It only ever made steady profits in the mid-1980s, when the dollar was strong against the British currency.
The idiosyncrasies of British currency make calculations, carried out mechanically, slow and difficult, and they hold up the other high-speed machines in a modern office.
McFarlane is surprised by the dearth of short positions on the British currency, but he's not the only one that sees the U.K. going into a recession.
The British currency is relatively stable.
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And not only will there be a potential shortage of cash during the Olympics, ATM lines are likely to grow along with British sticker shock and currency confusion for tourists.
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In 1931, as the Austrian bank Creditanstalt collapsed, pulling down the banks of Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland, a run on the German currency forced it off the Gold Standard in May, then the British Labour government struggled to maintain its currency peg - imposing austerity onto its own voters as the price.
But they do not see the defence of the single currency as a British responsibility.
Earlier Europe Minister Peter Hain repeated a call for people to "cool it" over British entry into the single currency.
EMU. The current position is that the Conservatives will oppose British membership of the single currency at the next election.
Meanwhile, in the UK, Mr Blair was facing renewed pressure to mount a campaign for British entry into the single currency in the wake of his landslide election victory.
And, as the referendum on the single currency approaches, the real differences between the United Kingdom and euroland may make it harder to persuade the British public to sign up to the single currency.
Because of the currency exchange, the British Open has had slightly smaller prize money in recent years.
This is clearly a danger over Europe, where large majorities still continue to oppose British membership of the single European currency despite the fact that Mr Blair has said that he favours euro-membership, in principle.
With the Tories gripped by ideological struggle over the prospect of British membership of the single European currency, many businessmen feel more comfortable with Mr Blair's stated aim (which matched John Major's, but not that of many of his Conservative colleagues) of treating euro-membership as a practical decision to be taken on economic grounds.
A. Although the UK is part of Europe, the British pound remains separate from the Euro currency.
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Britain in Europe was formed to persuade the British people of the case for the single currency.
Every time it looks as if the government might push for British entry, the pound weakens, with currency traders reckoning that a decision to go in would prompt the government actively to try to depress the pound's value ahead of entry.
The British bank has prepared a list of global currency reaction to a continued euro slide, suggesting the U.S. dollar, the Japanese Yen (JPY), and gold remain the most attractive portfolio hedging options, while other emerging market currencies provide interesting trading prospects.
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Acquiring Hoogovens will diversify British Steel's sales portfolio and diminish its currency risk quite nicely.
The British always opposed the idea of a single European currency.
In a recent newspaper interview Wim Duisenberg, the president of the European Central Bank, reminded the British of the rules governing membership of the single currency.
Both experiences have left British governments of either party deeply suspicious of any EU currency schemes.
In a paper last year for the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, Robert Cooper, a veteran British diplomat and European official, said insisted that a currency is too important to be left to technocrats, arguing also that politics must be allowed its space.
Pressure to buy yen can be seen in the sharply higher volatility, spiking up to 9% from 6% earlier this month, according to Interactive Brokers, which notes that there is also higher volatility in the Swiss franc, another carry-trade currency that is rallying this week against the British pound, the Australian and Canadian dollars and the euro.
Yet there are signs that the British government may stir up a fresh debate on the single currency, perhaps to raise the prospect of Britain joining a couple of years later.
Now that the euro is ablaze, some Tory Eurosceptics want to park in front of the fire station, blocking treaty changes aimed at shoring up the currency unless the EU returns swathes of powers to British control.
Of course, the British government is not the only one pursuing a combined policy of QE, unstated currency devaluation, the suppression of market forces in the bond market and tacit toleration of high inflation.
Poles working in London were unlucky in the currency game after the Polish zloty gained about 8.5% against the British pound between March and April 2009.
Inevitably, the move will be interpreted as a snub to the British government because of its reluctance to join the first wave of Europe's single currency.
As it squeezes margins and diminishes currency risk, the euro may well spur further deals like the mooted marriage between British Steel and Hoogovens.
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