currency

The British Pound vs. The Dollar

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What is going on now? Last year the pound traded at over NT$66, now it is at NT$47 and likely to go to $45 soon. I was in Taipei 101 for lunch, and went upstairs to see the Taipei Stock Exchange which has recently agreed with London’s Stock Exchange on the sale of ETFs. This should be a good deal for Taiwanese investors making it easier and cheaper to find good quality, diverse ETFs.

It was while I was there that I noticed how much the British Pound had fallen that day against the US Dollar. It’s currently trading at about $1.3833 today and about NT$46.4864. This down by about 1/3rd against the US, and slightly less against the NTD! While my stocks are suffering, too, it gladly boosts my relative purchasing power!

british pound

But the vagaries of recent markets really make the mind boggle! Still when things are like this, there are opportunities for tremendous riches!

Quick Bits: Google Calculates Currency

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I know this is likely an old feature in Google, but it’s one I happened on by chance when I was researching GBP:US$ currency levels. As an aside, I noted that just a few weeks ago, the GBP was getting nearly 2 dollars, but the currency has weakened (or weak-kneed) by nearly 10% in just a shortime! It’s currently under $1.80.

Anyway, take a look at the image. The next time you’re away in foreign lands, you can whip out your mobile and do some approximate (I did say ‘approximate’ transactions) to figure out whether you’re getting the best rates or even just what the rates are.

currency in Google

The syntax is a little quirky:

Your Amount + Your Currency + in Target Currency

The result is worked out for you in the first line and presented. You’ll find that you can work out odd amounts, quicker than using a calculator, and you’ll be able to see any typos and redo the calculation faster and more accurately.

If you don’t know the currency code, you’ll need to find a currency list for you to identify your currency. But after that you can simply enter the currency name as normal. It doesn’t work for Gold or Silver but it’d be useful if it could. In fact, working out stock prices would also be a good way to use the function. Wonder why Google didn’t do that yet?

Oh, and did I say you could link to the calculation, embed the link in emails and websites, and so on? No. Try it.