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by Ashraf Laidi
Posted: Feb 22, 2010 5:00
Comments: 1558
Posted: Feb 22, 2010 5:00
Comments: 1558
Forum Topic:
JPY
Discuss JPY
Who is the largest foreign holder of mortgage bonds from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? China.
The nation owns $300 - $400 billion worth, which comes to nearly 20% of China's official currency reserves according to unofficial estimates via China Daily.
This makes the recent forced de-listing of Fannie and Freddie bad news for China, since it has sent a negative signal to markets about the two quasi-government entities' viability. (Fannie and Freddie were told to de-list because their collapsed shares were trading around just $1 for too long.)
The flip side of China's exposure is negative for the U.S. -- that there's always the risk China could sell down its holdings, hurting the market value for these assets, even though such an action would end up hurting the value of its remaining Fannie and Freddie assets as well. This would be bad news for American holders of mortgage assets, such as financial institutions and the government.
The more nasty that Fannie and Freddie bonds' prospects look, the more likely that China will be inclined to take the short-term pain and just cut its holdings, which would complicate U.S. efforts to support the prices in this market. The latest de-listing has increased speculation that China's holdings will be adjusted down.
As the market digests the potential effects, some are worrying that U.S. treasuries could be slammed, sending yields higher. Why? Because that's what happened in 2005:
Bloomberg:
Adding to market tensions, the surprise move on Saturday occurred before next week's sales of $108 billion in shorter-dated debt by the U.S. Treasury and a Federal Reserve policy meeting this week.
In July 2005 when China abandoned its peg against the U.S. dollar and moved to a managed float, there was a sharp sell-off in U.S. Treasuries, a reaction that some analysts say could happen again.
"The knee-jerk reaction was a 10 to 15 basis point increase in yields. That was one of the biggest moves of the year and it continued to rise for two to three weeks thereafter," said George Goncalves, head of U.S. interest rate strategy at Nomura Securities International in New York.
Read more on this ....http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65I2Z420100619?type=ousivMolt
I tend to agree with what u said. Care to share how u arrived at 90.50 on USDJPY as the pivot point ?
IMO its a leading indicator that this recent rally in RISK is over extended / rolling over on itself. There are a lot of indication in other crosses that are telling a story of RISK AVERSION coming, and soon.
The USD/JPY cross in particular is either sitting on the lower trend line of a triangle or testing it now as resistance (depending how you draw it). I am watching the 90.50 figure there to break and open the door to a large risk sell off soon. Breakdowns of correlation / RISK tendencies like this are EXACTLY what you should look for across the board in situation where the market is potentially reversing itself.
There is a lot of NON confirmation of todays SPX New intra-day high, so get those stops set and lets get ready to roll.
When AUD/JPY SOLIDLY breaks the 78 figure, I am HIGHLY certain risk will be heading to new lows across the board.
0123 GMT [Dow Jones] EUR/JPY drops on selling by Japan exporters, with falls weighing also on EUR/USD, says senior FX dealer at major European bank in Tokyo. Says any further falls in equities, Nikkei last down 0.3%, may prompt short-term investors to get on board selling of risk-sensitive EUR. Adds "the Moody's downgrade of Greece, while not a major selling factor, certainly isn't helping sentiment toward the euro either." Says many players in Asia anxious about how European share markets will react, in first full day of trade later in global day after Moody's move. Says EUR/JPY may trade with negative bias in 111.20-112.20; cross last 111.71, down from earlier high 112.13. Tips EUR/USD in 1.2170-1.2250 band vs 1.2207.
When he was Japan's finance minister, Naoto Kan advocated loose monetary policy to end two decades of deflation.
But since his sudden promotion to prime minister, Kan has been crying out about public debt levels. Today, he even used the signal word for austerity: Greece.
"Our country's outstanding public debt is huge. Our public finances have become the worst of any developed country. We cannot sustain public finance that overly relies on issuing bonds. As we can see from the eurozone confusion that started in Greece, there is a risk of default if growing public debt is neglected and trust lost in the bond market."
No one knows if he can pull off the mythical trick of reducing government spending while stimulating private sector spending. Kan may be overplaying the similarity Greece to get people behind fiscal reform, a Credit Suisse Japan analyst tells The Guardian.