Currency rates (added every week or two).

[griffin]

People were forecasting US$1.50 within a couple years a few years ago when it hit its peak.
People forecast all sorts of things, but it's like predicting the weather in 3 years time - it's really just a guess, and those who actually guess right, boast about it as if they actually knew.

[UltraMarginal]

People were forecasting US$1.50 within a couple years a few years ago when it hit its peak.
People forecast all sorts of things, but it's like predicting the weather in 3 years time - it's really just a guess, and those who actually guess right, boast about it as if they actually knew.

like the Christmas Day weather prediction in mid november is always 25 degrees and sunny. :rolleyes:

What frustrates me is that so many "news" outlets and people give these "experts" the time of day.

[drifand]

I noticed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays rate are almost at best where $1 Aus is 92 yen or something.

[Bidoofdude]

Good, things are going according to plan. I only hope it only gets better from here, makes it easier to get stuff from the US.

[griffin]

Big gains on the four major currencies in the last month (since the last rates were posted on 2nd March, which were all down on the month before). The NZ$ is doing better than the AU$, as we have dropped a little on theirs over the last two months.

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.9339 (gained 4c in 4 weeks)
- GB£ - 0.5586 (up almost 5%)
- JP¥ - 95.782 (gained almost 5 yen, or 5% in 4 weeks)
- EU€ - 0.6783 (up 5%)
- NZ$ - 1.0764 (down very slightly)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[Bidoofdude]

We're slowly climbing. Good. :)

[griffin]

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.9346 (almost unchanged in 6 weeks)
- GB£ - 0.5567 (very slightly up)
- JP¥ - 94.863 (down)
- EU€ - 0.6817 (up slightly)
- NZ$ - 1.0825 (up slightly)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[Tfiguy]

Man, the Aussie dollar can be your best friend, and then the next day be a royal prick lol... Is definitely a bit of a head ache when running a business that relies on it a fair bit... first world problems I guess haha

[griffin]

After the tough budget and drop in consumer sentiment, the AU$ lost almost 2 US cents last week, peaking at 94c and going as low as 92.1c :(
(there were probably other factors in play though compounding it, as the drop occurred the following week, 5 days after the budget on the 13th)

Historically though, the AU$ does often drop mid-year, or around the time I go to BotCon. :(


It's worth noting that the AU$ should remain fairly "high" for as long as the Reserve bank doesn't cut interest rates, as we are still way above the major currencies when it comes to Central Bank rates - we are at 2.5%, compared to 0.1-0.5% of the four major currencies (Euro, US$, JPY, GBP).
That means, it is more likely that parking your money in banks here for security, will earn you more than in almost any other country.
New Zealand is at 3% and apparently got their budget into the black (I think I heard that a few weeks ago), which is probably why their currency has been doing better than the AU$ in the last 2 years against the US$ (they've slightly strengthened (http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=NZD&to=USD&view=2Y#) to the point of almost breaking their record 88.2c from mid-2011 earlier this month, while we lost a fair bit of ground (http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=AUD&to=USD&view=2Y) from our high of $1.10 during that same time in 2011).
Now would be a good time for Kiwi fans to go to America for TFs conventions and shop up a storm.

[griffin]

It's been almost four months since the last update... and little has changed on the US$ rate.
And after talking up the NZ$ in May, it peaked in July and has been sliding ever since, losing 5 US cents in the last two months (and lost over 5 AU cents during that time as well).

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.9281 (down slightly since May... but if I'd posted this two days ago, it would be "slightly up", due to losing almost a whole cent on Monday.)
- GB£ - 0.5636 (up slightly since May)
- JP¥ - 97.628 (up a lot since May)
- EU€ - 0.7068 (up a fair bit since May)
- NZ$ - 1.1172 (up a lot since May)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[drifand]

A good time to pay off stuff in pre-order, I got my magnus under $160 delivered.

[spiderken17]

MP Magnus? Where from?

[griffin]

As many have been hearing on the news lately, the AU$ has been dropping in the last couple weeks, due to middle-eastern tensions and the American economy picking up, prompting investors to send more of their money into the US.

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.8786 (down a lot - 5c in 4 weeks)
- GB£ - 0.5424 (down a fair bit)
- JP¥ - 95.620 (down a bit)
- EU€ - 0.6960 (down a little)
- NZ$ - 1.1159 (almost unchanged)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[griffin]

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.8782 (almost unchanged in 3 weeks)
- GB£ - 0.548 (almost unchanged)
- JP¥ - 94.468 (down a bit)
- EU€ - 0.6938 (almost unchanged)
- NZ$ - 1.1187 (almost unchanged)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[Sinnertwin]

XE.Com

USD
0.8595
JPY
101.79
EUR
0.6865
GBP
0.54838

[Megatran]

It's an especially good time to buy from Japanee online stores. :)

[griffin]

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.8113 (a massive drop in last three months)
- GB£ - 0.5377 (a little dip in December, but then back up again to what it was during Oct-Nov)
- JP¥ - 97.110 (from a low of 92 in October to a high of 102 in November, it has come way back down again)
- EU€ - 0.6879 (a drop to 0.65 in December and then back up to about what it was three months ago)
- NZ$ - 1.0391 (a massive drop - we are now almost at parity after so many years of being the stronger currency to our Tasman neighbours)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

Both the NZ$ and US$ have been strengthening quite a lot against the AU$, while the Yen has been on a roller-coaster ride. The other two currencies had strengthened in in December, but since then the AU$ has re-strengthened against them.

[griffin]

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7770 (another massive drop in the last month, of over 3.5 US cents... that's almost 30% down since its last peak six months ago in July)
- GB£ - 0.5158 (a big drop in the last month of over 2 pence)
- JP¥ - 91.270 (a massive drop of 6 yen in the last month)
- EU€ - 0.6885 (almost what it was a month ago after going up by over 2 Euro cents)
- NZ$ - 1.0717 (a big increase of 3 NZ cents after almost dropping to parity last month)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)


As the US economy continues to improve and ours continues to go down the toilet, I think the AU to US exchange rate is still some way off from hitting bottom. :(

[TAAUBlaster]

Ouch, what a drop! Finance experts were saying the AUD might drop to $0.75 - but judging by the steep drops recently, I'm really worried it will go lower than that :( Might not be long until we're back down to the really bad exchange rates like 2000/2001.

[kup]

Given the current climate, I think it will keep dropping. We are an 'Egg in one basket' economy and those eggs are running out.

[DELTAprime]

With HLJ ****ing up and taking more orders for the Fembots than they had stock I lost out big time on the exchange rates because I couldn't find anyone charging JPY for them and had to go with RK charging USD. Also I bought a couple of games on Steam this weekend and didn't remember that Valve charges most games in USD and that was a shock when I looked at my bank account.

[drifand]

With HLJ ****ing up and taking more orders for the Fembots than they had stock I lost out big time on the exchange rates because I couldn't find anyone charging JPY for them and had to go with RK charging USD. Also I bought a couple of games on Steam this weekend and didn't remember that Valve charges most games in USD and that was a shock when I looked at my bank account.

yeah man, I have pre-ordered mp-10 with some regret as some Australian online stores are offering them cheaper than jp stores now.

