Euro (€) Currency Thread

inspector_monkfish

1.1150 trading

bullinn1

Hi chaps, I know this has been covered but I'm still not quite sure of the best route, I need about €3,000 in cash in Spain next month (travelling on the 10th) I have a Nationwide Visa Gold card a Post Office Platinum thingy - I don't really want to take out that much cash in dribs and drabs when in Spain (plus there will be a handling charge and interest I guess with either of these cards) so I should buy the money before I go but again if I use a credit card there will be a cash advance fee won't there ? or use my Co-op debit card or a cheque ? or bank transfer from mine to, say, Thomas Exchange (the leader on the rate board at the moment). Thanks so much to anyone bothering to answer this old fool. Regards Roger

waynehayes

Up to 1.1189 this morning.

inspector_monkfish

07:38 15May09 German 1Q GDP Posts Sharpest Fall Since 1970


FRANKFURT--German gross domestic product in the first quarter posted its sharpest fall since records began in 1970, as economic activity was much weaker than expected, data from the Federal Statistics Office showed Friday.

First-quarter real GDP shrank 3.8% from the fourth quarter of 2008, below economists' forecasts of a 3.2% fall. The quarterly data are adjusted for
seasonal and calendar effects.

That was the fourth straight quarterly decline in GDP, underpinning the view that Europe's largest economy will contract by as much as 6% this year.

"The recession has returned the German economy to its size of late-2005, and the last three years of economic growth have gone up in smoke," said Carsten Brzeski, an economist at ING Bank.

German GDP contracted a downwardly revised 2.2% in the last three months of 2008.

Data Thursday showed that Spain's economic output fell at its fastest rate on record in the first quarter, indicating that the euro zone had a dismal start to 2009.
The euro fell on the weak German numbers.

At 0611 GMT, the euro traded at $1.3605, compared with $1.3630 minutes ahead of the data.
"The worst part of the recession can now be seen in the rearview mirror but the road to recovery remains bumpy and long," Brzeski said.

German GDP shrank 6.9% in the first quarter from the year-earlier period, when adjusted for the number of working days each year.
Lower investment and a drop in net exports depressed economic activity, the statistics office said. Private consumption, however, increased slightly.

No further details were available. The statistics office will publish a
breakdown of German GDP data May 26.

inspector_monkfish

1.1190 trading

inspector_monkfish

1.1205 now
very quiet today, even though there has been some shockingly bad GDP figs out of EuroZone

billykeats

Its really peaked surprisingly for a Friday. I always thought it was quiet before weekend

inspector_monkfish

finally, the bad figures from this morning are feeding through to the rate
trading at 1.1230 at mom

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13:09 15May09 EUR/GBP: 0.89 Handle Lost as Euro Suffers

[12:09 EUR/GBP: 0.89 Handle Lost as Euro Suffers] London, May 15. The euro has taken an across-the-board hit--with EUR/GBP dropping to an eight-day low of 0.8893, EUR/USD falling to a one-week low of 1.3511, and EUR/CHF sliding to a 15-day low of 1.5125. Fundamentally, the euro is suffering on the back of the bigger-than-expected 3.8% contraction in German Q1 GDP (Germany is the biggest nation in the EZ). A 3.0% fall was forecast. EUR/GBP sell stops reportedly reside below 0.8890.

waynehayes

1.1249 now.

TuftyMatt

Well I don't like to say I told you so but....

I TOLD YOU SO.

1.12+ by Friday was my bet the other day and for once the market reacts the right way to poor GDP figures from the Eurozone.

Lets push on by another cent or more in the coming week to where we were 8 days ago.