JMB

JR perhaps changing the timescale of one's life is a key to calmer life - how zen is that![geek]

Daft Doctor.  No offence taken.  You can view forex charts from any number of sources.  I found these at fxstreet.com (I don't use any of them so can't comment on quality etc) http://www.fxstreet.com/rates-charts/ If you look at yesterday's 60 minute euro pound chart, you will see what I mean about the pound taking a beating versus the euro.  It made a strong gain early in the day and then lost it after the bad news came out and so ended up pretty much where it started.  For me the big thing is that the pound made a significant break through a key level of resistance against the US dollar - ie it broke out of a trading range.  Had the pound not been knocked back into touch after the bad news, then we may have seen it leg it upwards against both the dollar and the euro. I tend to look at the last two of four decimal points, so a large change at this level may be insignificant or non-existent if you are looking at only the first two decimal points (I'm not saying you are by the way). FYI currency related news releases and their impact/significance can be seen at forexfactory.com in the calendar section. Hope that sheds some light on my "strong statement of opinion".  [:D]

Thank you for pointing that out Jacqui - I shall try and read the threads a little more diligently in future. [:)]

Ouch I've been out for a few hours and find my name has been taken in vain (sp?).  Bugsy it's 1.7 US dollars to the pound not the euro that is mooted as equilibrium.  It is the relationship between the pound and the dollar and the euro and the dollar that counts - that's why the value of the dollar to the pound and euro is so important.  Daft Doctor I never said the pound will reach parity with the euro; however, I have no doubt the pound will eventually (months or years not weeks) reach parity with the euro and when that happens the case for Britain dropping the pound and adopting the euro will become very strong IMHO. Just looked at the charts - wow the pound has taken a beating this afternoon.

Wow the pound just fell substantially off the back of three lots of bad news so all the gains made this morning have been lost. The UK Current Account is much worse than expected.

The pound broke through a very important level against the dollar this morning.  We could be in for some pound strength for a while.  It is possible we could be in a run up to 1.7 to the dollar (which has been mooted as a sustainable level against the dollar - ie neither strongly undervalued nor strongly overvalued) and so if the euro doesn't also gain strength against the dollar (it's looking weak at the moment) then we could see a nice rise in the pound against the euro ...or anything else could happen ... but my bets are on further short term strength for the pound against the euro. As I have typed this message the pound is rapidly heading back to where it started this morning.  It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few hours as I think this may give a clue as to what happens over the next few weeks.

UK to sink further into red than any major country

Dust is a real pain.  This is where, if you are not in need of having more than one lens, a camera with a lens fixed to the body of the camera comes into its own.  If you never have to remove the lens, then dust will not get into your camera (or at least there's one less pathway for it).  I suppose you could just stick to one lens and never take it off the camera body. I find these days I am using one lens more and more (fixed focal length 85mm 1.2) and rather than reframing a shot using a zoom, I'm physically moving about to optimise the frame.  I'm considering buying a second camera body so I can dedicate one lens to a camera - but obviously this is an expensive route. My CMOS is so dirty most of the time it would be cleaner if I wiped it with an oily rag (that is a joke by the way, you should never touch your sensor).  I have a very helpful camera shop not far from where I live and they kindly blow away the dust for me for no charge - although I think I'm getting close to having used up all my favours. The other option is to live with the dust and remove it using software after you've taken the photo - but this is time consuming and boring. At the moment I have a big blob (probably a miniscule spec of dust) appearing in the middle right of all my images.  I am not confident I can safely remove it myself, so will live with it until I next get into the camera shop.

Cor Blimey Riley.  That's it, I'm never going back to Mud Isle to live.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/44d67972-5eab-11de-91ad-00144feabdc0.html

Sorry Claire, I should have searched for it first ...

I'm sure you are all familiar with Yann Arthus-Bertrand.  The Earth from the Air is an extraordinary body of work. Anyway old Yann has taken things one step further and produced a rather remarkable film called Home (funnily enough the French language version is called Maison). While I'm firmly in the global-warming-is-happening-because-of-increased-solar-activity camp, I'm also a firm believer in the notion that we need to consume less. This is worth a watch on several levels http://www.home-2009.com/us/index.html

Claire, the notion that France employs fewer people in government than GB just doesn't sit comfortably with me.