[griffin]

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7626 (another recent drop after treading water for a few weeks)
- GB£ - 0.504 (down a lot again)
- JP¥ - 92.654 (down a lot as well)
- EU€ - 0.7183 (up a lot since last month)
- NZ$ - 1.0516 (another big drop after a big gain last month)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

Unfortunately since four weeks ago, we've dropped against everything except the Euro by a big amount again. And we only gained against the Euro because their currency is suffering even more than ours at the moment, thanks mostly to Greece.

[Omega Metro]

It's terrible. Cutting back on heaps of overseas purchases lately😔

[Sinnertwin]

Remember the 0.48 days?
Now that was painful.

[TAAUBlaster]

Remember the 0.48 days?
Now that was painful.

A few analysts are saying we will see those days again in the coming years :(
I remember importing my CR Brave Max during that time...:(

[Defcon]

A small increase for now
$1 AU dollar = .79 US dollar
$1 AU dollar = 94.23 JP Yen

[griffin]

Yes, I've been watching the AUvUS slowly increase in the last couple days thanks to comments from the US Reserve bank about what they might be doing for rates this year.

The Yen is anyone's guess these days, as it has been a rollercoaster, going up down up down up down....

[BigTransformerTrev]

Aussie dollar at 79 US cents -

Climb u bugger - climb!

[Hursticon]

Aussie dollar at 79 US cents -

Climb u bugger - climb!

Only for any gains to be curtailed by a soon to be introduced 10% GST on all online transaction... Gerry Harvey & Co win yet again >_<

[griffin]

A weakness in the US economy this week from some poor market numbers, plus our Federal Budget aiming to stimulate the Small Business portion of the economy, has led to another US 2c to our AU$... now up to 81 US cents.
April 15th it dropped to just below 76 US cents... so a gain of 5 cents in the last month is pretty good.

[griffin]

Aaaaand, back down to 76 US cents just a couple weeks later... just in time for the expensive BotCon registration. :(

It was such a tease (if only FunPub knew what they were doing, we could have saved 5% if they had it up two weeks ago).

[kup]

Aaaaand, back down to 76 US cents just a couple weeks later... just in time for the expensive BotCon registration. :(

It was such a tease (if only FunPub knew what they were doing, we could have saved 5% if they had it up two weeks ago).

FunPub should have their license taken away.

[griffin]

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7385 (a massive fall after getting close to 80c two months ago, and likely to fall further in coming months)
- GB£ - 0.4724 (also a large drop)
- JP¥ - 91.403 (very little change in 4 months, as the yen seems to be vulnerable to global financial turmoil like the AU$)
- EU€ - 0.6754 (down a lot, despite the Greek troubles that should be weakening the currency)
- NZ$ - 1.1303 (a huge gain after the NZ$ was within striking distance of parity earlier in the year... it seems to be the one currency doing worse than ours)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[Zippo]

- NZ$ - 1.1303 (a huge gain after the NZ$ was within striking distance of parity earlier in the year... it seems to be the one currency doing worse than ours)



Sigh! :)

[griffin]

I feel bad for you, but at least for as long as I can remember the NZ$ has always been 10-20% worse than the AU$, particularly to the US$, so shouldn't be something you haven't been used to for most of the time collecting Transformers.
It was just very unusual to see it get close to parity to our currency about 6 months ago, as it was probably pretty exciting... like us getting to US parity. (it was sweet, but short-lived :( )

[griffin]

The AU$ has fallen another US cent in the last few days, to be about 72.7 cents... from weakness in China and a falling Gold price (lowest in 5 years).
(then take off another couple of cents for the actual rate from banks and paypal)

That's the lowest it's been since 2004, when it was on its way up from the record low of 49 US cents in 2001.

[jazzcomp]

:( Very bad time for overseas travel.

[BigTransformerTrev]

China devalued their currency overnight, causing our own dollar to drop to 73US cents :(

Why China couldn't have waited an extra 24 hours so many of us could get our TFSS orders in I do not know :rolleyes:

[DELTAprime]

It's a sad sign of the times that I got excited when Commbank raised the US exchange rate from 69c to 71c for a little while the other day. Back down to 69c again.:(

[TAAUBlaster]

It's a sad sign of the times that I got excited when Commbank raised the US exchange rate from 69c to 71c for a little while the other day. Back down to 69c again.:(

If you're buying currency, I've always found Westpac to offer the better rates (even though only slightly.) For example, they're selling USD for 70c at the moment.

The Aussie dollar has really taken a hard hit the last few weeks. :( I fear we're heading for the 50/60's again in the not too distant future :(

[griffin]

The AU$ plunged against most currencies on Monday (up to 8% on some), as our investability rests largely on the backs of our largest trading partner's projected growth (China)... and that has been taking a bit of a slide lately, leading to a stock market plunge in Asia on Monday.


As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7125 (down 2 cents in the last month, after a fair bit of yoyo-ing in the last week)
- GB£ - 0.4539 (down 2 pence in the last month)
- JP¥ - 84.735 (a massive drop of 7 yen this week, after sitting at 90-95 yen since February)
- EU€ - 0.6178 (another 6c lost, with most of it being this week)
- NZ$ - 1.0998 (a drop of 3c in the last month)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[kup]

I think we are starting to pay the price of putting all our eggs in one basket - Mining relying on china.

We got rid of much of our national industries and neglected whatever remained in favour of mining and the global economy. Now we are tied to China like a dinghy to a huge tanker. If it goes down, it takes us with it.

I hate to say it guys but the logical path seems to be down for the long term.

[yoshi594]

any economy experts know if we're gonna recover soon? or do i need to panic pay my preorders before we drop even further against the yen?

[Trent]

Buy your USD now people (http://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/australian-dollar-forecast-to-hit-us60-cents-20150902-gjds14.html).

It's only going to get worse...

[jazzcomp]

Always wanted to buy USD when AU$ was higher but limitations imposed by banks prevented that. But for me I did want to convert everything I had to USD coz I was thinking that the US economy will bounce back.

For AU$, I have no idea. :confused:

Probably no online ordering from now till ????? :eek:

[griffin]

The AU$ dropped to 69 US cents today... it's seems to be in freefall now, averaging a loss of 1 cent every week.
At this rate we could be looking at something in the 50s by the end of the year. :(

[griffin]

Buy your USD now people (http://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/australian-dollar-forecast-to-hit-us60-cents-20150902-gjds14.html).

It's only going to get worse...

That article quotes a person saying that the AU$ would hit 68 US cents by the end of the year, but with it dropping 2 cents to 71 in the two weeks before that article was written and an average of 1 cent per fortnight in the year before that (by their own stats and graph), I think he was being very optimistic about it only dropping to 68 in the next 16 weeks.

With no sign of China suddenly turning around and importing more from Australia, and with America likely to increase interest rates soon (while we are more likely to cut rates to stimulate our economy soon), there isn't really anything in the near future that could increase the value of the AU$.

[Megatran]

As of today, 1 AUD is converted to:

0.733300 USD
0.478443 GBP
88.1940 JPY
0.645586 EUR
1.09527 NZD

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

The Aussie dollar is rising against the US dollar & Japanese Yen (& British Pound & Euro too).

Source: xe.com (http://www.xe.com)

[griffin]

I saw that it had got above 73 us cents this morning on the news and was going to post it up (I forgot after posting up some news postings)... because it is rather surprising that it has been gaining for the last couple weeks despite the uncertainty of China and the US.

[drifand]

Good for people who want to pay off stuff in Nippon yasan ATM.
I am unsure if we will get any better.

