Florida Real Estate, Tourism and Immigration News

DOLLAR RETURNS TO FAVOUR

Renewed nervousness about financial institutions sparks another flight to safety. Failed gilt auction trips sterling. UK inflation refuses to die.

Having failed twice in the previous couple of days sterling eventually managed to break above $1.46 on Tuesday. It made it as far at $1.4750 before heading lower again. By the end of Friday it was down to $1.43 and it lost further ground this morning. When London opened it was trading at $1.4150.

Much as they had done during the previous couple of weeks, investors paid far more attention to politico-economic events and developments than they did to the boring old economic data – even when they were not so boring. There was one exception on Tuesday with the UK inflation numbers. Analysts and the media had confidently predicted that Retail Price Index inflation would be a negative number for the first time since 1960. In the event, editors had to tear up their pre-prepared deflation stories when RPI rose by 0.6% on the year. The Consumer Price Index was an even bigger surprise, rising by an annual 3.2% that left it still above its target range.

The CBI’s Distributive Trades Survey on Wednesday prepared investors for a dismal showing by the official Retail Sales figures. It was just as well; sales fell by 1.9% in February, four times as much as expected. Friday’s final revision to fourth quarter GDP was less of a disappointment. The 1.6% quarterly decline was very close to the earlier estimate of -1.5% and therefore not something to agitate the market.

What did get investors ticking was the “failure” of a 40-year government bond auction. With £1.75 billion of gilts on offer there were bids for only £1.63 billion. Various excuses were offered, principle among which was the fact that the 40-year issue would not be eligible for the Bank of England’s buy-back programme. Commentators were dubious at the time but a successful auction of 13-year index-linked gilts the following day helped the market to relax a little.

The US economic statistics had no more impact than the UK numbers, even though several of them pointed to greater optimism in the residential property market. Existing Home Sales (+5%), the Housing Price Index (+2%), weekly mortgage applications (+32%) and New Home Sales (+5%) all registered improvements. There is a sensation that analysts would love to call a turn to the US property market’s long downward trend but they dare not do so on the back of just one month’s data.

There was similar nervousness about the latest rescue package, the Public-Private Partnership Investment Programme. The aim of the scheme is to encourage private investors to buy the “toxic assets” that have been giving the banks a headache. If they do, the government will subsidise a significant chunk of the purchase price in return for a modest share of any profits. Bond and equity markets took a shine to the plan but it made the FX market nervous about potentially negative effects on the US dollar.

The dollar started to come back into its own after Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman offered his opinion that the government will eventually have to “seize” big banks as the economic and financial crisis deepens. “In the end we’ll come to it,” he said. Although investors had earlier seemed to desert the dollar as a safe-haven currency they suddenly decided they could not do without it after all. There was more of the same after Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said in a TV interview on Sunday that “some banks are going to need some large amounts of assistance.” His comments sounded suspiciously similar to those of Professor Krugman and sparked another rush for cover.

The focus this week will be on the G20 meeting and what it might achieve. Most observers are not unduly optimistic about the outcome. They are more interested in guessing what new stumbling blocks the meeting might throw up. Already on the unofficial agenda is the status of the US dollar as de facto global reserve currency. China would like to see greater use of the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights – a suggestion to which Secretary Geithner apparently does not object – and Russia would like to see a partial return to the Gold Standard. There will doubtless be more off-the-wall proposals as the week progresses.

The dollar’s return to favour has been quite swift, taking it 4% higher against the pound and adding 4.5% to its value against the euro since the early part of last week. Although it could go further, the market’s readiness to change direction at the drop of a hat has become very obvious in the last couple of weeks. Buyers of the dollar should therefore hedge their exposure, fixing a price for half of whatever they need. If price certainty is essential there is no alternative but to cover the whole amount. Otherwise use a stop order to protect the uncovered portion in case another disaster strikes the pound.

For more information and expert guidance on the currency markets, call Moneycorp today.

Laura McLoughlin – Laura.McLoughlin@moneycorp.com
Regional Manager – Florida

Moneycorp Inc
7380 Sand Lake Road
Suite 410
Orlando
Florida 32819

TEL: +1 407 352 5890
FAX: +1 407 352 5893

http://www.moneycorp.com

STERLING STAGES A RECOVERY

Inflation and retail sales numbers improved the appeal of sterling. The US data were predominantly downbeat.

