Another Important Breakout for the Australian Dollar

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 5, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Japanese yen was the last remaining currency to “hold out” against the Australian dollar’s recent advances. On Friday, the AUD/JPY currency pair jumped again off its 200-day moving average (DMA) … Read more

Watching for Intervention As U.S. Dollar Falls Toward Five-Month Lows Versus Yen

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on July 23, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi has formed a habit of warning currency markets about the strength in the Japanese yen (FXY). For example, on May 31st, with USD/JPY slightly above 78 … Read more

The Japanese Yen Is Reasserting Itself

The U.S. dollar’s jagged rally from last year’s lows has finally brought it back to its “QE2 reference price.” At the same time, a carry trade seems to be lifting the Australian dollar in “risk-on” fashion. In the background, the Japanese yen is slowly but surely reasserting itself as the strongest of the major currencies … Read more

The Dollar’s Tumble Accompanies A Host of Critical Currency and Commodity Trades

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on July 1, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Thanks largely to the surging euro, the U.S. dollar index (UUP) took one of its nastiest one-day tumbles since last October, falling 1.3%. I believe this drop all but confirms staunch … Read more

Japanese Yen Confirms Returning Risk Aversion

I earlier argued that the Japanese yen held a critical piece of the puzzle to determining what’s next for risk attitudes (see “The Japanese Yen And Volatility Sit At The Cusp Of Renewed Risk Aversion”). On Monday, the yen seemed to confirm that risk aversion is indeed returning and likely to stay with us for … Read more

Japanese Yen and Volatility Sit At the Cusp Of Renewed Risk Aversion

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on June 22, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Thursday was a good day for the dollar index (UUP) as it experienced one of its strongest one-day rallies of the year. {snip} While the dollar’s rally was indeed impressive, I … Read more

The Japanese Yen Flashes Another Warning Even As the Australian Dollar and S&P 500 Resynch

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on June 19, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} I was looking for confirmation of the increasingly bullish outlook, but I did not get it. In “Bearish Implications of A Rare Convergence of Extremes in Yen vs S&P 500 … Read more

Step Aside British Pound, The Japanese Yen Is Back As the Safety Currency Of Choice

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on May 20, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) I have written about my skepticism regarding the British pound’s newly found “safe haven” status (for example, see “Hard Currency: My Reactions To The Financial Times’ Promising Podcast“). During my last … Read more

Bearish Implications of A Rare Convergence of Extremes in Yen vs S&P 500 Correlations

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on April 9, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) In tweets and various posts, I have harped on the renewed strong relationship between yen strength and market weakness. In “Weakness in the Japanese Yen Is Over for Now, Part Two“, … Read more

Weakness in the Japanese Yen Is Over for Now, Part Two

A month ago I declared the weakness in the Japanese yen had ended. At the time, the U.S. dollar versus Japanese yen currency pair, USD/JPY or the inverse ratio in the Rydex CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust (FXY), had slipped for three days in a row. I turned out to be about a week too early … Read more