Courtesy of Mish.
Reader “Luke” from Riga, Latvia emailed an amusing image he took today of exchange rates at the Latvian currency exchange “Marika”.
Latvia is on the Euro.
Notes
- Perk means buy.
- Pardod means sell.
- The bid/ask spread for euros to British Pounds (GBP) at this particular exchange is a hefty 4.7%.
- The bid/ask spread for euros to Rubles (RUB) at this particular exchange is an amazing 43%.
Needless to say no one was buying rubles at that exchange.
Ruble Moves 25% Intraday
If one looked at the open vs. the close the move was only 3.18%. However, the move bottom to top was 25.64%!
Thus, wild bid/ask spreads at currency exchanges reflects wild moves in the currency itself.
Ruble a Buy?
Inquiring minds may be wondering is the Ruble is a buy or if Russian stocks are a buy. I believe they are. So does Pater Tenebrarum at the Acting Man blog – emphasis mine….