Reuters
Reuters is a truly massive website based around the Reuters news and media empire. They publish their own news and syndicate it to the world's media. As such there is a huge volume of news, analysis and tools based around finance.
Currency is probably one of the smaller sections of Reuters. They have exceptionally large sections for ETFs and a gargantuan section for stocks and shares, but a very modest single main page for currency.
The page may be small but it is easy to find your way around and easy to use.
The middle-top of the page has a cross rate table for easy reference. It shows some of the major trading currencies' rates: USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, CHF, AUD, JPY
Immediately below this is the currency calculator. It is very functional and simple to use.
The top boxes are titled “convert”. Unusually this applies to both top boxes – each box does not have a separate name. It may sound a little confusing, but it is easy to follow when you see it.
The top left box is where you enter the amount.
In this box you should put how much of any source currency you wish to change, so if you wanted to change 100 USD into something else, enter 100 into this box. Don't use currency symbols, such as $, use the monetary amount only.
The top right box is where you select the source currency type from a range of choices.
Reuters has a selection of 55 currencies to choose from. The currencies are listed with both their country name and their 3 letter international code
They are laid out in what may seem like an odd order, but there is a rhyme and reason to it: first come some of the most heavily traded currencies – the ones in the cross rate table on top of the page.
Then come the rest of the currencies. They are in alphabetical order, but not alphabetical based on their country names, as you might expect.
They are alphabetical based on the 3 letter currency code of the country. E.g. the South African Rand appears last, as its 3 letter code is ZAR.
The bottom 2 boxes are called “into”.
The bottom left box, just leave blank, as it will contain the result of your currency conversion.
The bottom right box has the same list of currency choices. This time you select which currency you would like to convert to. E.g If you wanted to convert 100 USD to ZAR, this box is where you would select ZAR.
After you have made your choice, click on the button to the right that is labelled Go.
The page reloads with the result displayed in the bottom left box.
Underneath the currency calculator are a series of current headlines that are related to forex and the currency markets, so you can see reasons behind any recent shifts.
It's simple and it does its job well.
Rating (out of 5 stars):
- 4 Stars
Link: http://today.reuters.com/Investing/Currencies.aspx