Where's the best place to exchange foreign currency?

I've got a fairly sizeable amount of euro which I need to convert to AUD.

Just wondering where/how people would recommend I exchange it?

I've called UAE Exchange and checked the exchange rates at the big four banks (CBA, SGB, NAB, ANZ) and NAB look to give the best return, still quite miserable but not much I can do, although I'm not entirely sure if I need an account with them to do it?

At the moment I believe I just have a foreign cheque, but if it's cheaper/easier I can bank the cheque in a foreign account that uses euros and then exchange.

Also, just wondering - Why the hell is the euro so weak?

Would it perhaps be a wise idea to wait a while, or does it look like the euro is going to stay weak for a while?

 

"Also, just wondering - Why the hell is the euro so weak?"


NEW YORK, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The euro hit a two-month low against the dollar on Monday and may face further losses after Ireland's rescue did little to erase investors' fears that another euro-zone economy may require a bailout.
At one point, the euro fell as low as $1.3065, its worst showing against the dollar since September. It last changed hands down 0.9 percent at $1.3121
Analysts said uncertainty surrounding the fiscal outlook of the euro zone's peripheral countries could push the euro as low as $1.30.

The euro fell below the 200-day moving average around $1.3130. The currency's drop below $1.3080 -- the 50 percent retracement from its June low to its November high -- was another bearish indicator.

"There is a real possibility the euro could hit $1.30 by the end of the week," said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington D.C. "Given the momentum already in place, the euro will likely be between $1.29 and $1.32 at the end of the year."

European Union finance ministers endorsed an 85-billion-euro rescue package for Dublin and approved outlines of a permanent crisis-resolution system that could make private bondholders share the burden of restructuring sovereign debt after 2013.
Matthew Strauss, currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto, said neither the agreement nor the official announcement was able to turn sentiment around.

Many analysts say markets are still likely to turn on Portugal and Spain, seen as the euro zone's next weakest links.
The negative euro backdrop is now being reinforced by an increasingly bearish technical backdrop and levels of below $1.30 seem plausible in the near future, he wrote.

Sentiment remained fragile, with a sale of Italian bonds meeting lukewarm demand and highlighting investors' unease about euro-zone debt.
Also, the cost of ensuring Portuguese and Spanish debt against default rose to a record high on Monday.
Many traders said the European Financial Stability Facility, a joint EU-International Monetary Fund reserve created in May, may not have enough funds to support Spain if it needs help...

PS:
EUR/USD important support levels are at: 1.2992; 1.2821.
Currently EUR/USD = 1.3138

 

Thanks for the reply Tropo, unfortunately a lot of that is gibberish to me.

From what I've gathered there's financial issues in Europe atm, that's about it.