Archived IMT (2008.12.11)

INTERVENTION CHATTER? As USDJPY drops back towards 91, less than a yen away from its 15-year lows of last October, dealer desk chatter is once again mentioning the "I" word. We may get more awful data from Japan next week --Tankan survey, but if current risk climate has it, yen could end up dragging USD. END-OF-YEAR INTERVENTIONS are NOT UNUSUAL from japan, as has been seen in 2002. Japanese dealers do not take their vacations until first week of January so they could take advantage of thin trading vols in last 2 weeks of Dec and sell yen.