Do I make things more complicated than they need to be?
You can be honest. I already know the answer. Sometimes, I do.
Take for instance the purchase of foreign currency for our upcoming trip. I opened a savings account at a new bank to save approximately .01% on the purchase, and today I determined it was time to pounce after listening to Bloomberg radio and its rosy outlook for the dollar. Lehman Brothers predicts that the dollar will continue its rally through to the new year, and London is thinking about cutting interest rates. Add that to the growing awareness that this downturn, blip, recession, whatever you want to call it, is global, and you've got conditions for an improving dollar (whether an improving dollar is really good for the country is for someone without several upcoming European vacations to decide).
And so the dollar improved. Today the dollar hit a six-month high against the euro, and while the dollar is still not strong, the rate was great in light of its six-month history, and I wanted to act (kick the euro while it was down? Maybe, a little bit). I called the bank's foreign exchange desk (he and I are practically friends by now) to confirm the good rate and planned to hit the bank's branch after work (they're open late).
But of course it wasn't as easy as I wanted it to be. At first, the teller tried to give me the inferior exchange rate. "No," I told him. "That's not the right rate." He listened--it's amazing how far an authoritarian attitude can take you--and called the fx desk, which was by then closed. He said that they couldn't process the transaction without talking to the desk, so I couldn't buy euros that evening and had to come in while the fx desk was open.
"This is unacceptable," I said to myself.
An aside: In general, I disapprove of using "this" without a following noun, but I make an exception for this declaration, which is one of my favorites and is nearly always effective, either spoken or communicated with one's facial expression.
I said out loud, "But I can't get here by 4 o'clock--how am I going to buy euros?" They offered an acceptable but not ideal compromise--I could fill out deposit and withdrawal slips, and they would buy the euros the next morning, when the desk was open. The downside: I won't be getting today's rate. The potential upside: Maybe the euro will continue to fall, and we'll get an even better rate.
The temptation to wake up for the European markets' open to track the euro/dollar rate is strong, but I think I can resist.
2 comments:
It's really strange that they never told you about the 4pm thing. I'd forgotten about it, but when I last bought Euros, it was the first thing they said. "You HAVE to get here by 4 or we can't make the exchange."
It was news to both the teller and me that the purchase had to go through by 4 PM. A good learning experience for all.
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