Sell or Hold USD

It's good to hold some $US. 

Enzyte Bob:

Well you should have enough USD to sell to make any kind of profit worthy of investment.

On the other hand if you have that much  money why bother at all for such a low return.

According to MSN exchange rate down to 49/$.

mugtech wrote:

According to MSN exchange rate down to 49/$.

Enzyte Bob:  Transfer Wise  $1 USD is 49.86 PHP if sent today.

When the exchange rate shot up over ₱51, I moved a good amount over to BDO.  Was worried that things might get shut down, so I got extra cash  to have on hand.

This is just my pension I am talking about here. It might not be much to a lot of you, but every swing of 1 peso means 1100 pesos a month to me. I have 4 months pension saved up and need pesos now to carry on in life. I think I might sell just enough to survive for a month and see where she goes. I would hate it if I held on and ended up with 2012 rates. 42/$1

Made a cc purchase today, exchange rate was down to 49.90.

Munchie wrote:

This is just my pension I am talking about here. It might not be much to a lot of you, but every swing of 1 peso means 1100 pesos a month to me. I have 4 months pension saved up and need pesos now to carry on in life. I think I might sell just enough to survive for a month and see where she goes. I would hate it if I held on and ended up with 2012 rates. 42/$1

You should only exchange dollars that you need. Maybe once a week to get the average of fluctuations...

Agreed...Small fluctuations are expected in the short term, so only exchange what you need for the month.
Longer Term USD is still a safe haven currency....Don't see it hitting 42p/$1.
Unless Philippines manages to find Yamashita's hidden gold!

manwonder wrote:

Longer Term USD is still a safe haven currency....Don't see it hitting 42p/$1.
Unless Philippines manages to find Yamashita's hidden gold!

Marcos found Yamashita's gold, shipped it overseas years ago.

manwonder wrote:

Agreed...Small fluctuations are expected in the short term, so only exchange what you need for the month.
Longer Term USD is still a safe haven currency....Don't see it hitting 42p/$1.
Unless Philippines manages to find Yamashita's hidden gold!

Agreed,

I move dollars to Peso twice a month as needed.
Enzyte Bob

mugtech wrote:

manwonder wrote:

Longer Term USD is still a safe haven currency....Don't see it hitting 42p/$1.
Unless Philippines manages to find Yamashita's hidden gold!

Marcos found Yamashita's gold, shipped it overseas years ago.

No kidding. But that was a rumor years ago when I was living in the Philippines.

Exchange rates are always a worry, when we lived here 7or 8 years ago (Manila) I was getting about 40 pesos to the dollar. Last time I transferred money was about 32.5, now nudging 35 and forecast up to 40.
While the exchange rate dropped our investments in Oz did very well,,,,,, until C-19. You don't lose until you sell when things head south, in fact one should take advantage if you have spare cash.
I use this site and I'm sure it can be used for all currencies.

https://audtoday.com/aud-to-php-forecast

Things looked grim for awhile but as the Aussie dollar gained ground against the US dollar things are looking better. Swings and merry go rounds etc.

Cheers, Steve.

robal wrote:

mugtech wrote:

manwonder wrote:

Longer Term USD is still a safe haven currency....Don't see it hitting 42p/$1.
Unless Philippines manages to find Yamashita's hidden gold!

Marcos found Yamashita's gold, shipped it overseas years ago.

No kidding. But that was a rumor years ago when I was living in the Philippines.

Thinking it was used as an excuse by Marcos supporters, as in "He was not stealing from the Philippines,  he just found hidden Japanese gold.  Finders keepers."

mugtech wrote:

robal wrote:

mugtech wrote:

Marcos found Yamashita's gold, shipped it overseas years ago.

No kidding. But that was a rumor years ago when I was living in the Philippines.

Thinking it was used as an excuse by Marcos supporters, as in "He was not stealing from the Philippines,  he just found hidden Japanese gold.  Finders keepers."

Yamashita's gold was the blood sweat and tears of the Filipino people, the murders, oppression and dictatorship was a sad time for many and the world stood by and watched,,,,,, sounds like another country in Asia,,,,,, sorry for the rant. while the US is the number one country economically and commands a great exchange rate one has to ask what's happening now? What countries are rubbing their hands together? I could mention many.
Hold your US dollars if you believe in your country and it's ability to overcome, as it's done for hundreds of years. Spend only what you need until the come back. Hey OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

I just got off the phone with SSA in Manila. They are promoting what they call an international money transfer for pensions, dropped directly into a peso account, thus removing the need to present your passbook every month in person. Applies only to recipients receiving the pension into bank accounts abroad.

The lady also told me there may not be dead or alive letters sent out this year due to the virus. I'm ok with that, it's usually a hassle due to PhilPost.

Why not leave the money in your US bank and then transfer as needed to the Philippines? Is the direct exchange rate that much better?
Just checked and Western Union is at 49.72, Remitly is at 48.75 and Morningstar Currency Market data indicates 50.26.

Munchie is also Australian as he stated. So he also might have an Australian account. But either way, I agree that you only bring little at a time to get the average of Forex fluctuations.

Sorry, initially Munchie was referencing USD and SSA so I made the assumption he was referencing the USA, Social Security Administration,(SSA) and  converting USD to PHP...lol....my bad....

OhioExPat wrote:

Why not leave the money in your US bank and then transfer as needed to the Philippines? Is the direct exchange rate that much better?
Just checked and Western Union is at 49.72, Remitly is at 48.75 and Morningstar Currency Market data indicates 50.26.

That's what most of us do. When I first came to the Philippines in 2014 it was 44php to the USD, It slowly crept up to about 51-52 a year ago, and has settled back down a bit, but still much higher than before.

That's what I do too. I transfer what we need through Remitly or WU to our bank in Laguna. Unfortunately I made what was to be a quick trip back to the States in February and got Shanghai'd here due to CV19..maybe I'll get back for Christmas.....

OhioExPat wrote:

Why not leave the money in your US bank and then transfer as needed to the Philippines? Is the direct exchange rate that much better?
Just checked and Western Union is at 49.72, Remitly is at 48.75 and Morningstar Currency Market data indicates 50.26.

Today June 17th I made a transfer of USD to PHP via Transfer Wise. Rate was 50.04

If any country can survive a depression it's the US. Keep your dollars and invest in the Philippines when bargains are to be had.

I wasn't familiar with Transferwise so I went to their site.

One problem I would have is that they are implementing a two step verification process, so they want to text you before sending money...I don't know how to receive a text on a USA phone in the Philippines. Of course I have a Philippine phone number but changing it back and forth is a pain and if I forget, that creates a problem.
Plus today their exchange rate was the worst of the three; Western Union, Remitly then TW.

Be Blessed.

OhioExPat wrote:

I wasn't familiar with Transferwise so I went to their site.

One problem I would have is that they are implementing a two step verification process, so they want to text you before sending money...

I never had to go through a two step program with them. Maybe they just want verification in setting up your account?

I got a Google phone number with a US number works really well for verification

1100 pesos is what $22?

Isn't PI an incredibly cheap place to live anyway?

sekmet wrote:

1100 pesos is what $22?

Isn't PI an incredibly cheap place to live anyway?

Cheap if you live like a Filipino.  If you want western culture items including food, then not so cheap.

Has anyone notice the Nasdaq is setting new reccord highs, While the NYSE Old Foggie stocks is in the Doldrums?