The yen is plunging as the BoJ hikes rates
Japan's headline CPI is 1.9% YoY... while the BoJ's policy rate is just 1.25% after the hike.
And this is headline inflation being heavily suppressed by energy subsidies...
Japan's PPI, for comparison, was 7.6% in August.
They can't fight inflation
We don't own enough gold for what's going to happen
Japan is fucked... Rates are surging while the yen is falling.
Their major problem is inflation combined with an insanely high debt-to-GDP ratio.
Hiking rates sufficiently to kill inflation would blow up the government's finances.
So far, they've decided to kick the can down the road by selling USTs to support the yen.
Stronger yen = less import inflation.
But selling USTs is adding even more pressure to the US bond market.
Either the Fed provides dollar liquidity so Japan doesn't have to keep dumping USTs, or Japan keeps selling.
Either way, we don't own enough gold for what's coming.
🚨This Is How a Carry Trade Unwind Starts And It Started Today
An absolute bloodbath was witnessed in Japan’s financial markets.
Short-term JGB yields went VERTICAL today. The 3-month yield smashed 1.25%, highest in 31.5 YEARS and the 6-month hit 1.34%, highest in 31 years.
Two years ago these were NEGATIVE. Now they’re ripping like a bond crisis is already here.
At the same time SoftBank got DESTROYED. Shares plunged over 15% intraday, closed down 10.7%. Roughly $8 billion wiped off Masayoshi Son’s fortune in one session. SoftBank owns ~13% of OpenAI, right in the blast zone as AI labs suddenly start talking “slowdown.”
This is not isolated.
The BOJ is hiking. Japanese short rates are exploding. The cheap-yen carry trade that funded years of US stocks, Treasuries, and risk assets is starting to unwind. Japan is one of the largest foreign holders of US Treasuries. When they sell (or stop buying) to chase higher domestic yields or cover losses, US yields spike too.
Higher US yields + carry unwind + AI narrative cracking = the exact cocktail that produces a bloodbath.
Markets spent months pricing infinite AI acceleration and infinite cheap Japanese money. Both assumptions just took a body blow on the same day.
From global stocks, bonds, banking, derivatives to AI, Oil and Global Energy.
The extent of Japan’s free money catastrophe is unfathomable.
If the BoJ’s @yutokanzakireal warning indeed happens, we are going to see the biggest global financial bloodbath in decades.
🚨 YEN CARRY TRADE UNWIND COULD BE DELAYED
🇯🇵 BOJ is expected to hike rates this week.
But the odds of a Fed rate hike are also at 87% now.
The yen carry trade depends on the interest gap between Japan and the US.
If BOJ continues with hikes and the Fed pauses, the rate gap will shrink.
This'll make it less profitable for investors to borrow yen and invest in global assets.
But right now, the opposite is expected to happen.
And that's precisely why USD/JPY is back above 154.7
Does that mean an unwind won't happen?
It could still happen but under one condition.
If BOJ hints at more aggressive hiking, while the Fed calls for a rate pause in the future, investors will start selling USD in anticipation of a stronger future yen.
That scenario could unwind the yen carry trade just like we saw in 2024.