US Dollar as a Carry Trade Currency !…Why Not !?

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With the stock bubble and the real estate bubble in Japan leading to it’s currency,the Yen becoming the Carry Trade Currency for over a decade we’re now seeing a very huge possibilty of the Yen giving way to the the World’s (yet) Reserve Currency,the US Dollar, in becoming the preferred Currency for Carry Trade !

For the first time since 1993,the three month LIBOR for the US Dollar slipped to 0.292 %below that of the Japanese Yen rate of 0.352%

It’s cheaper to borrow dollars and then switch them to other higher yeilding currencies

Investors increasing and profitably used such leverage by borrowing cheaply in Yen,and rather than consume and invest in Japan itself,transfered the Yen to other higher yeilding currencies to benefit from the Interest Differential…benefiting also by the depreciation in the Yen

The Depreciation (Demise is too strong a word yet!) of the Dollar looms large in the coming years as

  • USA Debts and Deficits balloon to unmanageable proportions…search my earlier blogs for quantum
  • Fed keeps the rate low,towards Zero and has little choice but to continue to print more and more of the US Dollar Currency…After continuous Rate Increases in 2004 (5),2005(8) and 2006(4),the Fed dropped rates thrice in 2007 and SEVEN times in 2008,with the last drop of a huge 0.75% in December 2008 bringing the Rate close to Zero,leaving little place to drop further !…the Fed meets tomorrow for the sixth of it’s eight scheduled annual meeting to discuss rates…any change is unlikely
  • US Dollar loses it’s status as the World’s Reserve Currency
  • Countries like China begins exiting US Dollar Investments…US $ 800 Billion of it’s FX Reserves of near $ Two Trillion are in US Treasury Bonds….Countries will begin dumping the Dollar once they realise that they do not need them
  • Oil Trade will switch from the existing predominantly Petro Dollar Trade to other currencies
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