Sterling added three and a half cents over the week, all of which came on Friday and in early trading in the Far East today. During the first half of the week sterling pottered around between $1.41 and $1.43. A Thursday rally to $1.4450 was followed by a return to base at $1.42. Only on Friday did sterling move and stay moved. It opened in London this morning at $1.4550.

Sterling has done well against most currencies. Less than helpful news stories were offset by economic data which, though far from marvellous, were sometimes better than investors had hoped. Two statistics deserve particular credit. Consumer prices fell by a less than expected 0.7% in January, taking CPI inflation down from 3.1% to 3.0%. The modest decline made investors less sure of further aggressive rate cuts by the Bank of England. Friday’s retail sales figures had a similar implication. Up by 0.7% in January sales receipts were a surprising 3.6% higher on the year. These “official” retail sales data have developed a reputation for being erratic. Even the Monetary Policy Committee is wary of attaching too much importance to what it sees as potentially misleading figures. Yet the market could not ignore what looked like a decent performance by shoppers.

On Wednesday morning a rumour did the rounds alleging that Britain would lose its triple-A credit rating. That may or may not be the case but the UK is a long way back in the queue behind Italy, Ireland, Austria and goodness knows who else.

The Confederation of British Industry moaned that sterling weakness has done little to improve the export performance of British companies. How ironic that it made the complaint on the very day the minutes of February’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting came out. According to the minutes; “it appeared that UK exporters had, on average, responded to the lower level of sterling by boosting margins, rather than by cutting foreign currency prices and gaining market share.”

The Federal Open Market Committee is the US equivalent of Britain’s MPC. Like the MPC it publishes the minutes of its meetings. Last week’s issue revealed that the FOMC has become even more pessimistic. It now reckons the US economy will shrink by between 0.5% and 1.3% this year. The week’s few ecostats offered nothing to detract from that view. Both the New York and the Philadelphia Fed reported further slippage in their manufacturing indices; NY from -22 to -35 and the Philly from -24 to -41. Housing starts were down again. In January this year there were 80% fewer than in January 2006. That same month US inflation hit zero for the first time in 53 years.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act continued to befuddle investors who cannot work out whether it ought to be good or bad for the US dollar. They were also taken aback by news that the president is going to whistle up another $275 billion of stimulus, this time to shore up the residential property market. Investors were left to guess where the money would be coming from. Even news that Washington will give Citibank more money was not useful to the dollar. Rescues like that tend to be counterproductive for the US currency because they improve investors’ appetite for risk.

Sterling/dollar continues to behave erratically. Although it has gone nowhere in the last three months its frequent ten-cent excursions make people nervous. Buyers of the dollar should hedge half of their requirement, leaving the remainder uncovered in anticipation of better levels in the future. Use a stop order to protect the downside in case of unexpected alarms.

For more information and expert guidance on the currency markets, call Moneycorp today.

Laura McLoughlin – Laura.McLoughlin@moneycorp.com
Regional Manager – Florida

Moneycorp Inc
7380 Sand Lake Road
Suite 410
Orlando
Florida 32819

TEL: +1 407 352 5890
FAX: +1 407 352 5893

http://www.moneycorp.com

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today voted to reduce the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves by 0.5 percentage points to 1.0%.

The Committee’s latest inflation and output projections will appear in the Inflation Report to be published on Wednesday 11 February.

The minutes of the meeting will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 18 February.

The previous change in Bank Rate was a reduction of 0.5 percentage points to 1.5% on 8 January 2009.

Read the full report: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/news/2009/008.htm

IS IT TIME FOR THE STERLING BOUNCE?

The Pound stopped short of £1=€1, interrupted by the new year holiday. House prices are still falling in Britain and the States, dampening consumer spending. Britain’s manufacturing PMI improved slightly.

Although the turn of the year was a little more volatile than Christmas week Sterling still managed to stick within a four cent range against the US Dollar. It had a look at $1.44 several times but always rebounded, on one occasion as high as $1.48. When London opened this morning the Pound was trading at $1.45.

As the old year ended investors were taking a particular interest in the Pound against the Euro. Having spent the year on Sterling’s case they found themselves within striking distance of their long term objective: £1=€1.

