Why the weak yen means you should buy into Japan

The yen has had 'a horrid year so far', falling about 14% against the dollar, says Niels C. Jensen at Absolute Return Partners LLP. He explains why the strengthening Japanese economy isn't yet supporting the currency - and why US bonds could be in trouble once domestic Japanese investors start to believe in their own stock market once again...

The Yen has had a horrid year so far down about 14% year to date and down 10% in the past 6 months alone versus the U.S. dollar. "So what?" you may say. After all, your portfolio doesn't have much Yen exposure so you are not too worried. "Wrong answer", we say. There are several reasons why you shouldn't ignore this development. Here are some of them.

First a bit of background. It is not at all unusual for the Yen to experience large fluctuations in value. The value of the Yen dropped by 43% between 1995 and 1998, bounced back 21% from 1998 to 2000 only to drop 21% again between 2000 and 2002 (all against the U.S. dollar). Finally, during the period 2000-04, it regained 21% in value. In other words, this year's move is by no means extraordinary. On the contrary, past experience suggests that the Yen could fall further.

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