The currency blog

If you are planning to enjoy a vacation in Spain, or moving here for business or perhaps even a study tour, one sensible thing you can do is learn a bit of the local language. You may have plenty of options available to learn Spanish online or enroll the help of a tutor in your home country, but learning Spanish in Spain will be an altogether new experience for you.

There are numerous language schools scattered in almost all parts of Spain which in addition to standard classroom tuition offer integrated cultural tours so that you can enjoy the flavor of Hispanic culture whilst making yourself able to communicate with the Spanish people. While doing so, it’s a certainty that you will have the one of the best holiday experiences.
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The scheduled monthly get-togethers take place in London, MPC/BoE and in Venice, the ECB. There is a general consensus that following both meetings, interest rates for the respective currencies will remain at their present lowly levels. Taking the meetings in chronological order. The MPC are expected to say very little, if indeed anything at all, following the rates announcement at 12.00. They have recently only adjusted the level of QE based asset purchases at the meeting closest to the release of the Quarterly Inflation Report (next due in November) and this situation does not look likely to change. The decision to increase the level of stimulus will therefore be deferred until the next meeting even though some discussion will probably take place today. The minutes will tell us more. I would also not expect to hear anything today related to the much talked about negative interest rates on banks’ reserves held by the BoE. All in all, a bit of a non-event which perversely might prove to be Sterling positive on a day of little data release. The ECB meeting will produce a similar outcome on rates ie no change, the difference being that the Central Bank always has a press conference following their monthly meeting and Trichet feels obliged to occupy the crease for at least a good hour. He is expected to reaffirm the growth outlook for the Eurozone, “economic activity is expected to recover at a very gradual pace”, but recent data has not been sufficiently soft for any more dovish a sentiment. On the other side of the equation, and as I mentioned yesterday, the ECB do now appear to be taking a closer interest in future inflationary indicators (which are signalling a firming trend) and as such will wary of allowing upward pressures to get a hold. Status quo the obvious result.
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Sterling never really recovered from the Double Whammy yesterday of Mandelson extolling the virtues to exporting companies of a weaker currency and the much worse than expected UK industrial & Manufacturing production figures. When you are already on the ropes, it is far more likely that you are going to get a further pummelling. Compare that to the stock market. Indices seem to set new yearly highs on a regular basis and nobody wants to be left on the side-lines and miss the recovery trade. The similarities between the Dollar and Sterling are getting more obvious.

Despite brief flurries of profit taking and more comments from the Japanese Finance Minister, the Dollar remained vulnerable during the day and in overnight trade. Chinese markets were closed so volumes in the Far East were light. The Yen retained its positive bias throughout. Mr Fujii did his best ….. In a Wall Street interview, he defended FX interventions in the case of outrageously reckless movements, adding that current Yen strength was consistent with market activity. He also further leant his support to the Dollar remaining the key reserve currency. Read the rest of this entry »

As had been anticipated for some time now  Australia became the 1st of the OECD countries to raise their official interest rates since the global introduction of the far reaching stimulus measures and historically low interest rates that followed the financial meltdown in 2008. Australia can not claim to be the very first nation to move, Israel took that honour, but is the first economy of significance to have taken steps to reverse the easy monetary conditions. In raising their rates from the 49-year low ‘emergency’ rate of 3% to 3 1/4%, Glenn Stevens, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, said that economic conditions in the country are now stronger than had been expected whilst measures of confidence have recovered. The RBA made it clear in the statement that this would be the first of a series of interest rate increases and the likelihood is that official rates will be nearer 4% than 3% by year end. The move is obviously a very strong indicator that the Australian Treasury feel that economic recovery in China and the Far East is a done deal and the chances of a double dip recession, remote.
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Well, September was a quiet month in the office with most departments having a lot of holidays (including me!!). But saying that, we have still raised a very respectable amount of £197.60 in September. That puts the new co-operative wall total to £2312 and keeps us on course to raise well over £3k by the end of 2009. How fantastic would that be in these uncertain times, to say that as individuals we have collectively contributed and donated over £3000 in a year, just by giving a £1 every week, having a beer on a Friday and joining in some fun activities!!!

I am pleased to say that September’s charities will be receiving the following:

Help The Aged - £70.40
WWF - £71.00
Coaching For Hope - £56.30

Thanks to The Big Charity Vote 3 we have already started collecting for October’s charities:

Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH)
The Samaritans
The Sickle Cell Society

As we get closer to Christmas the office can expect to see extra activities so watch this space for more details!

As always if you have any suggestion feel free to leave a comment here or contact the CSR Team!!

Thank you for reading!

We understand that Aldea Asesores, SL have filed for ‘creditor protection’ which means an administrator is appointed by the Spanish Courts to run the Company.

The duty of advising all of Aldea Asesores’ clients of the situation falls to the Administrator – they should have communicated by post or email.

The ‘administrador’ has been named as Juan Carlos Dominguez Serrano. If you have not received anything from the administrator and you are a client of Aldea’s in any way please email  fiscalisquolex@hotmail.com
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