One way or another the holiday fortnight, and especially the New Year break, got in the way. Enough players were ready to lock in some end-of-year profits on their short Sterling positions to prevent the Pound hitting the magic number.

There were precious few UK economic data to affect the Pound one way or the other. Home buyers once again used spare cash to reduce their mortgages rather than leaving in the bank for a diminishing return. The implication was that spending money is not at the top of most families’ to-do list, as evidenced by well known high street names going out of business and M&S issuing a profit warning. Mortgage approvals fell to a record (ten year) low in November and the Halifax announced a 16 per cent annual fall in house prices. The one positive note came with a rise in the manufacturing sector Purchasing Managers’ Index. It was still at a lowly 34.9 but the improvement was unexpected.

In the States the presidential election process continued at its glacial pace towards Mr Obama’s inauguration. The latest proposal from the Obama camp is that $300 billion of tax cuts will be introduced to help the economy recover its momentum. That would no doubt be a relief to householders, who saw the value of their properties slide further with an 18 per cent fall in the year to October, according to the Case/Shiller index. The US manufacturing PMI fell nearly four points to 32.4, its weakest reading since 1980.

Investors are still nervous about the Pound, particularly about the continued decline in UK interest rates and the government’s intention to use quantitative easing (printing money) to stimulate the economy. US interest rates can fall no further and the world is all too well aware that quantitative easing will be a major feature of the Obama administration’s strategy. The supply of Dollars is likely to grow more quickly than the supply of Pounds, suggesting a weakening Dollar this year.

For more information and expert guidance on the currency markets, call Moneycorp today.

Laura McLoughlin – Laura.McLoughlin@moneycorp.com
Regional Manager – Florida

Moneycorp Inc
7380 Sand Lake Road
Suite 410
Orlando
Florida 32819

TEL: +1 407 352 5890
FAX: +1 407 352 5893

http://www.moneycorp.com

MARKET OBSESSED BY PROSPECT OF £1=€1

Sterling was steady against the Dollar as others moved ahead. UK economic data conspired to encourage the bears. McDonald’s is “a safer investment” than gilts. The US government deficit has risen sharply as a result of bail-outs. There are reasons to be optimistic about Sterling/Dollar.

The Pound’s three-cent swoop from $1.50 on Monday and Tuesday was worrying at the time but the following two days’ rally took it back up to peak at $1.51. A correction to $1.48 on Friday was followed by a weekend recovery and Sterling was trading at $1.50 when London opened this morning, unchanged on the week.

As the week progressed, investors and the media became steadily more transfixed by the spectacle of the Pound heading towards parity with the Euro. The possibility of that outcome affected every other Sterling exchange rate, even where it was not strictly relevant. Having seen the Pound fall by a substantial margin in the last 18 months investors seemed inclined to push for the obvious £1=€1 objective, if for no better reason than that of Mallory for wanting to climb Everest.

The UK economic data conspired to keep the bears supplied with ammunition. The RICS agreed with the government that house prices were still moving lower; it recorded the lowest number of November sales since the beginning of its data series 30 years ago. Rightmove told a similar story on Sunday night, conceding that its index of offered prices was some way adrift of what was actually being realised by vendors. UK industrial production fell by 1.7 per cent in October, down by 5.2 per cent from a year earlier. Both components of the producer price index went down between October and November with manufacturers’ costs 3.3 per cent lower on the month. There were no cheers to be heard though. The CBI’s industrial trends survey, which asks manufacturers how business is going, matched October’s 28 year low.

For Sterling the deepest cut of all was the media’s discovery that McDonald’s is a safer bet than the UK government. Credit default swap market prices revealed a cost of 1.2 per cent to insure five year gilts. Cover for five year bonds issued by the burger joint cost just 0.77 per cent.

For the US Dollar there was a slightly less rude awakening. Although it lost little or nothing to the Pound it cut six Euro cents and three Yen. It could be that investors are modifying their attitude to the haven-currency-of-choice. It could also be that they are falling in with the immense size of the bail-out packages being lobbed out to all and sundry. The $50 billion that Bernard Madoff (with the money) has purloined in 50 years pales into insignificance against the $402 billion deficit recorded by Washington in the first two months of this financial year. The total deficit for the whole of the previous 12 months was just (just!) $482 billion. Investors are starting to wonder where the money is coming from.

