Topic
Central bank or government action to buy or sell a currency, aiming to steer its exchange rate or curb excessive volatility.
Governor Kazuo Ueda's board hiked 25 basis points on a 7-2 vote and the yen still slid toward 158 per dollar, because the Federal Reserve had taken the same 25 basis points two days earlier and left the gap between the two unchanged.
Reality
Koreans buying yen are paying the least in about 18 years, as 100 yen fell into the mid-800s of won this week from about 950 in early summer. Most of the drop is the won's chip-export rally against the dollar, Korea Times figures show, so the saving depends on that boom lasting.
Reality
Treasury's repurchase operations rose from $2 billion each to $4 billion as 30-year yields approached a near-20-year high. Stan Druckenmiller called it price management; a Wharton economist who served under Bessent calls it plumbing.
Reality
The Bank of Japan's policy rate is at a 31-year high and the yen still weakened into the 158 range after the decision. Word of a government rate check around midnight on the 19th brought it back to 156, with the holiday running to the 23rd.
Reality
Koichi Sugisaki's team wants clients long dollar-yen from about 154 toward 163 with a stop at 150. That pays 2.25 for every 1 risked on a view that the yen's rally was mechanical positioning that has now flushed out.
Reality
Scott Bessent says term premiums show investors are not charging extra to hold long US debt. The 30-year sits at a 52-week high of 5.35%, and UBS told clients the buyback plan has had no discernible impact.
Reality
The currency leg of the Treasury Secretary's intervention worked and the yen is at a near seven-month high, while the 10-year note ran to its highest level since 2023 with Brent above $100 and the debt stock at $40 trillion.
Reality
Traders are waiting on Thursday's PPI and Friday's CPI, but the order book already brackets spot at 78,800 and 80,500, and with a quarter-point hike 58.4% priced there is less left for the Sept. 16 meeting to move.
Reality
Roughly $87 billion of yen buying, funded by a repo against Japan's own bond holdings, is being asked to steady a carry trade that estimates put between $500 billion and $4 trillion, and Yves Smith expects it to hold briefly.
Reality
Japan's ten-year yield is at a thirty-year high and the real yield is still only 1.1%, which is an argument that this repricing is unfinished rather than extreme. The bill lands on whoever owns the duration.
Reality