[griffin]

The AU$ has been pretty flat in the last couple months against most of the currencies... which is probably a good thing after a period of decline that saw it heading towards the mid 60s (US cents) by the end of the year.

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7104 (down 2c since October, which was 2c up on the August rate)
- GB£ - 0.4674 (slightly down from October but still slightly up from August)
- JP¥ - 87.672 (almost the same as October, which is up 3 yen since August)
- EU€ - 0.6680 (a big rise since August of 5 Euro cents)
- NZ$ - 1.0982 (almost unchanged since August and October)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[DELTAprime]

- US$ - 0.7104 (down 2c since October, which was 2c up on the August rate)


I think the Comm Bank is ripping me off, the other day the exchange rate they gave me was around 67c, that's rather low when the normal rate is over 70c. :mad:

[Megatran]

I think the Comm Bank is ripping me off, the other day the exchange rate they gave me was around 67c, that's rather low when the normal rate is over 70c. :mad:
They are the most profiable of the Big 4 for a reason. ;)

[griffin]

Considering the AU$ has been at 72 US cents for a couple weeks now, and 73 since yesterday, they shouldn't be charging a 5 cent difference.

[TAAUBlaster]

The banks always have a lower rate than market rate. Same way Paypal does.
Still, 5 cents is a bit much.

Buying cash there is a fairly big discrepancy between market rate and the sale rate.

[jazzcomp]

Use 28degMC, better rates than paypal and no foreign transaction fees.

[DELTAprime]

Use 28degMC, better rates than paypal and no foreign transaction fees.

Where do you get a 28 degrees card from? I've seen people on Whirlpool mention using it to buy games from the foreign versions of the Xbox store.

[TAAUBlaster]

http://www.28degreescard.com.au/ is probably the best place to start.

I've been meaning to get one, but I don't know if my wallet can hold another card :p

[drifand]

http://www.28degreescard.com.au/ is probably the best place to start.

I've been meaning to get one, but I don't know if my wallet can hold another card :p

Same here.

Stating that, is a weigh up as other credit cards do give rewards so you do get back money for what you pay.

You need to weigh up which is the better way to go.

I found it surprising that Amax from commbank gave better rate than my mastercard from the same bank.

[davieanix]

Just paid for an eBay item from the USA, and the conversation rate was 67c. Ugh :(

[Smint]

Same here.

Stating that, is a weigh up as other credit cards do give rewards so you do get back money for what you pay.

You need to weigh up which is the better way to go.

I found it surprising that Amax from commbank gave better rate than my mastercard from the same bank.

28 degrees was great when you used to be able to withdraw cash from overseas atms without being charged a transaction fee. People would load up the card with cash before they go on holiday and use it just like an atm card.

I still use mine for international purchases in foreign currencies. Like on amazon where the conversion rate is terrible. No international transaction fees and MC rate probably makes it the best card for online shopping. The saving on international transaction fees usually far outstrips points earned on any rewards card.

For purchases made in AUD i'll always use my citibank rewards card.

[griffin]

Just paid for an eBay item from the USA, and the conversation rate was 67c. Ugh :(

A slide on the markets the other day saw the AU$ go below US 70c... and that's just the reference rate, with banks converting 2-5c off that.

I guess it means FunPub will be opening up registration for BotCon soon, as the exchange rate usually drops just before some of us are paying several hundred dollars for attendee and non-attendee sets. :(

[griffin]

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.6962 (down over a cent this week after being stable since November)
- GB£ - 0.4795 (up since November)
- JP¥ - 81.698 (down 6 yen since November)
- EU€ - 0.6392 (down almost 3 Euro cents since November)
- NZ$ - 1.0630 (down almost 3 NZ cents since November)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[TAAUBlaster]

Been keeping an eye on this the last few days (and preparing for all the good stuff to start hitting Ebay US :rolleyes: :p) and I just heard on the news now that financial analysts are predicting the AUD/US won't get back above .70c :(

The current situation in China is really hitting the markets hard. I'm really not looking forward to going back to the dark days of 0.55c to 0.66c rate.

[DELTAprime]

I'm so worried about what the exchange rate will be in June when my Oculus ships.

[griffin]

Wow... US$0.7444

Up almost 5 US cents in just two months.

[DaptoDog]

I pulled the trigger on paying some of my preorders from Japan yesterday when the A$/¥ got over 84.

[Megatran]

Hit above US$0.75 briefly today. :)

A good time to buy or travel to the US.

[DELTAprime]

Google says the AUD is up to .76 USD. Anyone have a link to news report (preferably video) that explains what's going on?

[griffin]

The iron ore price has been recovering lately, and it was the rapid drop in its price was what brought down the AU$ to begin with.

[Jetfire in the sky]

I'm so happy the JPY has come up recently, I'm heading over there soon and at 80 it's bad especially considering their negative interest rate, but at 85 I am happy because that's what it was when I was there in 2012 and TF prices were very good once converted, I missed out on some great exchange rates since then but that's the way she goes, fingers crossed for 85 or better in the next 5 weeks :D

[kurdt_the_goat]

We moved to Japan recently and transferred a little of our money across... it's depressing watching the rate nosedive, then climb, biting the bullet then watching it climb again! The place we transfer with actually had it over 85 today.

You could say i lost a couple hundred bucks in the last few days but i have to stop thinking like that... buying power here is completely different anyway so it's not really that clear-cut.

Of course i'd prefer more for my AUD though, so with a little in the bank now, I can bide my time longer on transferring more of our savings.

[Jetfire in the sky]

We moved to Japan recently and transferred a little of our money across... it's depressing watching the rate nosedive, then climb, biting the bullet then watching it climb again! The place we transfer with actually had it over 85 today.

You could say i lost a couple hundred bucks in the last few days but i have to stop thinking like that... buying power here is completely different anyway so it's not really that clear-cut.

Of course i'd prefer more for my AUD though, so with a little in the bank now, I can bide my time longer on transferring more of our savings.

Once the negative interest rates were announced in Japan I thought, yes, here we go the JPY will dive hard, but nothing. Just goes to show that our dollar is pretty friendly with the commodities market. I hope you can make some back as the AUD to JPY hopefully improves. :)

[griffin]

Well, what a big turnaround for the Aussie Dollar in the last two months, having big increases across all five of these currencies since January 12th (the last time I posted the rates).

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7569 (up 6 cents in two months)
- GB£ - 0.5262 (up 5 pence in two months)
- JP¥ - 86.138 (up 4.5 yen in two months)
- EU€ - 0.6789 (up 4 cents in two months)
- NZ$ - 1.1215 (up 6 cents in two months)

These were the rates on January 12th...
- US$ - 0.6962
- GB£ - 0.4795
- JP¥ - 81.698
- EU€ - 0.6392
- NZ$ - 1.0630

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[griffin]

The US Federal Reserve has come out today with some weaker forecasts for the US economy, which sent the US Dollar down against other currencies, including ours... giving us a current rate tonight at US 76.28 cents.

Fingers crossed it gains a few more cents before BotCon... obviously for me, but also for anyone else buying Convention toys next month.

[griffin]

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7773 (up another 2 cents in the last month - that's 8 US cents in three months)
- GB£ - 0.5427 (up 1.5 pence in the last month)
- JP¥ - 84.981 (down 1 yen in the last month)
- EU€ - 0.6855 (up 1 cent in the last month)
- NZ$ - 1.1096 (down 1 cent in the last month)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)


At least I didn't spend much at BotCon this year for it to bother me, but true to form, the AU$ dropped 2 US cents just on the day I got there (Wednesday 6th), and went back up 2 US cents the day after BotCon when I had finished spending. (typical)

[Megatran]

Aussie dollar hits above USD 0.87

[kovert]

Aussie dollar hits above USD 0.87

USD $0.78? :)

[DaptoDog]

USD $0.78? :)

Yep.

