US ($) Currency Thread 1 (closed - use thread 2)

inspector_monkfish

I know this is long-winded, but it is worth a read.
It tells how the rest of the world have their eyes on the UK markets as the Bank of England's QE programme begins. It also mentions that the Fed Reserve are impressed, so far.



13:56 11Mar09-BoE gets no offers from non-banks for gilt programme


LONDON, March 11 - Britain on Wednesday officially launched quantitative easing -- effectively printing money -- to pull the economy out of recession, but its first offer to buy UK government bonds drew no response from non-bank institutions such as pension funds and life insurers.

The central bank will now offer to buy 2 billion pounds of gilts from banks in the next stage of its 75 billion pound asset-buying programme. Results of that are expected after 1445 GMT.

Strategists said they were not that surprised due to the complexity of the process, and gilt prices rose as it raised the stakes for the next so-called reverse auction.

"I don't think you can read a huge amount into it. The participants are still getting used to the new system," said Sean Maloney, fixed income strategist at Nomura.

John Wraith, head of sterling rate strategy at RBC Capital Markets agreed. "I think there wasn't much of a rush given it's going on for the next few months. I don't think it's the end of the world," he said.

Central banks around the world will be eager to see how successful the BoE's efforts are in bringing down market interest rates, boosting demand and encouraging banks to lend.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Federal Reserve had been struck by the early apparent success of the BoE's quantitative easing plans -- 10-year gilt yields have fallen to record lows since it announced the purchases last week -- and the U.S. central bank could move towards a similar effort.

As gilt yields have plummeted, corporate bond spreads have widened, leading some analysts to question whether the BoE should be paying more attention to bringing down the cost of corporate borrowing.

Policymakers have been forced to consider unconventional policy action to stave off a global economic slump because official interest rates are nearing zero and there is some doubt over how effective further rate cuts would be.

The BoE has cut rates to a record low of 0.5 percent in response to a sharp downturn. Britain's economy shrank at its sharpest pace since 1980 in the three months to December.

The central bank hopes that by buying up bonds, making yields fall sharply, it will make it cheaper for companies to borrow on the capital markets. Institutions that have sold gilts to the BoE, meanwhile, will have extra money to lend.

jackieblack

jonathanrichardson69 wrote: »

we went the opposite way, next time we will do san diego. are you going to the world famous Zoo? i don't know if i'm more excited about the wedding or honeymoon, supposed i should say wedding, but the honeymoon is going to be amazing

the zoo is on our 'maybe' list - we live within an hour's drive of 3 great zoos here so if there is something else that grabs us more we may not bother.... on the other hand my daughter has never seen koala or giant pandas - might go just for those!

jonathanrichardson69

sounds good, my worry is, it will take longer than the 6 weeks i have before the wedding. aahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

jonathanrichardson69

jackieblack wrote: »

the zoo is on our 'maybe' list - we live within an hour's drive of 3 great zoos here so if there is something else that grabs us more we may not bother.... on the other hand my daughter has never seen koala or giant pandas - might go just for those!

i'm no expert but i've heard it is amazing. i haven't seen it myself, but just heard its a must see if you go to San Diego. all this holiday talk is getting me really excited. i hope you have a great time anyway. what car have you hired? i've got a convertible, very childish i know, but i just couldn't help myself. i might even swap it half way for a mustang!!!

jackieblack

inspector_monkfish wrote: »

Jeez, have any of you lot got kids??

It all sounds marvellous, but the thought of doing it with the kids in toe would give me nightmares :eek:

I know what you mean... wouldn't have done it when our daughter was younger, started take her to the USA when she was 10, and she loves it as much as we do! we've done Florida with her (twice) and this year (she's 13 now) we wanted to do something different.
We have a long wish list.... it's my ambition to visit every state... we're thinking of maybe doing Montana/Idaho/Wyoming/Colorado next!

inspector_monkfish

jackieblack wrote: »

I know what you mean... wouldn't have done it when our daughter was younger, started take her to the USA when she was 10, she loves it as much as we do! we've done Florida with her (twice) and this year we wanted to do something different.
We have a long wish list.... it's my ambition to visit every state... we're thinking of maybe doing Montana/Idaho/Wyoming/Colorado next!

sounds great
mine are 10 & 5, so would like to wait until the youngest is a bit more interested in such things

Blink_Eden

jackieblack wrote: »

the zoo is on our 'maybe' list - we live within an hour's drive of 3 great zoos here so if there is something else that grabs us more we may not bother.... on the other hand my daughter has never seen koala or giant pandas - might go just for those!

San Diego Zoo has Su Lin - you have to go for her alone. We adopted her ($20 for a print it yourself certificate). Watched her grow up on the webcam for the first 2 years

Just "boring" Orlando for our family, in a Villa, couple of days at Disney, staying over night at clearwater beach with Mrs Blink 8), hoping to see a rocket launch at Kennedy. (Me and Mrs Blink have no kids - left that to my brother)

jackieblack

jonathanrichardson69 wrote: »

i'm no expert but i've heard it is amazing. i haven't seen it myself, but just heard its a must see if you go to San Diego. all this holiday talk is getting me really excited. i hope you have a great time anyway. what car have you hired? i've got a convertible, very childish i know, but i just couldn't help myself. i might even swap it half way for a mustang!!!

Thanks, we've just opted for the standard car (not a convertible as there are 3 of us and they're not as much fun for the person sitting in the back plus less luggage room and we thought we'd prefer Air Con for cross-desert driving) and we're hoping for a free upgrade!

jackieblack

Blink_Eden wrote: »

San Diego Zoo has Su Lin - you have to go for her alone. We adopted her ($20 for a print it yourself certificate). Watched her grow up on the webcam for the first 2 years

Just "boring" Orlando for our family, in a Villa, couple of days at Disney, staying over night at clearwater beach with Mrs Blink 8), hoping to see a rocket launch at Kennedy. (Me and Mrs Blink have no kids - left that to my brother)

Nothing boring about Orlando! Say "Hi" to Mickey for me!

Blink_Eden

BTW - Anyone heading near Denver at any point, check out the Red Rock Amphitheatre - it is amazing