Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
Posted on 08/03/2026 3:47:10 AM PDT by DFG
Japan and the US have confirmed that they jointly intervened last week to halt a slide in the yen after it fell to a fresh 40-year low.
The joint intervention is the first since 2011, when both countries took coordinated action to weaken the yen after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit eastern Japan.
Both Japan's Ministry of Finance and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have said that they will not hesitate to conduct more joint interventions in the future.
It highlights both countries' efforts to prevent a sell-off in the yen and Japanese government bonds from having an impact on the global economy, including potentially helping to push up borrowing costs for Washington.
Bank of Japan data indicated that Tokyo may have sold almost $59bn of US dollars to buy yen when it intervened in New York markets on Thursday, before Friday's confirmed joint intervention with Washington.
The US has not confirmed the size of its intervention, but a Reuters photograph of a notepad in front of Bessent during a cabinet meeting on Friday read: "To Do: Buy Japanese Yen $5-10 bil".
Shigeto Nagai, head of Japan economics at Oxford Economics, told the BBC: "The United States agreed to participate in the coordinated intervention because it serves its national interests by offering the prospect of significant benefits at a low cost."
The two countries are expected to continue to intervene "intermittently in a coordinated manner for some time", he added.
"Even if the actual amount of intervention is not particularly large, the prolonged sense of vigilance regarding intervention will be effective in deterring speculators."
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
|
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
So how much is it costing us?
USD/JPY is currently at a lofty 157. I wish this was the exchange rate when I was there in the mid to late 90’s. The USD goes a long way in Japan at this rate. When I was there, the USD/JPY rate hovered at around 100 JPY per USD.
We were there ~16 months ago, and the exchange rate was nice then.
When I was there in 90-91 it was about 120 to the dollar.
When I moved to Japan in 1985 one US$ was worth 280 yen !
“”””Japan and the US have confirmed that they jointly intervened last week to halt a slide in the yen after it fell to a fresh 40-year low.”””
I do not see where the YEN has dropped to a 40 year low.
I was in Japan in 2016 and the YEN was 100 vs the dollar.
“USD/JPY is currently at a lofty 157. I wish this was the exchange rate when I was there in the mid to late 90’s. The USD goes a long way in Japan at this rate. When I was there, the USD/JPY rate hovered at around 100 JPY per USD””
So I share your concerns.
I still have an older 500yen note. When I was there (approx. 1959) the rate was 360 yen to our dollar.
Japan has been in a long-term death spiral since the 1990s. Its amazing that they can’t seem to get out of it. Some blame it on demographics - declining population that may cause the country to only have 80 million in 40 years if trends continue. There is no way around it - that will cause an economic collapse that can’t be turned around. And will allow China to be more aggressive. But the Japanese just are not voting for radical change, or at least not radical change in the right direction. They flirt with more Socialism every once in a while but not what is needed - a more pure form of Capitalism. Until then, the Yen will decline because the fundamentals are there for a declining Yen.
” Intervention” they say. In other words: Manipulation. Unfortunately, ALL US financial market sectors are manipulated, be it .Gov, Hedge funds, US stock exchanges, the Plunge Protection Team, etc.
Everyone knows about the market Manipulation but says nothing as long as they are making money.
When I lived in Japan back in 1968 as a military dependent, it was about 400 Yen to a Dollar. I only remember that because a 100 Yen coin was worth a quarter...:)
I recall being in a cab and seeing the word “Tariff” for the first time, and also seen in the symbol for Yen (¥) for the first time...it seemed very strange to me.
I didn’t know what “Tariff” was! I was about ten, and I vividly recall that vignette of looking at the little fare indicator next to the cabbie...first time I saw one of those, with the little flag that they would put down when they had a fare.
Why that sticks in my head to this day, I don’t know.
Strange there are no more thoughts posted.
Japan’s problem becomes ours....why such a big problem?
Japan holds about one trillion $$$$$$$$$$$$ in US Treasuries. They started selling a portion last week to buy back Yen, and Bessent knows if they sell billions more US debt the USD tanks along with our markets....so....Bessent buys $10 billion of Yen!
Get ready folks, a lot going on behind the scenes.
“Strange there are no more thoughts posted.”
Speaking of Japanese bonds:
https://www.justice.gov/archive/dag/cftf/chargingdocs/armstrongsuper.pdf
“and Bessent knows if they sell billions more US debt the USD tanks along with our markets....so....Bessent buys $10 billion of Yen!”
Would not his selling USD to Japan hurt, not help, the USD?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.