I remember last year someone quoted an newspaper article saying the AUD was going to 50c. And I said these are just sensationalist stories to get attention. I bet pretty soon there will be a story saying the AUD is going to 90c or $1.

[Borgeman]

Yep.

I remember last year someone quoted an newspaper article saying the AUD was going to 50c. And I said these are just sensationalist stories to get attention. I bet pretty soon there will be a story saying the AUD is going to 90c or $1.

But unlike the 50c stories I'll be cheering on the dollar all the way to 90c plus!

[Megatran]

The aussie dollar is dropping faster against the USD & JP Yen than a poor guy getting kicked in the u know where.

[griffin]

The aussie dollar is dropping faster against the USD & JP Yen than a poor guy getting kicked in the u know where.

It was expected that we would have a drop after the interest rate cut last week, as it makes it less inviting to invest in our currency if there are other currencies that now have higher returns.
But the double-whammy was the budget on the same day, driving speculation that there will be more rate cuts as our economy continues to be sluggish amid the unreliable nature of when we will ever return to surplus (which makes foreign investors less confident in investing here or any country that can't foresee the end to their deficits, as it could mean future austerity measures that will negatively impact on businesses and investments).

The annoying thing (for us importers) though, is that the Reserve Bank has been saying for a long time that they would like to see the Aussie Dollar go below 70 US cents so that the benefits our exporters, and make our domestic business more competitive to foreign products.

We were at 78 US cents four weeks ago, and now we are at 72... but I think we can expect it to go further if the Reserve Bank (and Federal deficits) have anything to do with it. :(

[GoktimusPrime]

AUD slumps thanks to Brexit (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-24/brexit-sees-british-pound-slump-aussie-dollar-follow/7540150). :( :(

[TAAUBlaster]

Once again, nothing to do with us - but we become the forex whipping boy :(

[GoktimusPrime]

Which just goes to show how stupid the Foreign Exchange system is where the value of currencies are based more on what people reckon currencies are worth (speculation) instead of what they're actually worth (economic status/performance). Mind you, it does work in our favour when the AUD is over-valued. :p But times like this when it's being grossly under-valued totally sucks. :(

[griffin]

With that title I was expecting to see the AU$ plunging to the 60s, but we only dropped 3 US cents, and back up 1.5 cents within hours, to be above what we were just days ago.

It's actually been a bigger rollercoaster ride in the two months before the brexit...

18/4 - 78.05 US cents (the highest peak since 25th May 2015)
30/5 - 71.59 US cents (the lowest point since that peak in April, after 6 weeks of gradual sliding)
21/6 - 75.11 US cents (a peak after 3 weeks of rises)
22/6 - 74.43 US cents (a small dip before a big rise of 2 cents in the next two days)
23/6 - 76.40 US cents (the most recent peak)
24/6 - 73.26 US cents (after the brexit result)
25/6 - 74.77 US cents (the current rate as of this posting)

So it might look like a big sudden drop on the currency graph yesterday (http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=AUD&to=USD&view=1M), but we are actually up on the 22nd (or the 20th if you take into account the previous peak), and are over 3 cents up on our lowest point four weeks ago.

The rush of money to the "safe" stock of gold will help offset most of the money being pulled out of our currency by investors, because we export a lot of gold.

[griffin]

I don't think the currency traders know what to do with the AU$ at the moment as the global economy is approaching another recession led by the US and several European countries, and central banks around the world are looking to slash their official rates... some to zero or even into negative territory.

After the weekend close of our markets, the AU$ went back down 1.5 cents yesterday to the same rate as the post brexit rate on the 24th, and then climbed back up a cent today to 74.03 US cents.

[TAAUBlaster]

We're going gangbusters against the British Pound though :p

[griffin]

The AU$ is still yoyo-ing against the US$.

21/6 - 75.11 US cents (up)
22/6 - 74.43 US cents (down)
23/6 - 76.40 US cents (up)
24/6 - 73.26 US cents (down)
25/6 - 74.77 US cents (up)
(weekend)
27/6 - 73.28 US cents (down)
28/6 - 74.13 US cents (up)
29/6 - 73.48 US cents (down at opening)
29/6 - 74.22 US cents (up at close)



We're going gangbusters against the British Pound though :p

It went from a fairly stable 50pence to 56pence on the 24th, and stayed flat since then (not going up or down much). It hasn't been 56pence since September 2014 (http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=AUD&to=GBP&view=2Y), almost 2 years ago.

I think everyone will be doing well against the pound for quite a while... so it would be a good time to go over there now... or maybe for a Transformers convention in August (http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showpost.php?p=488399&postcount=8). ;)

[griffin]

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7531 (down 2 cents since April)
- GB£ - 0.5669 (up 2 pence since April)
- JP¥ - 77.265 (way down, by 8 yen since April)
- EU€ - 0.6766 (down 1 cent since April)
- NZ$ - 1.0458 (way down, by 6 cents since April)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)


June 24th (Brexit) had more of an impact on our rates with Japan than the UK, with the AU$ losing 8 yen in just one day - losing almost 10% at the same time as gaining almost 10% against the Pound.

[drifand]

I am feeling the pinch of jpy atm as not only the dollar is strong but ems has increased in price since May .

[Megatran]

Aussie dollar steadily rising against the US dollar over the past month or so. Hit US $0.77 today.

[drifand]

I saved $7 just paying today vs last month as it was a good recover against jpy for a long time.

[griffin]

The GB Pound continues to be the big mover, losing even more value since the Brexit... while the other currencies seem to be staying pretty flat, just moving one or two AU cents up and down in the last three months.

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7618 (up slightly since July)
- GB£ - 0.6249 (up a big 6 pence since July)
- JP¥ - 79.368 (up 2 yen since July)
- EU€ - 0.6943 (up 2 cents since July)
- NZ$ - 1.0749 (up 3 cents since July)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[DELTAprime]

So now that those idiot American's have put Trump in charge is the USD expected to get stronger or weaker? I hope it's weaker.

[MV75]

Why? Both candidates were a lose.

Anyway, it will get stronger as it's still the safest currency in the world. Stock markets have dived world wide. Doesn't mean much though as the whole thing is driven on feelings. I wouldn't put too much stock (heh) in it right now. They would have crashed anyway.

[GoktimusPrime]

A rise in the AUD is good news for us as collectors. ;) #silverlining

[Deonasis]

A rise in the AUD is good news for us as collectors. ;) #silverlining

Really? I think the AUD also went down and the JPY went up sooo no silver lining just yet.

[DELTAprime]

According to the financial news app in Windows 10 every stock market across Asia was down after the Trump win started to look likely. We will have to see if Wall Street goes lower than the rest of the world. I'd love to see what happens to the USD if he can really pass a law to make Apple bring all it's manufacturing back to America. I'm really hoping for cheap shopping from America.

[BigTransformerTrev]

Trump's win hasn't made the US dollar drop too much yet. We are sitting at our buck still worth about 0.76 of theirs.