Thank you Dog. For the USA it appears to be as follows: The current ratio is 22 million government employed / 136 million total employed  = 16.2%. The federal government employs about 2.7 million people. State governments employ about 5 million people. Local governments employ about 14 million people. According to Moneyweek in 2005, the UK had some 75% of the working population in employment  - more than any other developed country (63% in France). The UK had some 6.6m employed in the public sector, currently some 40% of the working population assuming a rate 22.4 % in 1998 and a 2% rise each year since then. The private sector in the UK now supports an unprecedented number of workers who are paid from taxes.  Every three private sector workers pay for two public sector workers.  Surely this is not sustainable. So glad I sold my small business in the UK - the tax and administrative burden did not warrant all the risk, hard work and diminishing return.  I despair ...

What is this compared to the total working population and how does this compare to the UK I wonder?

Sweet17 nobody has a clue what is going to happen, but my feeling is this is more of a Don't Panic Mr Mainwaring than a We're Doomed scenario.  I'm holding onto my pounds for the time being.  They have nice pictures of the Queen on them you know.

The Euro had a bit of a rally against the dollar this morning and that had a effect upon the pound. Then there was bad news about UK industrial output which has declined for the 12th consecutive month.  There was also some mildly bad news about UK retail sales.  The upshot of this is the pound fell through the floor. It is also worth noting the UK public sector borrowed more in May (it was reported today) than in any single month since records began in 1993. It seems the market is ignoring the pound when there is good news and hammering it when there is a bad news. I think the general sentiment in the market is that the pound is oversold.  Which means there could be a correction to the upside; i.e., it may become stronger against the euro. 

Give it to me, I'll look after it for you [:D]

Bet you wish you hadn't asked now [:D]

Sweet17, seeing as you asked [:D] http://www.forexfactory.com/  Go to today's calendar and you will see at 10h30 French time there were three events (data release / news items) that affect the pound. The first, the CPI y/y is the Consumer Price Index year on year.  An explanation of why this is important news is found by clicking the little blue rectangular DETAIL icon.  The previous value was 2.3%.  The forecast value was 1.9% and the actual was 2.2%.  As actual was better than forecast and as this is a high impact data release, one would expect the pound to became stronger (all other things being equal) for at least a little while.  And this is what it did.  The price then went in favour of the euro for a while (price retraced until it hit (exactly) the 50% Fibonacci retracement level) and it is, as I type, heading in the opposite direction - one that is good for the pound.  In the next few hours one can expect price to continue until it retouches the low of the day 0.8432 and it may continue until it reaches key support levels like S1 at 0.8426, or the monthly S2 at 0.8423 or other Fibonacci extension levels including the 38% around .8405, the 61.8% at around .8389 or the 100% at .8363. There are no other big news items today, so short of that interloper Brown getting forcibly removed from office things will probably keep going as they are for the time being. It is worth noting that on the Euro Pound daily chart it is showing early signs of a slow down (which could lead to a retracement) in the rate at which the pound is gaining against the euro.  So my unasked-for advice is don't expect the current trend to keep going for much longer.  You will see on the calendar there are several important pound related events tomorrow, so expect some fireworks and price volatility.  Anything could happen. And before any of you get the idea into your head that trading forex sounds easy is a great way to get rich quick, let me tell you with great authority, that trading forex for 99% of people who try is a sure-fire way to throw money down the drain.  Don't do it.  It is a very complex thing and the game is heavily biased in favour of the big players.  Sorry to sound so belligerent, but it makes me so cross to see all these ads floating around boasting about how you can make lots of money trading FX.  So many people I know have lost their shirt - fortunatley for me I live in a hot country and don't wear shirts so I no have no shirts to lose [Www]  

Three lots of goods news for the pound this morning at 10h30.  Should result in an albeit temporary gain in the pound against the euro. 

Sorry Jay I didn't mean to steal your thunder.

FT article:      http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e06f566c-576f-11de-8c47-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=rss

Very funny

Sweet 17 it could have been much worse.  About twenty years ago I was driving late at night through Harare and the then chief of Police inexplicably let me drive into his brand new car in the middle of the main drag.  He was a bit jolly batey and hauled me off the the notorious and very smelly klink.  Fortunately before I got through the front door, presumably never to see the light of day again, my then girlfriend had a little chat with him and I was let off.  She never would tell me what she said ...