US dollar so strong....

[becboo]

Yup I would personally be holding off and reassessing in a month but I suppose it depends how urgently you want the books!

Bec.

[ness]

Yes the rates change daily. You never know whether it will go up or down. Also think of the rates you see on TV as "wholesale" rates as when you purchase you would normally get a slightly worse rate depending on your bank etc. If you are spending a smallish amount a few cents drop won't make a huge difference in the whole scheme of things but if spending a lot that is when you will see the difference. eg. on $100 a two cent drop might only work out to $4 more expensive iykwim

[tikki]

It seems odd that because the US economy is the one with all the problems, our dollar dropped. But it's because there is a shortage of US dollars as a result of their banking/credit crunch that their dollar is up against ours. well, it made sense when my stockbroker BIL explained it me

[2thorns1rose]

Thank-you everyone

Looks as though I might have to just order them if it doesn't seem it will get any better. I have a 10pg assessment to hand in by the end of next month so I kinda can't wait too long anyway LOL. The books I need I can only seem to find in the US (on Wicca), so.....

Hehehe... thanks so much again for replying!

[2thorns1rose]

OMGoodness, serve me right for holding out - it's gotten even worse :O Boohoo, runs off to have a little cry LOL

[kirrily]

Tikki, I was wondering the same thing - I would have thought our dollar would have been stronger since the USD$ was dropping... Glad there is an actual explanation for it though, even if it doesn't make a lot of sense!

[mummygeorgie]

Bummer Kirsty

Thankfully all the things I want from the US are wants not needs so I just tell myself no!

[melbel69]

In really simplistic terms the US dollar has gone up because the federal reserve has bought out the companies that went bust (its far more complex than that but you get the gist).....Basically in the US at the moment the taxpaying public actually own most of the major banks and mortgage companies in a very ironic way because the federal reserve has had to buy them in order to prop them up....it is like an artificial inflation of their dollar and basically when this initial resurgence has died down the dollar over there will crash again....some say even worse this time.....Australia will suffer BUT we are actually the best placed of nearly all the developed countries to ride this out....our economy is very strong at the moment and because we have such strong economic links with China who are the up and coming players in the industrial scene we should do OK. Say whay you will about China's dubious human rights policies they are going to be the next big financial player and they depend on us for a lot of raw product so any losses we see in the US should be offset by our gains there. Places like England are already starting to suffer I have friends there who are saying everything has gone up a rdidiculous amount in recent months.

hope that helps explain some of it.....most analysts say that we will be back up nearly dollar for dollar again before or just after christmas

[~karen~]

greg was saying our dropping dollar value was linked to the commodity market - most of our money is in commodities and all countries with most of their money in commodities are also dropping despite the US problems - the drop in the US the day after the bill was passed to prop up the market was probably the biggest shock

oh have you looked at the book place in england (i'll go search and come back with a link - the book co-op or something - i got diy kids and a charlie and lola there much cheaper and free post)

[~karen~]

The book depository