[MV75]

According to the financial news app in Windows 10 every stock market across Asia was down after the Trump win started to look likely. We will have to see if Wall Street goes lower than the rest of the world. I'd love to see what happens to the USD if he can really pass a law to make Apple bring all it's manufacturing back to America. I'm really hoping for cheap shopping from America.

No. With the tariffs and protectionist stuff you'll pay way too much to import stuff from America.

The problem with Apple there, and here and the rest of the world is getting them to pay their taxes. Will he close loop holes he knows exist from his use of them for the greater good, or will he leave them be because after 4 years he'll still benefit from them? That is what people should look at.

[Megatran]

The Aussie dollar has dropped considerably against the US dollar. It dropped below 0.74 USD today due to the strength of the US dollar in recent days over talks of an impending rate rise. On the plus side, our dollar has strengthened against the Japanese Yen.

[MV75]

Our dollar is stronger against all the other currencies though. But rates rising is something that is 3 years over due anyway as lowering them has done nothing to bring inflation to where they want it. Wages stagnation is to blame there as well as the price of ore.

[DELTAprime]

The Aussie dollar has dropped considerably against the US dollar.

I wouldn't call 2 cents considerable. Am I the only one that remembers the Howard government's 1 AUD buying around .50 USD?

[CHILENO20]

I wouldn't call 2 cents considerable. Am I the only one that remembers the Howard government's 1 AUD buying around .50 USD?

Nope, I remember it quite well. Went down to 0.48 if I remember correctly.

[MV75]

I remember too. It was pretty much just double the listed US price when buying stuff back then. Was into mtg back in the 90's and they'd take the price guides and the listed price they'd buy at and they'd double it to sell at was what every card store did as the guides were in USD.

[DaptoDog]

I'm watching the AUD/¥. It's up to 84, would love for it to get back to 90+. Even at this level I'm considering shifting my Transformers purchasing back to Japanese sources.

[griffin]

Meanwhile, we are continuing our slide against the US$... now under 74c.

We get better with one major source of Transformers (Japan), but then get worse with the other major source (America & HK sources that sell in US$).

[DaptoDog]

The AUD/¥ has broken through 86, hopefully on the way to 90!

[DELTAprime]

Someone mind explaining why the news is saying the AUD is plunging? I just looked it up and it's still buying .74USD, which is around where it's been since Trump came to power.

[drifand]

Someone mind explaining why the news is saying the AUD is plunging? I just looked it up and it's still buying .74USD, which is around where it's been since Trump came to power.

I dunno but I got butt arsed paying for jpy item when the rates dropped was kinda pissed as it was quite stable a few days back.

[DELTAprime]

I dunno but I got butt arsed paying for jpy item when the rates dropped was kinda pissed as it was quite stable a few days back.

Yikes, looks like next week stuff at HLJ will cost me a little more than expected. Good thing I canceled Brainstorm and Convobat.

[DELTAprime]

Anyone getting a bit of a "boy who cried wolf" feel from all these economic experts that have been saying for months the Aussie dollar is going to fall, yet it keeps staying in the 72 to 77 cents range?

[Sinnertwin]

Anyone getting a bit of a "boy who cried wolf" feel from all these economic experts that have been saying for months the Aussie dollar is going to fall, yet it keeps staying in the 72 to 77 cents range?

Sooner or later it will stick and then they'll proudly boast "we told you so"

[den10]

According to todays forecast it is expected to stay or slightly increase, along with the interest rate, due to Trumps latest MAGA speech.

[MV75]

Anyone getting a bit of a "boy who cried wolf" feel from all these economic experts that have been saying for months the Aussie dollar is going to fall, yet it keeps staying in the 72 to 77 cents range?

Just don't take it as set in stone. These people also tend to be day traders, they go on nothing but feelings. Must go to the same school at the bom guys.


According to todays forecast it is expected to stay or slightly increase, along with the interest rate, due to Trumps latest MAGA speech.

That's an easy one. They just listened to what he said, put together the fact he is impressed with our immigration policy, and mentioned Australia in the speech. Also the DOW rocketed up today too which is a significant sign of confidence. So yea, easy to come to that conclusion. :)

I'm just going to wait and see, plus the price of fuel is right down right now too.

[griffin]

I didn't realise it had been five months (yesterday) since I had done one of these.... and two of the major currencies aren't much different to five months ago (despite a presidential election during that time and the fallout of Brexit) - but the Yen is the big mover, climbing 13 yen (about 18%) since June last year, when it was 74 yen to our dollar.

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7689 (about the same as last October)
- GB£ - 0.6268 (about the same as last October)
- JP¥ - 87.118 (up 8 yen since October)
- EU€ - 0.7168 (up 2 cents since October)
- NZ$ - 1.0995 (up 2 cents since October)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)


Time to do more shopping from Japan then...

[DaptoDog]

Well that rally against the Yen didn't last long, it's hit below 82 this morning. Just when I'm about to pay off a pre-order with NY.

[griffin]

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...
(down against all of these currencies since 4 weeks ago)

- US$ - 0.7583 (down 1 cent in the last month)
- GB£ - 0.6046 (down 2 pence in the last month)
- JP¥ - 82.668 (down 4.5 yen in the last month)
- EU€ - 0.7128 (slightly down, almost unchanged)
- NZ$ - 1.0823 (down 1.5 cents in the last month)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[DELTAprime]

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

Feels like they are slugging more than 2-3% these days. I paid for a Humble Bundle subscription the other day on PayPal and the rate was 70c.:eek:

[griffin]

Feels like they are slugging more than 2-3% these days. I paid for a Humble Bundle subscription the other day on PayPal and the rate was 70c.:eek:

Yep, Paypal rates went up a couple months back, by about half a percent I think, which I think is about a 20% increase. :mad:

[griffin]

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...
(down against all of these currencies since 4 weeks ago)

- US$ - 0.7529 (slightly down in the last month)
- GB£ - 0.5840 (down another 2 pence in the last month)
- JP¥ - 84.361 (up 1.5 yen in the last month)
- EU€ - 0.6896 (down 2 cents in last month)
- NZ$ - 1.0890 (slightly up in the last month)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[DELTAprime]

As long as it stays in the 74c - 76c range at it's lowest I'll be happy. Really would be nice if it went back up to 90c or even above a dollar, but that's just a dream at the moment.

[griffin]

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7538 (down 2 cents and back up 2 cents in last four weeks)
- GB£ - 0.5838 (down 2 pence and back up 2 pence in last four weeks)
- JP¥ - 82.454 (down 2 yen in last four weeks)
- EU€ - 0.6688 (down 2 cents in last four weeks)
- NZ$ - 1.0495 (down 4 cents in last four weeks)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[DaptoDog]

$A is on a charge!

AUD/USD = 0.78
AUD/JPY = 88

[TAAUBlaster]

Wow, I didn't realise it had gotten so high against the yen. Off to Yahoo Japan! :p

[fatbot]

I just got some yank dollars & got 75.2c on it

[Megatran]

What's the best place(s) to get competitive exchange rates to USD?

[Megatran]

$A is on a charge!

AUD/USD = 0.78
It's hit 0.79 today.

[DaptoDog]

What's the best place(s) to get competitive exchange rates to USD?

I have a Citibank debit card that has zero fees on foreign currency transactions. I use it to buy online from Japan and the US.

Are you actually trying to get phyisical cash in USD?

[DELTAprime]

Well time to go shopping online.

[Ralph Wiggum]

What's the best place(s) to get competitive exchange rates to USD?