Nor were those same investors impressed when the Senate kicked out the bill to inject $14 billion into Detroit motor manufacturers. It’s a flea-bite; why are they fretting so? Until only recently the market saw any new US cash hand-out as a calming influence, an inducement to embrace risk and therefore bad for the US Dollar. That attitude now seems to be morphing into a realisation that failing US businesses are bad for the buck.

That the Pound can make progress against the US Dollar, even as it loses ground to the Euro, is reason for optimism. For some time we have advocated hedging at least half of any requirement to buy Dollars. There are now grounds to reconsider that strategy. The Pound has been hammered for five months because it has been the softest target. Investors are increasingly beginning to wonder if it has gone too far. US treasuries remain – and will probably always remain – a more attractive vehicle to investors than UK gilts. The market is much bigger and liquidity is assured. But that does not mean investors’ appetite for US treasuries is infinite, especially if the supply is infinite.

Buyers of the Dollar who need certainty should, as ever, cover their whole amount immaterial of the current exchange rate. For those with a taste for risk, look for a Sterling/Euro base that will spark a turnaround in Sterling/Dollar. Place a stop order, in case it all goes haywire, and look for better levels early in the new year. That’s today’s hostage to fortune.

For more information and expert guidance on the currency markets, call Moneycorp today.

Laura McLoughlin – Laura.McLoughlin@moneycorp.com
Regional Manager – Florida

Moneycorp Inc
7380 Sand Lake Road
Suite 410
Orlando
Florida 32819

TEL: +1 407 352 5890
FAX: +1 407 352 5893

http://www.moneycorp.com

The Bank of England Base Rate was reduced a further 1% to 2% on today.  The Governor invited the Committee to vote on the proposition that Bank Rate should be reduced by 1.0 percentage points to 2.0%. and the Committee voted unanimously in favour of the proposition.

In the United States, a number of indicators had suggested that the slowdown was intensifying. The latest release of the Q3 GDP data had confirmed a small fall in output and the latest monthly data were consistent with a larger fall in the fourth quarter. Declines in both the manufacturing and non-manufacturing had also been very downbeat.

Monthly figures for US consumption expenditure had fallen for five successive months. There as no sign yet of any turnaround in the US housing market, with a large overhang of unsold homes, house building at a 50-year low and house prices falling. The labour market data for October had shown a large fall in employment.

Read the full report here:

http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/minutes/mpc/pdf/2008/mpc0812.pdf

In this week’s update:

Sterling at six year low

- Is a 20 year low on the cards?
- Dollar still the favourite for defensive investors

Sterling lost 11 cents in the first four days of the week, touching below $1.46 on Thursday. Consolidation over the weekend allowed it to open in London this morning at $1.47, close to its lowest level for six years.

It was another week of general investor nervousness for all the same old reasons. If the mood was not of unremitting gloom then the bright spots were very few and far between. Even Beijing’s announcement of a $580 billion stimulus package fell into the bad news box for many investors; China’s economy must be in a parlous situation to require such a boost. Following the IMF’s lead a couple of weeks ago the OECD added its weight to forecasts that developed economies will remain in recession until at least the middle of next year.

The weekend’s G20 meeting in Washington attracted more advance optimism among the tabloids than it did among investors. As Britain’s Observer newspaper put it afterwards, the meeting was “…never, in a single afternoon, going to solve a crisis that has been a generation in the making.” If anything, it made investors more nervous about the banking sector’s recovery prospects: The word “stimulate” cropped up three times while “regulation” appeared 11 times.

There was no let-up in the downward pressure on Sterling. Weak financial institutions, falling interest rates, an ailing real estate market and mounting job losses all fuelled the perception that in a world of economic dogs, Britain is the undisputed pack leader. Wednesday’s quarterly Inflation Report from the Bank of England gave every indication that falling inflation would mean yet more interest rate cuts by the MPC. It was another concrete lifebelt for the sinking Pound.

Nor were the recent economic data of any consolation. The RICS, the government and Rightmove all reported further house price falls. Rightmove also admitted that its subscriber base was dropping at the rate of 300 estate agents every month; more than twice as quickly as the 7 per cent yearly fall in asking prices.

