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Currency Wars and the Price of Portfolio Armorby Peter A. Grant
May 10, AM 
Gold is under pressure today, weighed by renewed strength in the dollar, or more appropriately renewed yen weakness. Yen losses are extending after the USD-JPY rate pushed above 100.00 for the first time in more than four-years. Today the greenback has cleared resistance at 101.44 and is trading at levels last seen in October 2008 versus the yen.Treasury Secretary Lew took the occasion to remind Japan that they must respect their recent pledge — along with the rest of the G20 — not to manipulate their currency. Lew acknowledged Japan has faced decades of deflation and anemic growth, but added they must "stay within the bounds of those international agreements." Lew went on to warn Japan, saying essentially 'we're keeping an eye on you.' With the EUR-JPY cross hitting new multi-year highs, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble chimed in as well. Schaeuble too reminded Japan that they had promised not to boost their competitiveness by manipulating exchange rates. What's interesting is the U.S. and Europe are engaged in similar policies, with similar goals. Their policies too are designed to stimulate growth and generate inflation, without of course manipulating their respective currencies. A weaker currency is simply an unintended byproduct of said policies. They now seem upset that Japan is doing this über-accommodation thing bigger and better than they are! While the other 800 pound gorillas in the room seem to be getting restless, the one's really getting hurt by Japan's monetary excesses are the smaller regional economies. South Korea reacted to Japan's escalation of the currency war with a return salvo this week, in the form of a rate cut. Australia recently cut rates. Taiwan has expressed concerns. Thailand is considering capital controls. The currency wars are ongoing, and with the weaker yen driving up the relative value of the dollar, portfolio armor in the form of physical gold is on sale today. NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP Opinions expressed in commentary on the USAGOLD.com website do not constitute an offer to buy or sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any precious metals product, nor should they be viewed in any way as investment advice or advice to buy, sell or hold. USAGOLD, Inc. recommends the purchase of physical precious metals for asset preservation purposes, not speculation. Utilization of these opinions for speculative purposes is neither suggested nor advised. Commentary is strictly for educational purposes, and as such USAGOLD does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of the information found here.
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