Have you gor a UAE exchange vendor near you? I've found their rates to be better than all the other places I've been to, plus they don't charge commission.

Heading to the US in December and I exchanged all my USD there.

[Megatran]

Are you actually trying to get phyisical cash in USD?
Yes. My dominatrix takes only US$1 bills. Trying to stetch the dollar just that little further.


Have you gor a UAE exchange vendor near you? I've found their rates to be better than all the other places I've been to, plus they don't charge commission.

Heading to the US in December and I exchanged all my USD there.
Great. Will look into it.

[DaptoDog]

It's hit 0.79 today.

It's hit 0.80 today.

[Megatran]

... helped by the weaker US dollar. 80.5 cents at the time of this post. Keep climbing you good thing.

[griffin]

As people have noted in the last week, the exchange rate with the US$ has reached 80 US cents this week, and the AU$ is gaining against other major currencies as well (especially the yen, which like the US$, is now at about the same rate as it was 2 years ago, after dropping as low as 75yen).

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7979 (up 4 cents in last 6 weeks)
- GB£ - 0.6094 (up 2 pence in last 6 weeks)
- JP¥ - 88.561 (up 6 yen in last 6 weeks)
- EU€ - 0.6798 (up 1 cent in last 6 weeks)
- NZ$ - 1.0654 (up 2 cents in last 6 weeks)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[griffin]

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.8101 (unchanged in last six weeks - but jumped over 1 cent in the last 24 hours)
- GB£ - 0.6168 (up 1 pence in last 6 weeks)
- JP¥ - 87.246 (down 1 yen in last 6 weeks)
- EU€ - 0.6719 (down almost 1 cent in last 6 weeks)
- NZ$ - 1.1076 (up 4 cents in last 6 weeks)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[Zippo]

Of course; go overseas and the rates go down (for New Zealand to both Yen and Singapore Dollars)

[griffin]

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7965 (down 1.5 cents)
- GB£ - 0.5902 (down 1.5 pence)
- JP¥ - 89.205 (up 2 yen)
- EU€ - 0.6665 (down half a cent)
- NZ$ - 1.0861 (down 2 cents)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

The AU$ is down against almost everything, except the Yen, which is getting better and better for buying JP toys lately... up almost 15 Yen in just the last year. It peaked at over 90 Yen last week, which was its previous record two years ago.

[griffin]

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7525 (down 4 cents in the last 10 weeks)
- GB£ - 0.5617 (down 3 pence in the last 10 weeks)
- JP¥ - 85.460 (down 4 yen in the last 10 weeks)
- EU€ - 0.6387 (down 3 cents in the last 10 weeks)
- NZ$ - 1.0908 (up half a cent)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

The AU$ continues to go down against almost everything else, with just the NZ$ being the only currency doing worse.

[griffin]

We've had a good start to the year, with the AU$ up against all of the major currencies.

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7845 (up 3 cents in the last 4 weeks)
- GB£ - 0.5790 (up 2 pence in the last 4 weeks)
- JP¥ - 88.824 (up 3 yen in the last 4 weeks)
- EU€ - 0.6530 (up 1.5 cents in the last 4 weeks)
- NZ$ - 1.0936 (up very slightly in the last 4 weeks)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[DELTAprime]

I've been watching Bitcoin as it's listed on the same sites that give exchange rates on real money. Looks like BTC is about to crash down below $10,000US, I'm glad noone I know bought BTC or other altcoins.

[griffin]

After a good start to the year, we've dropped against all of the major currencies in the last couple of months.

As of today (May 4th), according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...
- US$ - 0.7524 (down 3 cents since January)
- GB£ - 0.5551 (down 2 pence since January)
- JP¥ - 82.053 (down 6 yen since January)
- EU€ - 0.6286 (down 3 cents since January)
- NZ$ - 1.0726 (down 2 cents since January)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

(edit - I accidentally edited this post instead of replying to it, and didn't realise it until today, August 16th)

As of today (July 6th), according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7418 (down another cent since two months ago)
- GB£ - 0.5601 (up slightly in last two months)
- JP¥ - 82.044 (almost unchanged from two months ago)
- EU€ - 0.6332 (up slightly in last two months)
- NZ$ - 1.0869 (up one cent in last two months)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[DaptoDog]

$A is in the toilet at the moment thanks to this Turkey situation. Not the best time to be paying overseas pre orders.

[griffin]

The AU$ is indeed falling against the US$ this year (9 cents since January), but not so much against most of the other majors, so it is more that the US$ is gaining strength (yay Trump :p ), rather than the AU$ weakening.
The Yen is the other one we have fallen heavily against this year, down 9 yen since January. Unfortunately for us toy collectors, those are the two currencies we import most of our toys with. :(

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7276 (down 1.5 cents in last month)
- GB£ - 0.5716 (up 1 pence in last month)
- JP¥ - 80.616 (down 2 yen in last month)
- EU€ - 0.6387 (up slightly in last month)
- NZ$ - 1.1039 (up 1.5 cents in last month)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[griffin]

It's been almost 6 months since my last update posting here... I didn't realise it had been that long, as it certainly didn't feel like it.

Funnily enough, two of the currencies are almost exactly the same as last August. But the bad news is that Aussie Dollar hasn't strengthened against any of these five currencies in the last six months, which still makes importing toys as expensive as it was last year.

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7271 (almost the same as last August)
- GB£ - 0.5537 (down 2 pence from last August)
- JP¥ - 79.083 (down 1.5 yen from last August)
- EU€ - 0.6325 (almost the same as last August)
- NZ$ - 1.0517 (down 5 cents from last August)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[griffin]

Just looking at the exchange rate charts on xe.com, January 2nd-3rd saw a massive crash to the AU$, against the yen and US$ (https://www.afr.com/markets/currencies/australian-dollar-tumbles-below-us70-to-threeyear-low-20190103-h19nfk). The yen dropped to 73, while the US$ rate got down to 68us cents... the lowest in ten years. (a 6% crash in a matter of minutes would send many smaller countries into financial crisis or spiral into hyper-inflation as everyone tries to sell off their cash before it is worthless - I'm surprised that I didn't hear anything about it on the news that day)
Both of those rates to the AU$ have mostly recovered in the weeks since, but some speculate that the AU$ will return to those levels during 2019 (we lost about 12% value during 2018 - from 82us cents to 72us cents, so the downward trend is likely to continue).
Other analysts believe that we've reached the bottom of the current trough, and will start the upward part of the cycle again soon.

[griffin]

It's been almost 6 months since my last update posting here... I didn't realise it had been that long, as it certainly didn't feel like it.

How time flies... I can't believe it has been 8 months since I last updated this, but it doesn't feel like it was that long ago.

We are down on just about everything since the beginning of the year, except New Zealand, which seems to yoyo up and down about 5 cents every few months.
The US Fed Reserve had dropped the rates by 0.25 this week, which I had thought would have weakened their dollar a little (as there is a smaller return for investors), but it still strengthened against ours during the week (which probably means our currency and economy is just so unreliable at the moment that the US economy is still more inviting).
The drop in Yen and US$ in the last year is likely to result in higher prices for toys here, especially the imported exclusives.