As has become the norm, bad news for the global economy was good news for the US Dollar. Investor nervousness was more than enough to offset what would otherwise certainly have been Dollar-negative developments. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson announced that the much-trumpeted Troubled Asset Relief Program would no longer be taking on board the troubled assets originally envisaged. Instead buying up dodgy mortgage-backed assets it would in future be used to recapitalise the banks directly. The market was utterly unconvinced that this change of tack was a positive development.

Nor was there unrestrained jubilation at the news US retail sales suffered their biggest ever monthly fall in October. But never mind, the market’s love affair with “safe” US treasury assets remains undimmed. Some big-time US investment banks look for the Dollar to continue its advance against the Pound as far as $1.28 – 10 cents down from current levels. Technically it is hard to argue with the projection but some equally clever and well-connected researchers told us not so long ago that we would see oil above $200 a barrel before Christmas.

Sterling’s fall against the Dollar looks over-extended but that does not mean it cannot go further. Tedious though it may be to offer the same advice again and again, the prudent risk management strategy for most buyers of the Dollar is to hedge the exposure, buying half the requirement forward. Anyone needing price certainty has no alternative but to buy the lot. Although there is every chance we will see Sterling higher than this in the new year that is of no consolation to investors with business to do in the meantime.

For more information and expert guidance on the currency markets, call Moneycorp today.

Laura McLoughlin – Laura.McLoughlin@moneycorp.com
Regional Manager – Florida

Moneycorp Inc
7380 Sand Lake Road
Suite 410
Orlando
Florida 32819

TEL: +1 407 352 5890
FAX: +1 407 352 5893

http://www.moneycorp.com

How can you protect yourself from adverse currency fluctuations?

Take advantage of Moneycorps Regular Payment Plan (RPP) today.

Moneycorp and British Homes Group are delighted to announce a new Regular Payments service to enable customers of British Homes Group to make regular overseas payments. This service is available for any regular overseas payment including mortgage payments, pension payments and property maintenance. You may be feeling the pinch of the current credit crisis in Florida and may not see an immediate way to reduce your monthly mortgage payments.

Their RPP allows you to get a fantastic rate of exchange, low transfer fee and no receiving bank charges. You can pay by Direct Debit, and you’ll have the certainty of having a clear schedule of payments so you know well in advance when your payments will be made. They offer three easy options when making or receiving your overseas transfers.

Option 1—Fix the Sterling amount that you transfer each time. With this option you will know the cost of each payment. The US Dollar amount that you will receive will vary each time according to the exchange rate at the time of the transfer.

Option 2—Fix the US Dollar amount that you receive each time. With this option you will know the amount of US Dollars you will receive each transfer and the amount of Sterling will vary according to the exchange rate at the time of transfer.

Option 3—Fix the exchange rate on all of your payments. This option is the most popular as it gives you the peace of mind and security that your payments and exchange rates are fixed for all your payments. They also offer the unique service of scheduling a Regular Payment Plan weekly, monthly, quarterly, biannually and annually.

To find out more about this service, click on the link below and register today. Alternatively contact us directly at the details below

The service uses Direct Debit in the UK to collect your Sterling and automates the payment of money abroad.

For example compared to using your bank to regularly transfer money overseas, if you are sending just £500 per month abroad, the Regular Payment Plan could save you over £300 per year.

Also, compared to banks and other foreign exchange brokers, the Moneycorp Regular Payment Plan is the only service to offer plans on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual and annual basis for maximum flexibility.

In order to set-up your plan, or to find out more about this fantastic service from British Homes Group and Moneycorp please contact Moneycorp on +1 321 559 1050. Alternatively, click here to go to their website.

Kind regards,

British Homes Group and Moneycorp

Currency Update

If you think Sterling has had a tough time in the last couple of months look what happened in 1992.  Do the words "black Wednesday" ring any bells?  On 16 September of that year Britain’s Conservative government abandoned its attempt to keep Sterling in the European Union’s Exchange Rate Mechanism.  In the space of three months the Pound fell from $2 to $1.50.  What we are seeing at the moment is nothing like as bad as that, though it’s bad enough if you’re paid in Sterling.

