Yen surges to record high against the dollar, threatening Japan's exporters LA TIMES March 16, 2011
The Japanese yen rocketed to a record high against the dollar in Asian trading early Thursday (...) The buck had edged back up to 78.01 yen at about 3:15 PDT. Just before last Friday's earthquake the dollar was worth nearly 83 yen. Though it seems counterintuitive, the yen is rallying in part because of the crisis at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power complex, as frightened global investors turn to traditionally strong currencies as a place to hide. The yen also is gaining as currency traders bet that Japanese companies and investors will sell some of their foreign assets to bring money home in the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami. A flow of money back to Japan would boost demand for yen. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/03/yen-surges-to-record-high-against-the-dollar-threatening-japans-exporters.html Forex Blog claimed on 11 March that: It's hard to find a single analyst that is bullish on the Yen. "The yen may weaken to 86 per dollar by the end of the second quarter and 90 by the end of the year, according a Bloomberg News survey of 40 forecasters." Meanwhile, speculators are net short the Yen for the first time this year, according to the most recent CFTC Commitment of Traders report. It has already weakened 8% (on a trade-weighted basis) from its 2010 peak, and has depreciated against every single major currency in 2011. Perhaps the strongest indication is that the Bank of Japan has announced that it is no longer preoccupied with the Yen, despite the fact that it is still within striking distance of its all-time high against the Dollar. In short, while I hesitate to broach the earthquake again for fear of sounding callous, I think it might just provide investors with the excuse they need to send the Yen down, down, down. http://www.forexblog.org/category/japanese-yen _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
