Bear Market: Nikkei-Style

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on June 7, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} Notably, this retracement erases almost all of the stock market gains from the Bank of Japan’s announcement of aggressive monetary policy in early April called “Introduction of the “Quantitative and … Read more

Take A Pause From Your Deflation Fears and Consider Some Counter-Evidence

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on April 25, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Swiss franc (FXF) has started another weakening phase, putting an exclamation point on the currency market’s refusal to go along with the shrill, recent headlines claiming another deflation cycle has … Read more

Week of Major Currency Shifts Flips Me Bullish Australian and British Currencies

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on April 7, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} The market seemed to convulse on the notion that the Fed could actually end asset purchases but seemed to ignore the conditional of a much improved labor market and improving … Read more

Nikkei Finally Slides As Yen’s Recent Strength Gains More Momentum

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on April 2, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} The Japan-based ETF took an even bigger hit, falling 3.9% and almost wiping out all of March’s hard fought gains in one day: The highlights I read in one of … Read more

The Yen Trend Moves On Past Its Initial Disappointment With the Bank of Japan

This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 28, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) When the Bank of Japan (BoJ) announced its latest statement on monetary policy in conjunction with the Japanese government, the yen (FXY) strengthened counter to the trend over the past several … Read more

Amari Hits the Pause Button on the Yen

This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 15, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Japanese yen (FXY) experienced a quick plunge after Akira Amari, Japanese economic and fiscal policy minister, expressed concern about the yen getting too weak. According to The Japan Times Online, … Read more

T2108 Update (January 22, 2013) – Melt Up

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. It helps to identify extremes in market sentiment that are highly likely to reverse. To learn more about it, see my T2108 Resource Page. You can follow real-time T2108 commentary on twitter using the #T2108 hashtag. T2108-related trades and other trades … Read more

Peering Over the Fiscal Cliff, the Yen Gets “Cheap”, Australian Dollar “Expensive”

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on December 21, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) On December 20th, the Bank of Japan rolled out more stimulus and more accomodative monetary policy as expected: {snip} The Bank of Japan is clearly trying to get more aggressive in … Read more

Stubborn Australian Dollar Becomes Attractive Way to Play Yen Weakness

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on December 5, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) After the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut interest rates on Monday night, the Australian dollar (FXA) bounced down, up, drifted lower, and then rallied. It is too easy to call … Read more

Japanese Yen Strengthens “On Schedule”

Today, market traders are noting that the yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds, also known as JGBs, dropped to 9-year lows at 0.72%. This weakness in yields stands in stark contrast to the Japanese yen’s (FXY) spate of weakness over the past two months and especially over the past two weeks. A week ago, I … Read more