Trading (unofficially) in currency
Discussion
Sure this is either illegal or flawed in some way, but would it work buying currency when it was uncharacteristically weak against the pound and then selling it back to the bank when it was back to strength?
On face value, it sounds like it has the potential to offer a very quick return on the investment, but sounds too simple.
On face value, it sounds like it has the potential to offer a very quick return on the investment, but sounds too simple.
Chris71 said:
Sure this is either illegal or flawed in some way, but would it work buying currency when it was uncharacteristically weak against the pound and then selling it back to the bank when it was back to strength?
On face value, it sounds like it has the potential to offer a very quick return on the investment, but sounds too simple.
this is of course the nature of fx markets.On face value, it sounds like it has the potential to offer a very quick return on the investment, but sounds too simple.
The flaw is when exactly is the currency "uncharacteristically" weak. When GBP/USD dropped from 2.000 in the summer to 1.7500 in September was it then? Because it has got a whole lot more uncharacteristically weak since then.
Edited by limpsfield on Tuesday 3rd February 15:00
rpguk said:
Perfectly fine, why wouldn't it be? 
I mentioned it to a friend who said he'd been asked to produce airline tickets before converting currency before. He's sarf efrican though, so it's possible rules are different there (or he's just plain wrong).So, how stable (or otherwise) are the currency markets? The pound versus dollar, for example, seemed to be pretty fixed for ages and then dropped. Does that mean it's likely to bounce back up? I can't claim to know anything about finance, but it seems to me a bit like property - if you buy at a documented low-point it can only go up, even if it goes down further before recovering.
Ive been doing this for a few years.
I used to import PC bits from the US and sell them on ebay for a profit.
To do this I changed quite alot of pounds for dollars when the dollar was low.
When the pound was high I changed some into dollars using forex and sold recently for a very nice profit.
Its easy(ish) to make money when your own currency is high (as I did)
But at the moment its much harder as your not getting much for your pounds.
I wouldnt want to risk alot of money doing this as its very random and if you need to get the money back into sterling and the rates are bad then you can make a big loss.
Ive kept my account with forex open but ive taken most of the money out now. I just have a couple of hundread quid in there to play around with.
I used to import PC bits from the US and sell them on ebay for a profit.
To do this I changed quite alot of pounds for dollars when the dollar was low.
When the pound was high I changed some into dollars using forex and sold recently for a very nice profit.
Its easy(ish) to make money when your own currency is high (as I did)
But at the moment its much harder as your not getting much for your pounds.
I wouldnt want to risk alot of money doing this as its very random and if you need to get the money back into sterling and the rates are bad then you can make a big loss.
Ive kept my account with forex open but ive taken most of the money out now. I just have a couple of hundread quid in there to play around with.
Chris71 said:
rpguk said:
Perfectly fine, why wouldn't it be?
I mentioned it to a friend who said he'd been asked to produce airline tickets before converting currency before. He's sarf efrican though, so it's possible rules are different there (or he's just plain wrong).So, how stable (or otherwise) are the currency markets? The pound versus dollar, for example, seemed to be pretty fixed for ages and then dropped. Does that mean it's likely to bounce back up? I can't claim to know anything about finance, but it seems to me a bit like property - if you buy at a documented low-point it can only go up, even if it goes down further before recovering.
And how quickly the UK economy picks up.
If you have dollars then buying pounds might be a good move, but if your in the UK and have pounds already then you will have to look for something that is undervalued in comparison to the pound.. which isnt easy to work out at the moment. I changed some money into Roubles as they are quite high at the moment.. but ive no real idea what will happen there.
Currency is different to property as a house has some sort of intrinsic value.. and as such isnt likely to stay within a certain price range. Currency can vary much more (in comparison to the others) .. look at Iceland!
The dollar has gained almost 40% in value in just a few months in comparison to the pound (if you bought at 2-1 and sold at 1.4-1 today)
supersingle said:
This is where I go to lose my shirt.
Didn't know Oanda accepted clothes deposits.www.alpari.co.uk is a UK-based FX broker if you want FSA protection.
Chris71 said:
Sure this is either illegal or flawed in some way, but would it work buying currency when it was uncharacteristically weak against the pound and then selling it back to the bank when it was back to strength?
On face value, it sounds like it has the potential to offer a very quick return on the investment, but sounds too simple.
Why not...? sn't this what the stock markets do every day?On face value, it sounds like it has the potential to offer a very quick return on the investment, but sounds too simple.
Chris71 said:
Holst said:
The dollar has gained almost 40% in value in just a few months in comparison to the pound (if you bought at 2-1 and sold at 1.4-1 today)
So does that mean you could actually have taken 40% profit in a couple of months after you've bought and sold the currency? Impressive.I've much rather have brought some RBS shares a little while ago.
I play around with bullbearings.co.uk (fantasy stocks, FX and CFD trading) a fair bit, try it.
Edited by threesixty on Tuesday 3rd February 16:46
Chris71 said:
Holst said:
The dollar has gained almost 40% in value in just a few months in comparison to the pound (if you bought at 2-1 and sold at 1.4-1 today)
So does that mean you could actually have taken 40% profit in a couple of months after you've bought and sold the currency? Impressive.Having said that I didnt see the current financial crysis coming and got lucky... im no trading genius!!!
I could easily have been stuck with those dollars for ages and been unable to to make any profit.
The clever guys will keep swapping from one currency to another. I have only bought with pounds then cashed out when the rates were good.
I also stick to currency that I know, Dollar, Euro, Sterling and more recently Roubles (my GF is Russian)
If you know what the currency is really worth in the real world it makes it easyer to work out whats a good buy (or it makes it feel like I do)
Like I said before if the pound is overvalued its easyer to make money. I will keep playing with the money I already have in the system but I wont be adding any more for the moment.
You might find this interesting
http://www.xe.com/currencytrading/
Chris71 said:
I mentioned it to a friend who said he'd been asked to produce airline tickets before converting currency before. He's sarf efrican though, so it's possible rules are different there (or he's just plain wrong).
The rules are VERY different for Saffers.They are not allowed to keep foreign currency in South Africa.
I have a good friend who travels to Europe/US frequently and has a large stash of foreign currencies. He's got it all hidden somewhere, but wisely isn't telling me!
Chris71 said:
Sure this is either illegal or flawed in some way, but would it work buying currency when it was uncharacteristically weak against the pound and then selling it back to the bank when it was back to strength?
On face value, it sounds like it has the potential to offer a very quick return on the investment, but sounds too simple.
If you didn't even know that there is a multi-trillion dollar forex industry out there, how do you expect to correctly pick the direction that a particular currency will go.On face value, it sounds like it has the potential to offer a very quick return on the investment, but sounds too simple.
But of course, you know something that thousands of very well qualified and educated FX traders don't know, right?
PS How do you get a qualification in FX trading? Not a certificate from Traders University?
Edited by ShadownINja on Tuesday 3rd February 17:18
ShadownINja said:
PS How do you get a qualification in FX trading? Not a certificate from Traders University?
Edited by ShadownINja on Tuesday 3rd February 17:18
If Gale Porter endorses them they must be amazing!!
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