[1rudeboy]

You seem to suggest they were holding out for something, perhaps a cheaper dollar?

Countries hold out for a cheaper dollar so that their own domestic industries get hammered? You are not making any sense.

[sixmil]

I just ventured a guess for you. Actually, I made cynical statement. You know how you guys are always saying that the trade deficit will improve/disapper even though it doesn't matter when the dollar goes down. The we accuse you of having a soft dollar policy. I guess you missed that.

So, what were they holding out for?

Ponder this - we know that a month or so back, economists were saying the record imbalance was due to surging oil prices. Oil stayed expensive long enough that demand actually dropped recently. So, could this improvement simply be the flip side to that?