Buying US dollars
Discussion
Hi, this might sound incredibly naive but bare with me.
With the state of the US dollar right now I was thinking it might be a good idea to buy a bunch - anyone know the best way to do this to get the best exchange rate and pay the lowest commission?
I've done some research on t'nternet and now feeling confused!
Zimbabwean dollars anyone?
With the state of the US dollar right now I was thinking it might be a good idea to buy a bunch - anyone know the best way to do this to get the best exchange rate and pay the lowest commission?
I've done some research on t'nternet and now feeling confused!
Zimbabwean dollars anyone?
Which bank are you with?
I got HSBC to open me a USD account and now I just buy via the online banking website, by going to the "international transfers" link. I think that you can only move about £10,000 per day like this, but if you want to do more, you can call your branch manager to ask them to move more for you. They seem to charge about $0.015 from mid, but, as they fix it at about 09:00 each morning, you effectively get a free option for the rest of the day, so I normally end up trading at around mid-market.
Even if you are with another bank, check out doing it the same way.
Remember that it is still somewhat of a gamble. If it was really a one-way bet, there would be no trades going through. There are still people buying pounds by selling dollars at the moment. Some of this is driven by the expected future interest rate differential. Basically, people expect that you can borrow USD, sell them, and invest in GBP, and get enough interest to make a profit.
I got HSBC to open me a USD account and now I just buy via the online banking website, by going to the "international transfers" link. I think that you can only move about £10,000 per day like this, but if you want to do more, you can call your branch manager to ask them to move more for you. They seem to charge about $0.015 from mid, but, as they fix it at about 09:00 each morning, you effectively get a free option for the rest of the day, so I normally end up trading at around mid-market.
Even if you are with another bank, check out doing it the same way.
Remember that it is still somewhat of a gamble. If it was really a one-way bet, there would be no trades going through. There are still people buying pounds by selling dollars at the moment. Some of this is driven by the expected future interest rate differential. Basically, people expect that you can borrow USD, sell them, and invest in GBP, and get enough interest to make a profit.
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