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.6769 (down 3 cents since end of January)
- GB£ - 0.5424 (down 1 pence since end of January)
- JP¥ - 72.811 (down 6 yen since end of January)
- EU€ - 0.6146 (down 2 cents since end of January)
- NZ$ - 1.0815 (up 3 cents since end of January)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[griffin]

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.6839 (slightly up since end of September)
- GB£ - 0.5206 (down 2 pence since end of September)
- JP¥ - 74.269 (up 1.5 yen since end of September)
- EU€ - 0.6185 (almost the same as the end of September)
- NZ$ - 1.0418 (down 4 cents since end of September)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[griffin]

With all of the hits to our economy in the last couple of months, the Aussie Dollar has weakened a lot against the major currencies, and is pretty much steady with the NZ dollar.

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.6537 (down 3 cents so far this year)
- GB£ - 0.5907 (down 7 pence so far this year)
- JP¥ - 70.830 (down 3.5 yen so far this year)
- EU€ - 0.5906 (down almost 3 cents so far this year)
- NZ$ - 1.0474 (up a little bit this year)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[1AZRAEL1]

US dollar dropped to 55c. Global economy is screwed atm.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

AUD now just barely above 60 yen...

Wondering if I should change over my old Japanese Yen (have a reasonable amount saved from working in Japan) now or wait and see if the dollar keeps dropping.

[griffin]

I was so stunned when I heard it on the midday news, that the AU$ had dropped to 55 US cents. It might be great for exporters, who are going to need every advantage they can get over the next year to help the economy recover, but it's gonna hurt us toy collectors, both with the imports from online stores, and the price increase we are going to have to expect here on our retail toys, as the cost to Hasbro Australia to import them will go up by about 20%... which they will pass on to retailers, but hopefully the recent Toyfair will have locked in a lot of purchase prices until June-July.

[DELTAprime]

I see the AUD is back up to 0.60 USD.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

So is that because of the AUD getting stronger, or the USD getting weaker? We seem to be up against the Yen too, but I'm not sure what's happening across all 3 right now. Everything's a bit Information Overload atm.

[griffin]

Our currency probably won't strengthen against the major currencies, as we rely too much on our imports, and exports... we don't have enough domestic manufacturing left to cover our basic necessities in the long term. Even if we are one of the first countries to eliminate the virus and have everyone go back to work, Australia won't be able to generate the revenue we need to pay off the debt generated from all of the government money splashed out on businesses and workers, because our four biggest exports will be heavily impacted.
Tourism and Education (foreign students) can't restart while the borders remain closed (until there is a vaccine or cure), while the demand for our coal and iron ore (for construction, manufacturing and energy) will be significantly less if every other country is suffering from a recession or long term depression.

Most of the currency rates dipped mid-March from the shock of the virus impact and the uncertainty or mixed-messages from certain politicians, but have then bounced back in the last few weeks, so that most are now close to what they were at the beginning of March.
We actually got close to parity with the NZ$ in mid March... I don't recall us ever getting below parity with them, which says something about the weakness of our economy at the moment if the AU$ could almost be worse than New Zealand's.

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.6336 (down 2 cents since early March)
- GB£ - 0.5079 (close to what it was in early March)
- JP¥ - 68.375 (down 2 yen since early March)
- EU€ - 0.5793 (down 2 cents since early March)
- NZ$ - 1.0444 (close to what it was in early March)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[griffin]

A month ago our future economic (and therefore currency) prospects looked pretty bleak, but since then, we've seen America, the UK and Japan all struggling to combat the spread of the virus, which will draw out the negative impact on their economies. Some are trying to open up their countries again, at the same time as us, but the difference will be the human cost limiting what can be operating, as well as the financial cost of treating large numbers of people for several months. And maybe that difference is what has investors looking to our economy (and currency) as a better chance of getting a financial return on their investments in the near future, than the bigger economies in the world.
(or the recent rise of the AU$ could just be a re-correction of the rapid drop in value in early March, which had the AU$ at 55 US cents, compared to 65 cents six weeks later)

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.6521 (up 2 cents in last 4 weeks)
- GB£ - 0.5257 (up 2 pence in last 4 weeks)
- JP¥ - 69.543 (up 1 yen in last 4 weeks)
- EU€ - 0.5994 (up 2 cents in last 4 weeks)
- NZ$ - 1.0625 (up 2 cents in last 4 weeks)

(bank and paypal rates are 2-3% less than the figures above)

[griffin]

It's good to see that the Aussie dollar isn't doing a rollercoaster ride of up and down... at least for a little while so far. It seems that it is slowly strengthening against the majors, except the Euro dollar, which is still fairly close to what it was earlier this month.

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.6563 (up slightly in last 2 weeks)
- GB£ - 0.5381 (up 1 pence in last 2 weeks)
- JP¥ - 70.704 (up 1 yen in last 2 weeks)
- EU€ - 0.5982 (down slightly in last 2 weeks)
- NZ$ - 1.0733 (up 1 cent in last 2 weeks)

(bank and paypal rates can be up to 3% less than the figures above)

[Unicran]

Aussie dollar against US dollar today peaked just shy of 0.70 before lowering slightly to @ 0.69.

Oh btw, we're heading into a (technical) recession...

[griffin]

The last month since the last posting, the AU$ climbed to almost 70 US cents a couple weeks ago, but just keeps bumping its head on that invisible ceiling. Hopefully the credit rating of AAA for Australia, as one of only 10 countries currently at that highest rating, helps push the dollar up a little more for us toy collectors (but not too much to hurt exports for a struggling economy).
Remembering that in mid March, the AU$ suddenly dropped to 55 US cents, but is now back up to it's pre-virus rates... and if it manages to break through 70 US cents, it will be at its highest since this time last year (it was at about 70.6 US cents in June 2019, and hasn't been above that rate in the 12 months since then).

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.6864 (up 3 cents from last month)
- GB£ - 0.5527 (up 1.5 pence from last month)
- JP¥ - 73.492 (up 3 yen from last month)
- EU€ - 0.6100 (up 1 cent from last month)
- NZ$ - 1.0701 (slightly down from last month)

(bank and paypal rates can be up to 3% less than the figures above)

[griffin]

In the four weeks since the last update, we continued our rise against the US$ and the Yen, but stayed flat against the other three.
Both of those currencies are at their highest this week since May 2019, after being at their lowest rate in over a decade just four months ago... about 20% increase in value to the AU$ in just 4 months.
It's great for those importing Transformers from the two main sources of America and Japan, and any Asian site that charges in US$, as it lets you buy a lot more with the same money.

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7104 (up 2.2 cents from last month)
- GB£ - 0.5552 (about the same as last month)
- JP¥ - 75.406 (up 2 yen from last month)
- EU€ - 0.6094 (about the same as last month)
- NZ$ - 1.0695 (about the same as last month)

(bank and paypal rates can be up to 3% less than the figures above)

[Tha_Phantom]

In the four weeks since the last update, we continued our rise against the US$ and the Yen, but stayed flat against the other three.
Both of those currencies are at their highest this week since May 2019, after being at their lowest rate in over a decade just four months ago... about 20% increase in value to the AU$ in just 4 months.
It's great for those importing Transformers from the two main sources of America and Japan, and any Asian site that charges in US$, as it lets you buy a lot more with the same money.

That is great news and those two are the only ones I care about personally.

[griffin]

Another five weeks, and once again our dollar is up against the US$ and Yen, but very little change against the Pound and Euro. Surprisingly, we have risen against the NZ$ this time... which I think is strange, because they have had the best response to the virus, which has allowed them to almost fully re-open their economy. Something that other economies related to the major currencies haven't been able to do, or expected to be able to do before a vaccine exists. If anything, the NZ$ should be climbing, as the most reliable return on investments.

