Daily Reading – Friday, March 18, 2011
Zero Hedge: Historical Precedent To Predict The Success Rate Of The G7 Yen Devaluation “Accord”
So how successful have these operations been historically? Well, when it comes to killing the dollar (Plaza) the success rate was stunning. So stunning in fact that as noted, another accord had to be implemented to halt the $ decline.
Zero Hedge: Fed Confirms First FX Market Intervention In 11 Years As Effects Start To Fizzle
And just as the Fed confirms its first direct currency intervention since 2000 (who knew NYU interns could multi-task so well between stocks, bonds and FX, incidentally today’s POMO is a lethargic $1-2 billoin monetization of TIPS), the USDJPY takes its first dip below 81 since the “Honda” Accord announcement last night.
FT Beyond BRICs: EM fund flows: backing off
Little surprise that emerging market investment funds have seen another big outflow, this time in response to events in Japan.
FT Alphaville: Who’s been buying Japan like crazy?
Here’s an about-turn for the books…
FT Alphaville: Yen volatility is too much for one bank
And the carry trade/currency weirdness continues…
FT Alphaville: Those European stress test details
The European Banking Authority has just published parameters for the upcoming European bank stress tests. A first glance has them about as meek as expected.
FT Alphaville: The usual Portuguese bond gyrations
Rumours flew in the market on Friday that the ECB was back to buying Portuguese government bonds.
Well, if they did, and managed to push down Portugal’s sky-high yields for a bit, it appears the yields promptly fought back…
The Economist: Miracle, or delayed gratification?
An interesting but somewhat unrelated point—elsewhere in the paper, the authors present a chart of employment across sectors which shows that Germany lost a third of its manufacturing jobs between 1970 and now. That’s more or less the same percentage decline in manufacturing jobs as in America, despite the fact that Germany’s union density is twice that in America.
Bloomberg: Sushi Restaurants Drop Japanese Fish From Menus as Radiation Concerns Grow
Sushi restaurants are dropping Japanese fresh food from their menus as a radiation plume released by a damaged nuclear plant in the country heightens fears over possible radioactive contamination.