Currency rates (added every week or two).

[bowspearer]

One thing that's worth adding in here. Lyndon LaRouche recently made an economic forecast that with everything going on, the entire global financial system could begin to melt down as early as July 10th. I'm not posting this to get into any political discussions about the man or his policies. However given his track record in predicting his kind of thing (the US recession of the 1960s, Wall Street in '88 and the GFC) I figure it's worth noting, as it may well be a case of buying what anything we had our eyes on in the next couple of weeks, as if he is right, it may be quite a while before some of us are going collectibles buying as of a fortnight from now.

EDIT: The factors this forecast was based on were apparently the Greek financial crisis and 47 of the 50 US states being in danger of declaring bankrupcy due to budgeting issues (they're currently bankrupt and have until the first week of July to finalise their budgets), while the restoration of Glass Stegall legislation which would instantly stabilise the situation has continued to be blocked by the US congress. Again, not trying to get into a political discussion here- just mentioning something relevant by an individual with a knack for predicting these things and what their forecast has been based on.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

If it could hold off for a few weeks that'd be nice...

[griffin]

As of 18th July, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1

- US$ - 1.0647 (up very slightly - has been yoyo-ing a lot in the last few weeks)
- GB£ - 0.6599 (up very slightly)
- JP¥ - 84.175 (down)
- EU€ - 0.7524 (up)
- NZ$ - 1.2587 (way down - by 5c in the last month)

[Accel]

so according to xe.com its $1.10404 to the USD today due to USA going down the toilet.

[griffin]

Despite how worthless the American economy is looking for the future (national debt is expected to double in the next 12 years), it is causing world markets to think gloomy prospects, causing our dollar to plunge overnight from 1.09 to 1.04.
Because our economy is such a 'small fish in the sea', relying on other countries prospering to have this enviable economy, we end up becoming a less desirable investment to the US economy... an economy that currently owes about $40,000 for every American citizen, in national debt (which like I said, is expected to double in 12 years).
And they still keep their triple-A credit rating - what business/company would continue to exist with that sort of future debt outlook? Like, who would invest in a "company" that announces a forecast loss of another 13 trillion dollars over 12 years, on top of their current 14 trillion debt?
(and they are actually excited about cutting spending by 1 trillion over that 12 years... they are losing more than that every year - so even if they cut that much EVERY year, they still wouldn't be keeping ahead of the estimated growing debt)

At least if the markets stabilise over the next few days/weeks, the value of the US$ should continue to progressively slide, making it cheaper for our toy collecting.

[griffin]

As of 6th August, according to xe.com, these are the current rates for AU$1

- US$ - 1.0444 (way down, after reaching 1.10 a week ago)
- GB£ - 0.6371 (way down)
- JP¥ - 81.882 (way down)
- EU€ - 0.7308 (way down)
- NZ$ - 1.2386 (way down)

[griffin]

Dropped another US 3cents in the last 2 days.
And a similar amount with most of the other major currencies.

[bowspearer]

We've got a major problem just round the corner. The recent raising of the debt ceiling has simply put off the inevitable for a very short while.

Once that happens, China are screwed because they hold a heap of America's debt. Once that happens, China can no longer afford to build so they stop buying raw materials. At that point we kiss the mining boom goodbye.

Ironically, without crossing over into politics by getting into specifics, the way out would harm the international banks and central banks, which are trying to stay afloat, and which are powerful enough for world leaders to not want to go against.

The other problem for us is that our banks are in debt to the tune of roughly 15 trillion dollars through their derivatives holdings (it dropped down to 12 billion at the height of the GFC). In fact the only thing that's keeping them afloat are short term 90 day loans which they're generating collateral for through the housing boom.

The problem there is that we have the last uninsulated property bubble left in the world to my knowledge (as fr as I'm aware, all the others have already burst), and mortgage delinquency rates are so large (over 90 days according to a report from ANZ a while back) that the next interest rate rise will send families teethering over the edge, resulting in mass-foreclosures, bursting the property bubble and putting us so far into recession that we'll potentially be facing a depression.

All that of course, could make the exchange rate back at the height of the Asian Economic Crisis seem like we were filthy rich in comparison.

[kaiden]

Dropped another US 3cents in the last 2 days.
And a similar amount with most of the other major currencies.

wow that is depressing. i was hoping america wouldnt raise the debt ceiling and have their dollar plummet to say $1AU = $0.70US for a few years :P

[bowspearer]

wow that is depressing. i was hoping america wouldnt raise the debt ceiling and have their dollar plummet to say $1AU = $0.70US for a few years :P

Unfortunately this situation has been predicted by physical economists since the 60s. It's actually a wonder that the global monetary system has held out as long as it has.