all our savings are in high interest(joke!)UK savings a/c's.I want to place a goodly part of our money in dollars as a hedge against wobbly pounds/euros for the medium term,but obviously want to be able to get out of dollars when the time seems right.Even though the US economy seems to be in as much trouble as our own,the dollar seems to be regarded as the safe haven when everything else looks too risky. I'm also looking at gold(too late in the day of course!)if it falls below $950-whats the best way of investing-paper or the real thing?Any advice would be most gratefully appreciated.cocos987
Glenn
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You could open an International account with a bank, denominated in dollars.
To open the account you will probably have to go through the rigmarole of providing identification by post, even if the International bank is part of your own banks Group. ( Look into the charges levied by any international bank you consider. Some are cheaper than others.)
Then you pay your sterling in and have it converted at the then-current exchange rate.
However, you need to check whether the offshore bank is regulated by the FSA, and thereby covered by its Compensation Scheme. e.g. Channel Island and Isle of Man are not covered. And if it's not covered by the FSA then who does regulate/cover it ?
Likewise with Broker accounts. e.g. I have converted all the capital in one of my accounts into dollars by doing a single trade on Cable - sell £, buy $. Having done this I am still able to trade with all the capital in other things at the same time.
I think that the dollar will rally for most of this year, if not longer, because, as you say, it is still the worlds reserve currency (although it won't be forever imo).
Gold may well go lower than your $950 imo, perhaps below $700, so you need skill to pick a good price.
You can buy and sell Investment Grade bullion through www.bullionvault.com and have it stored in London, New York or Zurich.
You could use an ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) to get into Gold, long or short.
A few gold coins for emergencies perhaps, but they are expensive compared to bullion and the spread is wider.
Glenn
To open the account you will probably have to go through the rigmarole of providing identification by post, even if the International bank is part of your own banks Group. ( Look into the charges levied by any international bank you consider. Some are cheaper than others.)
Then you pay your sterling in and have it converted at the then-current exchange rate.
However, you need to check whether the offshore bank is regulated by the FSA, and thereby covered by its Compensation Scheme. e.g. Channel Island and Isle of Man are not covered. And if it's not covered by the FSA then who does regulate/cover it ?
Likewise with Broker accounts. e.g. I have converted all the capital in one of my accounts into dollars by doing a single trade on Cable - sell £, buy $. Having done this I am still able to trade with all the capital in other things at the same time.
I think that the dollar will rally for most of this year, if not longer, because, as you say, it is still the worlds reserve currency (although it won't be forever imo).
Gold may well go lower than your $950 imo, perhaps below $700, so you need skill to pick a good price.
You can buy and sell Investment Grade bullion through www.bullionvault.com and have it stored in London, New York or Zurich.
You could use an ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) to get into Gold, long or short.
A few gold coins for emergencies perhaps, but they are expensive compared to bullion and the spread is wider.
Glenn
Martinghoul
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DXY futures or the UUP ETF. Both represent a way to go long USD vs a basket of world ccies.
everyonerich
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not worth doing it unless you got multimillion pound and need to deposit in foreign currency to spread the fluctuation and risk?
GammaJammer
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Well even by your standards tht's a lame-@ssed unhelpful reply. Not much 'pleasure' to be derived here I'd have thought. Unless you're merely pleasuring yourself of course. Which, judging by your posts here seems to be your objective
