We are planning to move to France, and I need to transfer about $10,000 USD into EURO within a month. (To buy a car.) The exchange rate is not very good right now...

1) Do you think the USD to EURO rate is going to get better within a few weeks? (For converting USD to EURO.)

And then.... once we arrive in France, we will need EURO to live.. but all our money (and business revenue) is in USD. :bawling:

2) Do you recommend making one large currency conversion (USD to EURO) every 3 or 4 months (or more?) to cover upcoming expenses for those 3 or 4 months (or more)? Or do you recommend making one smaller currency conversion at the start of each month to cover that month's coming expenses?

3)In other words, do you believe the forecast for USD to EURO exchange rate is going to get better or worse? (Better for USD.)

Thanks!

I'm seriously hoping the USD does get stronger but it's not looking good at the minute. I've done a fair bit of reading into it and all of the experts think that it could get worse.

We transfer a fair amount of USD to GBP each month and it hits us hard.

I'd advise subscribing to xe.com for daily exchange rate updates.

Hey mrzippy,

I wouldn't say I am an expert at exchange rates and the global economy but, I do know a thing or two. ;)

The dollar is currently weak due to two things:

1) Mounting Federal deficit.

2) High energy costs.

I wouldn't expect things to get drastically better any time soon. The way things are going now the dollar could get even weaker as oil prices continue to rise.

Your best bet for financial information and forcasts on the exchange markets is reading websites for investors. ;)

Here's an article I was forwarded this afternoon actually regarding the status of the US dollar (http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world_business/view/138593/1/.html)...it offers some insight..probably better insight than anyone here can give ;)

GBP > Dollar is @ 1.89 today, its been residing at 1.92 for the past week so you can make a little more money if you convert today.

Seems like most "experts" I've read think that the USD will get slightly better against the EURO over the next month of two.. and then it will drop again for the longterm remainder of the year.

I never thought I'd get into currency speculation, but that's exactly what I'm trying to do..

I live in Canada, and my business has devalued over the last year so much, that I don't want to go through this again with the EURO now that we're moving to Europe. :(

Oh well. Not much I can really do.

Unless the US feds really raise the interest rates, I think the USD is going to continue sliding... sure wish I had a crystal ball.


:: edit - no, not that kind of ball. :eek: ::

Originally posted by mrzippy
Seems like most "experts" I've read think that the USD will get slightly better against the EURO over the next month of two.. and then it will drop again for the longterm remainder of the year.

I never thought I'd get into currency speculation, but that's exactly what I'm trying to do..

I live in Canada, and my business has devalued over the last year so much, that I don't want to go through this again with the EURO now that we're moving to Europe. :(

Oh well. Not much I can really do.

Unless the US feds really raise the interest rates, I think the USD is going to continue sliding... sure wish I had a crystal ball.


:: edit - no, not that kind of ball. :eek: ::

I'm in the same boat... and I really hope that interest rates are raised in the US or that the GBP crashes.

Where in Europe are you moving to?

Originally posted by voxtreme-matt
Where in Europe are you moving to?

Corsica, France. (Village of Patrimonio)

I'm also hoping the US dollar gets stronger, a lot stronger.

We transfer a couple thousand dollars from USD to CAD and it hits pretty hard, especially when the exchange rate used to be at least 20-30% higher than it is now.

1 EURO = 1.298 USD now, 6:34 PM GMT, according to xe.com.
In the last days USD is winning a lot against the EURO.

Yep, against the GPB too. Keep it up USD :)

I was tempted to sell some USD today when the parity was 1.305. Glad I didn't. Let's wait another day. :)

I was tempted to transfer some USD to GBP but decided to wait another day. Lets hope I made the right choice ;)

Just out of curiosity, how do you guys do your money exchange?

ie: I have recently used www.xetrade.com

They seem very good and have good pricing and rates.

Is there something better?

I usually use my company bank account to make conversions. Never tried an online service like xetrade.com, maybe this will be the next step.

We have business checking accounts in GBP and USD. I just fax my bank stating account numbers, sorting codes and the amounts to transfer, sign it and ensure its on headed paper and they do the conversion for me.

>We are planning to move to France

Europe sucks ! And France and Germany are the worst.

>1) Do you think the USD to EURO rate is going to get better
>within a few weeks? (For converting USD to EURO.)

I would wait as long as possible... However, it is difficult to predict how it develops within a few weeks. But I think the Dollar will get better soon.

>And then.... once we arrive in France, we will need EURO to live..
>but all our money (and business revenue) is in USD.

Get a USD bank account and transfer the money to EURO. If you have a credit card in France just pay with the credit card...

>2) Do you recommend making one large currency conversion
>(USD to EURO) every 3 or 4 months (or more?) to cover
>upcoming expenses for those 3 or 4 months (or more)? Or do
>you recommend making one smaller currency conversion at the
>start of each month to cover that month's coming expenses?

I do not see any reason to keep the money in USD. I am making all my money in USD, too and I convert it every 2 or 3 days. Keeping the money for a few months means you can`t work with that money during that time... and that does never pay off.

>3)In other words, do you believe the forecast for USD to EURO
>exchange rate is going to get better or worse? (Better for USD.)

Better... But it will take a year or two until it is really good. And you can`t really say how it will develop within the next 4 weeks.