Aussie Dollar at Record High! Buy U.S.A.

[ballaratdragons]

If you are one of the folks that likes to take advantage of a healthy Aussie Dollar to buy from the United States, well get ready to purchase those goodies.

The Aussie Dollar is now at a record High at 98.8c and is expected to get up to $1.20 in the near future and stay there for a while :)

Start Ordering!

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5d8e95bc-d1eb-11df-965c-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=rss

[gregbradley]

I remember in 1981 being in Los Angeles and changing over Aussie dollars at a local US bank - US$1.19 for each Aussie dollar. That was before it was floated.

It'll be interesting to see if it can mantain above US98 cents where it has faltered before. If it breaks above it then its blue sky territory.

Greg.

[strongmanmike]

Don't forget you will lose about 2% of this 98.8% to the financial institute when you transfer or mastercard your payment, so we need the value to hit $1.02 to truly get parity on a purchase :thumbsup:

...and to think I went early (goods still not built) at 94.7 (92.7 after banks cut) two weeks back to be safe... doh! :doh:

Mike

[ballaratdragons]

Well, it's heaps better than it has been for a looonngg time.

Even at 98.8 it's still good for buying stuff. I can remember lots of people taking advantage of the mad buying spree when it reached as high at 97c last year. Me included :lol:

[casstony]

The world's financial system is so fragile it's impossible to predict where currencies will go(IMHO) - the US govt might borrow/print more $ to prop up the system and keep our currency strong; a European nation could fall over, lock up the credit system and cause our dollar to plunge against the US; there's probably hundreds of significant but unpredictable events that could cause rapid changes due to the extreme fragility of the system.

[erick]

And I bought a bunch of filters, all excitedly, when it cracked 80c last year! :P

But I am stocking up on bits and pieces from the USA while the exchange rate sun is shining brightly.

[ballaratdragons]

Good on you Eric.

Yep, as they say: Make Hay while the Sun Shines :thumbsup:

[wavelandscott]

Making the US$ "cheaper" is just another way to help boost the US Economy...

Another neat benefit to me personally is the value of my Super held in Australia when now converted to greenbacks may mean I can actually retire someday...since most of it went in at an exchange rate of around .60...it has grown rather nicely with this recent exchange movement!

[DavidU]

This .98c has been a disaster for me. It is no longer viable selling my products to the US.

[Visionoz]

There seems to be always a "ying-yang" balancing act in life ain't it? - some are joyous at the news whilst others are disappointed!!

Cheers
Bill

[ballaratdragons]

Dave, the way the US dollar is falling I don't think they will be buying much of anything.
Doesn't help businesses like yours :(

[gregbradley]

This has to be a big factor in the US dollar falling and this won't be changing anytime soon:

By far the most dramatic was the declaration that China did not plan to buy any more US treasury securities or bonds. The person who made the statement does not make that decision, but he is closely connected to the China hierarchy. He explained that the $US2.5 trillion of China’s foreign reserves held in US dollars was burdensome because it limited the flexibility of monetary policy and any appreciation of the Chinese currency would cause loss. China would therefore not be a buyer of US dollars but would not sell. China would look to diversify its holdings and was a buyer of European and Japanese government bonds as well as other currencies.

Robert Gottliebsen


Greg.

[mithrandir]

This morning's TT rate was $AU1 buys $US0.9999

PayPal gave me $US0.95something.

So each of WBC and PayPal made about 4% on the transaction.

[Max Vondel]

Yea a good time to buy......
But wait...if interest rates go up again....
The AU$ will go up again....?!.....probably too.....

There maybe better months yet to come

:hi:

[AdrianF]

Whats a good place in the US to buy filters and stuff?

Adrian

[erick]

"stuff"?

[erick]

These folks are popular:-

http://www.optcorp.com/

I'll add some more as I find them.

http://telescopes.net/doc/0

http://www.agenaastro.com/

https://www.omegafilters.com/

I've bought from all these folks. Check IIS threads on these stores - people have commented from time to time.

[leon]

This is all well and good guys, but nothing is a bargain unless it is needed.

Leon

[TrevorW]

and there is nothing I want (or can afford) at the moment :shrug:

[h0ughy]

you nearly always need it - or a spare ;)

[h0ughy]

oh by the way this is the current paypal rate

0.99 AUD
PayPal exchange rate:
1 USD = 0.995097 AUD

[Max Vondel]

You can always try a new focuser Leon!
Another EP for the collection....gold plated allen key...etc

On the negative of course it lessens what you have bought and want to sell. So I guess it's not all good for everyone.

:sadeyes:

[ballaratdragons]

At work yesterday I was suppose to order stock from America but I forgot.
Today I remembered and placed the order.

By being 1 day later I saved my boss quite a few dollars :lol:

Now that I have saved him some money I have to convince him to buy stock from DavidU :thumbsup:

[Cloudyagain]

Got my Televue 0.8X reducer from OPT on Tue. Ordered it on Wed. the week before. Excellent service and a great range of "stuff".

[Cloudyagain]

I am going to try and be philosophical here (if I can spell it).

If it's needed, it's needed and therefore has to be bought. If it's needed and cheap then that's a bonus. If it's not needed and it's cheap then that's a bargain;)

[DavidU]

LOL, you are a gem Ken !

[Osirisra]

I grabed a few bits including televue powermate from opt, good times for buying up.

[bartman]

Ummmmm and the price of shipping stays the same?
What I mean is that when I buy a piece of kit from the US of A it costs me a sh@t load to send it to Oz.
I cant give evidence as such for astro 'stuff' ( I bought a circuit board to show some flashing lights to approximate the human breath cycle......weird but I wanted to Pimp my puter case) but I bought a US$9.90 electrical bit and it cost me AUD$40 to send it from the US about a year ago.
Shipping costs VS. US dolla?????
Bartman

[Osirisra]

Yea shipping always horrid

[ballaratdragons]

Wow! Ripped off!

I paid $3 to have a T-shirt sent to me from USA.
It only Cost me $20 to have a $180 Hutech Helical Focuser sent from California.

[bartman]

Heh, if I had the patience and time I would dig out the receipt (re the circuit board)......
Twas a few years back(4 or 5).
I must retract my comment about "astro stuff".
I forgot I bought a moonlight focuser....
$290 + $42 shipping.
Then stupid me ...... didn't get the adapter .... so another shipping cost....
sorry
Bartman

[ballaratdragons]

Nah, that's cool. I believe you. I've heard of people being charged even more!

But I've always had luck with cheap postage.

[OICURMT]

Historical FOREX between the AUD and USD.

Monthly average except for October 2010, which is current average through the 8th (yesterday)