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Friday, April 22, 2011

The US Dollar - King of the Currencies

The most popular traded currency in the world is the "greenback" or the dollar. Represented by the code USD, the dollar is representative of the biggest and strongest economy in the world. In fact, many currencies are pegged to the USD and most currencies are compared against the dollar when talking about the strength of that currency.

American dollars are the easiest currency to trade in and most online trading platforms provide easy and cheap transactions between most foreign currencies, especially the is currency. Buying US dollars with Australian dollars has never been more simple now that facilities like the one mentioned have become available to the general internet user. Of course, it is advisable to know what you are doing before starting trading but, these online resources provide the perfect setting for you to purchase your first US dollar.

Because the Australian and American economies generally respond to each other, the currency rate between the two has remained relatively stable. However, market shocks (such as 9/11 and the recent Japanese Tsunami) have been known to happen and the savvy forex trader can seize the opportunity to convert US dollars to Australian dollars or vice versa to make a profit. Online resources allow for traders to have up to the minute exchange rates at their fingertips for immediate response to and fluctuations in the market.

Online currency converters indicate that the currency rate between the AUD and the USD is 1 AUD = 0.9912 USD. Perhaps not the best time to buy USD, how about an Indian Rupee?

When travelling overseas you can take over your spending money in many forms. Firstly you could decide to take physical cash with you. This is risky as you may be robbed or misplace the cash, leading to great losses. Alternatively there are other ways of taking electronic cash with you.

You could use a travel card, which is a debit card issued by your bank. This operates much like your standard VISA card or Master card and can be used at all foreign destinations to make purchases and withdraw cash in that foreign currency. The process is quite simple. With these travel money cards you are required to load local cash onto this card which is converted into the foreign currency at the daily exchange rate. Watch the daily currency exchange rates as these can fluctuate up or down depending on the supply and demand of your currency relative to others trading on the global market.

The conversion rates are quoted online as regularly. You can easily compare the conversion rates and your rate drops or climbs you can decide to buy or you're your dollars. You can easily search on the internet for currency exchange rates and Australia or US dollars.

Finally there is the option of Travellers cheques. These are cheques which are purchased and redeemed in the foreign currency to be easily redeemed overseas when required. The benefit is that they are easily replaced when lost or stolen.

Look around before you buy your travel money card or travel credit card as different banking organizations have different currency exchange rates and commission structures. Depending on your amount a saving of a few cents can lead to savings of hundreds or even thousands of dollars when ensuring you have enough travel cash.


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