Yen weakens past ¥160 per dollar, eroding intervention gains
japantimes.co.jp
japantimes.co.jp
I put it in a drawer and forgot about it until a few weeks ago. I'm going to the moon with this, ladies and gentlemen
If the guy was so hot to not lose a dime, he could have said, “Loan me 10k yen right now, I will pay you back ASAP”.
If the guy is in Japan with American currency, he likely knows the exchange rate and exactly the terms he was getting.
/s
Between electronic transfer and just settle the debt later, isn’t really an excuse…
You charged a $15usd (~15%) fee when your friend was desperate and willing, when the standard fee for such transactions is at best 0% and worst 5%.
I much prefer zero stress - if money is tight, we just don't do expensive stuff, or steal the bill before they have a chance to pay. Mostly that means we stay cheap until we can safely cover multiple people if needed (running your safety-buffer low enough that you can't do that is a terrible idea anyway).
OP increased the cost of forex from 0-5% to 15% when his "friend" was desperate.
And as you said, "it was an easy 15 bucks". You were very aware of what you were doing: easy money off your "friend", instead of friends not minding a few dollars missing here or there.
He stayed with me for a week last year. We had a big bbq. I stuffed him full of akaushi beef. I didn't ask for a dime, nor would I ever.
I guess you maintain friendships with an excel sheet handy? good for you I guess
OP clearly stated the situation was of a mutual benefit - friend got their Y now and don't need to bother with doing an exchange, OP got a few spare bucks which was a such big sum what it literally sat in the drawer for 5 (five) years.
(For example, I noticed that if I buy something from Amazon or try to pay for something using Paypal, the exchange rate they offered me is consistently worse than the market rate if I elect to pay with USD instead of JPY. The difference often adds up to a few dollars, even accounting for foreign transaction fees that my bank might charge.)
I guess it still is - it just went from 1 USD to 1 AUD to now 1 NZD :-D
Since Bessent did what he did the whole issue has been swallowed up in the idiotic partisan maw of US politics, but it’s just a self-defeating effort by Japan to fight the market.
> It's expected for the BoJ to raise the rate to 1.25% in 2 weeks.
Cool. Only like four hundred basis points to go!
The US has the same problem. Maybe less extreme, but the balance sheet has tons of short-term debt, and rates aren’t cooperating.
If you raise JPY rates, then these U.S. treasuries are going to get liquidated driving up U.S. rates and of course the U.S. doesn't like that.
So, I believe the US is pressuring Japan NOT to raise rates, i.e. to save the U.S.'s own currency.
This is undoubtedly why Bessent bought $5 to $10 billion JPY using Euro awhile back (as rumored, the exact amount is a secret). That way he could try and bailout Japan and by using Euro instead of USD, not affect US inflation so much. He also did it without telling anyone in Europe which quite pissed them off as well.
It's really funny seeing these shenanigans take place with all the pompousness the US shows regarding its currency and how it pretends it itself is not going broke.
> So, I believe the US is pressuring Japan NOT to raise rates, i.e. to save the U.S.'s own currency.
The US is pressuring the BoJ not to liquidate US debt to get the USD needed to buy Yen. It only tangentially relates to bond yields, and has nothing to do with defending the USD.
It would be better for the US if Japan just normalized rates, but Japanese politicians are resistant.
If the US is not trying to defend the US dollar, why'd they use Euros and not USD to prop up the Yen, and also why surprise everybody doing so?
And, if it is better for the US if Japan normalized rates, then why did the US buy yen at all? According to you, just telling Japan to raise rates would be better, right?
> If the US is not trying to defend the US dollar, why'd they use Euros and not USD to prop up the Yen
Because that was the legal facility open to them. They used a foreign currency reserve that they had the ability to trade.
> And, if it is better for the US if Japan normalized rates, then why did the US buy yen at all? According to you, just telling Japan to raise rates would be better, right?
Yes. Go re-read my comment: Japanese politicians do not want rates to go up. It’s like a cornerstone of current LDP policy.
I never wrote it hides the debt, it borrows JPY at a low interest rate and then buys U.S. treasuries at a higher interest rate, making money on the difference.
> Because that was the legal facility open to them. They used a foreign currency reserve that they had the ability to trade.
Again, why not use U.S. Dollars? And again, why not at least give a heads up to the Europeans? You are not directly addressing my questions.
> Yes. Go re-read my comment: Japanese politicians do not want rates to go up. It’s like a cornerstone of current LDP policy.
No, you re-read my comment that you just slapped into your response and then completely ignored. WHY DID THE US BUY YEN AT ALL? You are ignoring my point and just restating your conclusion.
Hm?
> > The carry trade hides a lot of US debt, too.
Your comment.
Anyway, have a nice day.
Always seems to go wrong. Like spraying water on a forest fire with a straw.
The only ways to pay back 120%+ GDP is hyper-inflation or a debt jubilee. Given the South Seas company debt interest is still being paid back, doubt it will be the latter.
With almost all of its industries no longer in a leading position, with its car industry being demolished by EVs, 250:1 is what it is heading.
Of course that will change over time, if it hasn't already. The Japanese government's messaging about this has been that they're not really worried about the currency weakening (after all they're massive net exporters! it should be a good thing), but rather the speed at which it's happening.