For us toy collectors in Australia, these are the highest rates for the US$ in over two years (since August 2018), and for the JPyen in almost 18 months (since April 2019).

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7390 (up almost 3 cents from last month)
- GB£ - 0.5507 (down slightly from month)
- JP¥ - 78.145 (up almost 3 yen from last month)
- EU€ - 0.6171 (up almost 1 cent since last month)
- NZ$ - 1.0924 (up about 2.3 cents since last month)

(bank and paypal rates can be up to 3% less than the figures above)

[griffin]

Forgot this for almost 4 months... and the AU$ has continued it's climb against the US$, which is good for us collectors (not necessarily for our economy though, but the higher AU$ is partially because of how much better our economy is doing compared to other countries, due to the elimination of the virus here in most states... but also because the iron ore price is rapidly increasing this year, which is said to have sent our dollar to parity last time).

As for the Yen, the last posting on September 1st appears to be right on the peak of the rate before it dropped 5 yen over 2 months, and then gained back that 5 yen in the last 2 months.... leaving us back at about 78 yen.

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7532 (up almost 2 cents from SEPT - it was actually 1 whole cent higher 5 days ago)
- GB£ - 0.5616 (up slightly from SEPT)
- JP¥ - 77.875 (down slightly from SEPT)
- EU€ - 0.6170 (almost unchanged from SEPT)
- NZ$ - 1.0692 (down over 2 cents since SEPT)

(bank and paypal rates can be up to 3% less than the figures above)

[griffin]

The last two months have been a bit of a roller-coaster ride with the currencies, but overall, the AU$ is doing better than 2 months ago.
I think the best performer recently has been against the Yen, which hit a low of 73yen in October, and is currently at 83yen... over 14% improvement for the au$.
The au$ was at US 57 cents at the end of March last year... and now look at it. Almost 20% gain against the us$ in 11 months.
(May 2013 was when the au$ was last at parity to the us$... almost 8 years ago)

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7916 (up almost 4 cents from DEC)
- GB£ - 0.5592 (down slightly from DEC)
- JP¥ - 83.716 (up 6 yen from DEC)
- EU€ - 0.6509 (up over 3 cents from DEC)
- NZ$ - 1.0722 (up slightly since DEC)

(bank and paypal rates can be up to 3% less than the figures above)

[griffin]

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7779 (down 2 cents since FEB - lost 4 cents then gained 2 cents - the high in FEB was just under the previous high six years ago)
- GB£ - 0.5518 (down slightly from FEB)
- JP¥ - 85.076 (up more than a yen from FEB - hitting a record high on May 10th, the highest since FEB 2018)
- EU€ - 0.6405 (down 1 cent since FEB)
- NZ$ - 1.0722 (same as FEB - gained 2 cents then lost 2 cents)

(bank and paypal rates can be up to 3% less than the figures above)

[griffin]

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...
(the AU$ has taken a big hit in the last four months across the board, which makes it more expensive importing from any country)

- US$ - 0.7263 (down 5 cents since MAY - looks like the high in February was a peak)
- GB£ - 0.5301 (down 2 pence since MAY)
- JP¥ - 80.373 (down 5 yen since MAY)
- EU€ - 0.6197 (down 2 cents since MAY)
- NZ$ - 1.0354 (down 4 cents since MAY)

(bank and paypal rates can be up to 3% less than the figures above)

[griffin]

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7171 (peaked at 75 cents at end of October, then dropped 5 cents in 5 weeks)
- GB£ - 0.5300 (same rate as SEPT)
- JP¥ - 83.091 (up 3 yen since SEPT)
- EU€ - 0.6339 (up 2 cents since SEPT)
- NZ$ - 1.0600 (up 2 cents since SEPT)

(bank and paypal rates can be up to 3% less than the figures above)

[Skyfire]

The Yen has weakened significantly over the last five days to a level not seen since early 2018 - now over 88 to 1 AUD.

[griffin]

Time to go shopping...
I hate having to cancel items at EBGames (local releases are more reliable for returns/refunds), but at that exchange rate I might look at getting Crosscut from Japan instead.

[griffin]

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.7165 (almost exactly the same as JAN 6th - but climbed to almost 76 cents on APR 6th, then dropped to 68 cents on MAY 12th, and back up 3 cents since)
- GB£ - 0.5678 (up 4 pence since JAN)
- JP¥ - 91.089 (up 8 yen since JAN) --- Now is the time to buy or pre-pay for things released in Japan.
- EU€ - 0.6674 (up 3 cents since JAN)
- NZ$ - 1.0969 (up 4 cents since JAN)

(bank and paypal rates can be up to 3% different than the figures above)

[Skyfire]

The Yen hit 96 today, recovering from its drop since April when it was 95, and its highest level since mid-2015.

[Skyfire]

The Yen was over 98 to 1 AUD about a week and a half ago, not seen since late 2014, but dropped dramatically on Thursday after the Japanese government intervened by buying yen, something it hasn't done since 1998. Consequently, the rate has fallen to about 93. 93 is still pretty good but it looked like it was going to break 100. Analysts believe the effect will be temporary and the yen will weaken further.

[griffin]

Five months since the last update, so there have been some big changes... especially the US$, which strengthened so much in the last few months that we lost 10cents against it, which makes things about 15% more expensive from there.

As of today, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1...

- US$ - 0.6199 (dropped 10cents since its last peak in May)
- GB� - 0.5544 (climbed to 62pence in September, before a rapid drop to less than it was in May)
- JP� - 92.219 (climbed to 98yen in September, before dropping to about what it was in May)
- EU� - 0.6376 (down over 5cents from its last peak in September)
- NZ$ - 1.1143 (climbed to 1.14 in late September, then dropped back 3cents)

(bank and paypal rates can be up to 3% different than the figures above)

[Skyfire]

Bank of Japan made a shock move today to its monetary policy and the Yen suddenly surged. We were trading about 92-93 Yen for 1 AUD in the last couple of weeks. After the BOJ announcement it's now about 88.

Just when my MP-56 Trailbreaker will be billed in Japan in 11 days. Sigh.

[Skyfire]

The AUD has surged against the JPY in the last 1-2 weeks. It's now trading at about 97 to 1, a level not seen since Sept 2022 and, prior to that, 2014/15. I wonder if the BOJ will intervene again. This might be a good time to buy your Japanese products, if you were waiting on the Yen.

[Golden Phoenix]

The AUD has surged against the JPY in the last 1-2 weeks. It's now trading at about 97 to 1, a level not seen since Sept 2022 and, prior to that, 2014/15. I wonder if the BOJ will intervene again. This might be a good time to buy your Japanese products, if you were waiting on the Yen.

I hope they hold off doing anything for a couple more weeks. I have a trip planned soon

[Skyfire]

JPY to AUD hit 99 to 1 today after hovering around 95-97 since the start of the year and falling to 95s a few weeks ago. Time to buy your Amazon JP and other JP store stuff!

[Skyfire]

So, the JPY is pretty much in free fall... the AUD has been steadily climbing since Feb and surging since May and especially the last few weeks. At about 108 JPY to 1 AUD, it's at around 30 year high.

[Skyfire]

Looks like the Japanese government intervened - the AUD lost 4 Yen in the last week or so to about 105 after hitting 109.