign wealth funds such as the Kuwait Fund . Their sole motivation is that of profit...not charity or that poverty gap would not be so huge.

That leaves Japan and if you have ever been there and travelled into the countryside you will also see vast areas of impoverished Japanese . Oita on the island of Kyushu is an area I visited and was shocked to see the hovels in which so many of the rural population live and the poverty under which they struggle ..
So do not expect these countries to come to our rescue.
Remember the saying CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME

RayWolfe

eeja wrote: »

So do not expect these countries to come to our rescue. Remember the saying CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME

Strange comment from someone who spends all his time here recommending savings be put into .... let's just say, more exotic places than down y're average high street.

Reaper

I think you answer your own point there. Yes these countries have poor populations, but does that mean they will choose to give away their large cash reserves as hand outs to their own poor population or make a secure profit by lending to a first world country?

eeja wrote: »

Their sole motivation is that of profit...not charity

Need I say more?

eeja

RayWolfe wrote: »

Strange comment from someone who spends all his time here recommending savings be put into .... let's just say, more exotic places than down y're average high street.

I am not a pundit or professional financial advisor like purch (who mentions this alongside his postings thus is entitled to great respect .) At most would only claim to be a reasonably knowledgeable guy. Have therefore NEVER recommended an investment as such on this forum , NEVER...only brought certain savings products to the attention of investors who otherwise would not know about them ie the fact that only a few weeks ago ICICI Bank's Singapore office was offering 10-20 percent more interest than ICICI UK's office. I did this despite knowing like most others that the service record of this bank is abysmal ...they are aweful.
I just happen to enjoy helping other investors by passing on knowledge where I can and gain no benefit financial or otherwise from my postings only personal satisfaction in informing people what they did not know ie that the USA behaved appalingly towards the British during and after the last war kicking us in the teeth whenever they could out of jealousy because of our Empire and huge financial expertise ( up to 1932 England and the City was no 1 in the world of finance after the last war we were prostrate due to defending the world against tyranny.)
We were forced to pay back every penny but the Russians and French were not even charged but got help for free .

gozomark

Its a Middle East country bailing out Barclays, isn't it ??

eeja

gozomark wrote: »

Its a Middle East country bailing out Barclays, isn't it ??

Bailing out ? You really must be joking . Their terms are so harsh that there is likly to be a shareholders revolt against the proposed deal. I have no special knowledge...its all in the newspapers every day !

blackswan2

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/17/barclay-banking

gozomark

their terms are only harsh compared to the UK Governments. If it wasn't for the UK govt money on offer Barclays would be very lucky to get the offer they have had from the Middle East

dunstonh

I have no special knowledge...its all in the newspapers every day

Well that explains a lot.

purch

Its a Middle East country bailing out Barclays, isn't it ??

I'm not sure you could really call the 14% coupon Barclays is being forced to pay Sheik Mansour bin whatsisface in return for the capital input as "bailing out"...........more like Usury

But back to the OP's original query....whilst it is hard to make a positive case for Sterling over the next few years, it is equally hard to do the same for either the USD or EUR. There will be a large adjustment in all 3 of these currencies due to their fiscal imbalances, and where they will end up against each other is hard to tell in the long run, except maybe that they will all be weaker.

Inflation is the real enemy that needs hedging against, and although the amount is large, it is no different to the problems faced by all savers and those forced to live off the income of their capital.