Weak Euro!

dqnet

Hi peeps!

I was just wondering, I have a spare 10k I wanted to play with with shares and stuff but with all this Irish bank problem and the euro getting weaker and weaker, would it be wise to buy as much euro as possible whilst it is this low? Wait a few months when it rises again and sell on?

thanks folks

Linton

dqnet wrote: »

Hi peeps!

I was just wondering, I have a spare 10k I wanted to play with with shares and stuff but with all this Irish bank problem and the euro getting weaker and weaker, would it be wise to buy as much euro as possible whilst it is this low? Wait a few months when it rises again and sell on?

thanks folks

You know it will rise in a few months?

Even if it does, will it rise by enough to cover your dealing costs? The more uncertain the future looks, the wider the gap between selling and buying price.

General rule with investments - dont put all your eggs in one basket, unless of course you are a gambler and the thrill of playing overrides any concern about losing.

Better IMHO to buy say 4 unit trusts, or even drip feed a range of trackers/ETFs, and be prepared to wait 5 years.

Lower_North

dqnet wrote: »

Hi peeps!

.............. would it be wise to buy as much euro as possible whilst it is this low? ..............
.

How do you know it wont go a lot lower? Has to be very risky with Portugal and Spain next. If they go, the emergency fund may not be enough to cover their debts. Then your Euros would be good as paperweights

sabretoothtigger

Better to buy euro investments maybe. Its not just the currency which is cheaper. Santander is spanish, they have got cheaper recently.
Telefonica runs O2 mobiles, also spanish and probably a few other famous names. Much less risky to consider them then plain currency

Also sterling itself is in question, when you buy euros you must sell your british pounds so which is cheaper.

The time to buy euros was june or august. It was much cheaper then, since then China has invested in europe a bit and others I think. Ireland doesnt really matter overall, its a flagpole on an iceberg of world debt


selling pounds to buy euros as a graph

Angely

No one can really tell how the euro will rise or go down, i suggest invest the gold, the price goes higher and higher every month...

lvader

Angely wrote: »

No one can really tell how the euro will rise or go down, i suggest invest the gold, the price goes higher and higher every month...

Until... it goes lower and lower.

The Euro that that weak at the moment, not against the USD or the GBP anyway.

mr_fishbulb

Angely wrote: »

No one can really tell how the euro will rise or go down, i suggest invest the gold, the price goes higher and higher every month...

This board needs a "No Thanks" button.

dqnet

This is just it... I've already bought gold... and yes, it has been rising since io bought it except once for 2 days when it was round about the same price.. my main concern is spreading the risk and i already have some money in the RPI tracker by NSandI... I also have ISA's maxed.
LloydsTSB is holding the bulk in eSaver at 2.4% net.

I'm trying to find ways to do something with this last 10k... shares? currency?

mr_fishbulb

One way to do the currency thing it is a spreadbet on the euro going lower against a certain currency.

How long can you tie the money up for? Currency is a pretty short-term move, but if you don't need the money for a number of years (5-10) then equities would be a good place to invest. 10K gives you the opportunity to buy a few different shares - diversify in different sectors and regions to spread the risk. Or you could go for some funds/trusts.

Do lots of reading first though. Don't be forced into quickly finding a home for this last 10K just because it's burning a hole in your pocket.

dqnet

I would say 5-10 would be a little long as I'm having property thoughts but these are just thoughts for now.
Shares is something I definitely I want to play with but I think I need advice as you say first.
The currency wagon was awesome when the dollar was at a all time high against the pound, I bought around 10,000 dollars of pound when it was weak and made my self around 700 odd quid. This is why I was thinking of the euro spot.

mr_fishbulb

Just been doing some reading and you can short the Euro with this ETF - http://www.etfsecurities.com/fxl/gbp/etfs_short_eur_long_gbp.asp (if you've got balls the size of oranges, they also have a 3x version which will give triple the returns - +or-).