They were worried about inflation back in the late eighties and early nineties; that is why Britain tried to attach itself to the low-inflation German Mark even at the cost of high interest rates and recession.  They (and that means every government and central bank in the world) are worried about it now, for different reasons.  Higher interest rates won’t bring down the price of oil.  Even less will they bring food prices under control.

They do however make people think, especially if they need to borrow money to do things:  Do I need that business meeting in the Far East?  That 17mpg Chelsea tractor?  More to the point, central banks normally have only one tool at their disposal to keep inflation on target: interest rates.  But they are not stupid.  Oil is not going to $300 a barrel because demand would quickly dry up.   UK house prices will carry on down because they went up too far and to fast.  Lower interest rates will make only marginal difference to either situation.

If this all sounds defeatist and pessimistic, bear in mind it is exactly the message we are hearing from the Bank of England.  As ever, there’s good news and bad news:  Inflation will peak before too long and Britain will – technically at least – go into economic recession.

So what will this mean for Sterling against the Dollar?

There, sadly, it looks at the moment like bad news and bad news.  After seven years of decline the Dollar was overdue for a break and at last it’s got one.  Having plunged to 2 per cent earlier this year US interest rates will not – barring economic disasters – go any lower.  The question is when they will go up.  UK rates ticked down to 5 per cent in April and – barring inflation disasters – they are not going up.  The question is how long it will be before they go down.  The alternatives for currency investors are clear: Get aboard the Dollar as it extends its recovery or stick with the Pound on its way down.

These things are never as cut and dried as they appear.  It would be no surprise to see a correction to the Dollar’s recent run of good fortune but that would not necessarily change the fundamental view.  If the US economy really has turned the corner, as  suggested by the consumer sentiment surveys, and if the UK economy really is heading for hell in the Old Lady’s hypothetical hand-basket, the Pound has further to fall against the Dollar.

How can you protect against currency Fluctuations? Take advantage of our Regular Payment Plan

Our RPP allows you to get a fantastic rate of exchange, low transfer fee and no receiving bank charges. You can pay by Direct Debit, and you’ll have the certainty of having a clear schedule of payments so you know well in advance when your payments will be made. We offer three easy options when making or receiving your overseas transfers.

Option 1—Fix the Sterling amount that you transfer each time. With this option you will know the cost of each payment. The US Dollar  amount that you will receive will vary each time according to the exchange rate  at the time of the transfer.

Option 2—Fix the US Dollar amount that you receive each time. With this option you will know the amount of US Dollars you will receive each transfer and the amount of Sterling will vary according to the exchange rate at the time of transfer.

Option 3—Fix the exchange rate on all of your payments. This option is the most popular as it gives you the peace of mind and security that your payments and exchange rates are fixed for all your payments.

We also offer the unique service of scheduling a Regular Payment Plan weekly, monthly, quarterly, biannually and annually. In addition we offer two payment options to suit your needs and requirements. To find out more about this service, click on the link below and register today. Alternatively contact us directly at the details below

https://members.tttmoneycorp.co.uk/OnlineExperience/OnlineTradingFacility/Application.aspx?rp=10003096

In the last few weeks the Sterling has waivered between 1.945 and 1.965, but analysts predict an increase in coming days.  Days ago the estate agency conglomerate, Rightmove,  announced that asking prices for UK property were up by 1.5% in May immediately lifting Sterling rates for about 10 minutes – the populace soon realized however that actual transactions were running at only 50% of numbers from a year ago which in turn brought rates back down.  A potential slowdown in the UK economy follows on the heels of the US economy "recession".  Many wonder whether the US is truly in recession or if the credit crisis is almost over.

Many commentators believe that the dollar will become stronger in the next 12 to 18 months due to a lag in world economy behind the US.  For this reason, the next time the Sterling approaches 2.0 may be one of the last opportunities for awhile.  Rates are expected to return back down to around 1.85 by Christmas time.  Buyers – NOW is the time to invest in your Florida dream home.  The Orlando tourism economy remains stronger than ever, yet vacancies from the credit crunch have created quite a few deals on Orlando area buy to let villas.

Contact British Homes Group today for your best multi-currency financing opportunities.

Complimentary Orlando Area MLS Search