Playing the right currency game

by Catherine Woods - Wednesday, 23rd April 2008 -

It’s been another tough day for sterling but fluctuations in the currency markets can be turned to a business’s advantage, according to FC Exchange managing director Nick Fullerton.

“Often people know their business but they may not know currency and appreciate the importance of what effect foreign exchange markets can have on their market,” Fullerton says. “If you don’t know what exchange rate you’re playing around with, your profit can be a lot or a little.”

He continues: “One man’s problem is another man’s profit. If there’s a very weak dollar and a strong sterling and you’re importing from America, that’s great news and people have been booking forward and forward on those currencies. However, it’s swings and roundabouts, depending on which currency you’re dealing with.”

Fullerton believes sterling will continue to struggle for a time yet. The euro, however, remains in a good position. “The euro seems to be fairly steady,” he says. “It hasn’t benefited from the up but it’s benefiting from the down.

“The EU has its eye on the ball with regards management of the economy. There isn’t a culture of debt there. That’s the main problem here. We’ve seen people borrowing excessively, fostering a culture of credit. It’s all come to a head.”

Picture source

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