On Thu, 05 Jun 2003 11:36:06 +0900, Declan  ...
>
>Brett Robson wrote:
>> On Wed, 4 Jun 2003 11:50:01 -0400, "Kevin  ...
>> 
>>>>2. Where should I have put the money?
>>>
>>>Outside Japan. My checking accout has a 1.31% APY. Put the money there.
>> 
>> The US dollar is at a 2 year low to the Yen.
>> 
>> http://au.finance.yahoo.com/m5?&a=1&s=USD&t=JPY&c=2
>> 
>> So you would seriously suggest someone put money in US dollars to get a 1.3%
>>return in the face of a strong possiblity of an adverse movement in the exchange
>> rate?
>> 
>>(if you don't understand the above, I'm sure Declan would be happy to fill you
>> in).
>
>Actually I don't think I would be. Real exchange rates and hedges are a 
>bitch.
>

OK we will keep it simple.

1.  The yen is at a 2 year low to the dollar. 

2.   Daily Yomiuri 5 June 2003

"You do not have to be an expert [Kevin] to sense that something big is
happening in the foreign exchange market. Just recently, the Bank of Japan sold
a whopping $20 billion worth of yen to prevent it from becoming too strong
against the dollar."

[of course that will last as long as the money does.]

"The weak dollar may be far from the intended result. It could be, rather, a
market consequence of a runaway US current account deficit, depleted US
household savings and the bursting of the stock market bubble."

---
"2 out of 3 ain't bad" - Meat Loaf
"1 out 2^64 is a real bitch" - Original