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timmyjames1976
Joined: 26 Jan 2005
Posts: 148
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 Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 4:05 am Post subject: Seriously...What is going on with the yen? |
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| It seems to devalue daily....Is this the worst it has been in a long time? |
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Brooks
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1369
Location: Sagamihara
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| Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 4:16 am Post subject: |
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yes, it is weak. Especially against not only the euro and the Korean won, but also the pound.
Interest rates were raised recently, but only to .5%
Maybe the yen will strengthen, but who knows.
I certainly hope it does. |
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Yawarakaijin
Joined: 20 Jan 2006
Posts: 504
Location: Middle of Nagano
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| Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 9:02 am Post subject: |
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I have a few friends doing the eBay thing. They are not minding the weak yen too much. They are picking up watches cheaply and turning pretty good profits. Silver linings and all that.  |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 12:18 pm Post subject: |
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Might be nice to know what currency you are dealing with.
As for American money, the yen bounces between 110 and 125 during the year. Some periods are more active than others. Get used to it. |
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Michael188
Joined: 12 Dec 2005
Posts: 16
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| Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 12:37 pm Post subject: |
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Easy. The Japanese economy is not in good shape. The Japanese Bank and Cabinet are keeping interests low on purpose to drive down the Yen to make Japanese exports cheaper and imports more expensive. As a result, the Japanese government and industry get the best of both worlds.
If you look back at how the Japanese became an economic super power in the 1960s and 1970s you just have to look at how devalued the Yen was in relation to the American Dollar or British Pound. The Japanese could sell cheap, but could not afford expensive imports. So it is not unsual.
Another reason the interest rates are so low is the fact that the Japanese carry one of, if not the highest debt per capita in the world. So if interests rates rise even say 2 or 3 percent a lot people would face a bankrupcty.
So we have to just to get use to..... I could say the opposite "Why is the Canadian Dollar so overvalued?" It really is..... |
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Sour Grape
Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 241
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| Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 2:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Michael188 wrote: |
Another reason the interest rates are so low is the fact that the Japanese carry one of, if not the highest debt per capita in the world. So if interests rates rise even say 2 or 3 percent a lot people would face a bankrupcty.
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Is that right? I had them down as a nation of obsessive savers. Do you mean personal debt or government debt or both? |
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vallillo1983
Joined: 07 Apr 2005
Posts: 194
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| Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 2:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Glenski wrote: |
Might be nice to know what currency you are dealing with.
As for American money, the yen bounces between 110 and 125 during the year. Some periods are more active than others. Get used to it. |
You think that's bad! The Yen is 242 to the pound!
Brits once again have the worse deal! |
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Chris21
Joined: 30 Apr 2006
Posts: 366
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 2:53 pm Post subject: |
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You think that's bad! The Yen is 242 to the pound!
Brits once again have the worse deal! |
It's not a question of having the worst deal... exchange rates are all relative. Since a pound is worth about $2, it makes sense that it will be worth 240 Japanese yen (instead of 120).
Currencies, like the economy at large, are cyclical. If you can afford to keep your yen socked away, don't bother panicking about the exchange rate and just wait until things swing back into favour before exchanging yen for another currency.
A quick scan of past years shows that 120 is nothing to get bent out of shape over. In fact, 120 seems to be about average. I glanced at the daily closing rates for the last 10 years, and saw that cycles seem to repeat every four years or so (at least recently). With an increased Japanese interest rate, a possible change in US fiscal policy with a new president, the end of the US housing bubble, depressed commodities prices, a stronger than expected Japanese economy... I think we could see a strong yen in a couple of years.
Anyway, below is a rough outline of annual Yen vs US dollar rates for the last ten years (+or- 5-10 yen)
2004 - around 107
2003 - around 120
2002 - around 125
2001 - around 120
2000 - around 105
1999 - around 115
1998 - around 135
1997 - around 120
1996 - around 108
1995 - around 90
A link with exact rates...
http://www.bankofcanada.ca/cgi-bin/famecgi_fdps
| Quote: |
| Is that right? I had them down as a nation of obsessive savers. Do you mean personal debt or government debt or both? |
Yeah, that's right. Japanese are obsessive savers. They have some of the highest personal savings rates in the world, but in terms of government spending, they have one of the worst debt to GNP rates of industrialized countries. |
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shuize
Joined: 04 Sep 2004
Posts: 1270
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| Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 3:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Yeah, that's right. Japanese are obsessive savers. They have some of the highest personal savings rates in the world, but in terms of government spending, they have one of the worst debt to GNP rates of industrialized countries. |
I seem to recall the same. In fact, as much as gets made about the U.S. debt/GNP ratio, the U.S. is just about average, while Japan is one, if not the, very worst. |
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anh
Joined: 04 Jan 2007
Posts: 22
Location: USA
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| Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 4:57 pm Post subject: |
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I do have to say...that it'd be nice if the yen were relatively low (to the $) when a lot of us go to Japan in the next few months, and then bumps up by the time we leave.
Selfish, true!! |
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