Japanese Yen very High against Dollar & Euro

[CameraQuest]

For those of you who have not noticed, the Japanese Yen is at a 15 year high against the US Dollar. Much the same story against the Euro and other currencies.

If this trend holds for long, all Japanese made export goods including cameras and cars to many countries could go UP in price over the 2 to 6 months as new stock replaces old stock. Perhaps in the 10-15% range.

Stephen

 

[Uwe_Nds]

I guess I'll stick to German stuff. 😛

Well, in particular as prices for CV lenses are already through the roof over here:
35/1.2 Nokton for 899 EUR compared to 879 USD from Stephen. 😱

Cheers,
Uwe

 

[Lflex]

Stephen, What do you suggest we do? 🙂

 

[Frontman]

I live in Japan and I sell stuff on eBay. Most of my customers are from America, and they pay in US dollars. Unfortunately I have been taking a beating lately with the exchange rate, a $200 item nets me only 16000 yen after the exchange fees. 4 years ago I would have netted 23000 yen for the same $200.

The bright side is that when I travel to America or buy American items I get a pretty good discount.

The blame for the weak dollar rests entirely with the American government and their inability to manage the economy responsibly. Bogus bailouts, so called "stimulus" and "adding liquidity" was funded by the government simply turning on the printing presses and cranking out more dollars. This had the effect of devaluing the currency. And these so-called fixes would never have been necessary had proper policies been in place and enforced in the first place.

Lflex, the only suggestion I can give to help the current situation is to vote in the election in November. Apparently since the only "change" which occurred after the 2008 election was for the worse, it's time to try voting for "change" again. And the only way to do that is to vote against anyone and everyone who is currently in office, regardless of their party.

It's amusing that people in America actually think that their government consists of 2 main political parties. Sorry guys, but there is only one political party in America. This party is divided into two teams who pretend to take sides on issues so they can scare you into thinking that you must vote for them because if you don't the "liberals" or the "Christian conservatives" are going to take over.

These buffoons make promises they can't keep, they spend money which isn't theirs, and they create crises out of non-issues in order to fool to the electorate into voting for them again, and again, and again. But then who is the real buffoon? the politician? or the the one who is dumb enough to vote for him?

It's about time to get rid of this "political class", and replace it with normal people like yourselves, people who care about their country and who want a good place for their children and grandchildren to grow up in.

Sorry for the rant, but currency exchange rates are entirely determined by the soundness of the governments who issue the currency. Apparently America's government is no longer so sound, and it's beginning to affect America's worth. A valueless government is going to end up with a valueless currency.

 

[Leigh Youdale]

It's probably a bit broader than just the "Gummint". At the heart, the trigger and much of the reaction that created the GFC was the poor lending and borrowing practices of people one both ends of the transactions who failed to exercise fiscal prudence. In aggregate they precipitated the big institutional crashes that shattered the confidence of investors and borrowers worldwide and left many people with unsustainable borrowings that forced them to forfeit their homes. In that respect you could certainly say that the government should have been more interventionist but that's not accepted in a Western economic rationalist economy. Too many gamblers posing as financial experts! Too many people thinking things will always get better, never regress.

Economically, Australia held up well due to a number of internal factors, but that's no guarantee of good government as we currently see with a deadlocked election result - again, largely due to internal factors. It's not so long ago that the AUD was trading at 65 US cents. Today it's around 90!

 

[stupid leica]

Living in Japan, and getting paid in dollars, this sucks.

 

[David Murphy]

Since the Japanese have now outsourced so much of their own manufacturing to China and other lower-priced labor markets, I suppose this will be less of a problem for the consumer than it was in the 1980's, the last time the yen took off. I don't buy much new from Japan in photography since I'm primarily interested in film cameras and lenses which are hardly made anywhere by anyone any more (with the usual well-known, but pricey exceptions), so it will have negligible impact on me. If one is really worried I suggest investing in yen to hedge your transactions.

 

[splitimageview]

It's good for US exporters. 😉

 

[PKR]

It's good for US exporters. 😉

Exporters of .. not much any more. Instead of goods, we make "deals". The money guys on wall st. and the banksters are doin okay.

When I bought my first camera from Japan the dollar was about 260 yen.

 

[splitimageview]

I make deals on goods. 😉 Just took a $3k order from Japan. Used to manufacturer circuit boards and Japan was our largest export market.

 

[PKR]

I make deals on goods. 😉 Just took a $3k order from Japan. Used to manufacturer circuit boards and Japan was our largest export market.

That's great to hear. But I think our manufacturing is down something like 24% in the last 10 years. Much of it has gone offshore. Many of my old SV customers have built outside the US in the past few years, National, in Portugal, Intel, China and I think Thailand. Even the P-in-P robotics in the Valley can't match the precision of the stuff in China. I had a friend who had to take a prototype to China, because no one in the Valley could do the precision work. No one wants wave soldering equipment in their county. You must know all this in your industry.

 

[tensai]

Living in Japan, and getting paid in dollars, this sucks.

Same here but mostly euros. Going from 168 yen to 107 yen per euro does suck.. Working on getting more work is what I'm doing.

 

[rxmd]

Exporters of .. not much any more.

Would it surprise you to learn that, according to the WTO, the USA is the third largest exporter of goods worldwide?

 

[PKR]

Would it surprise you to learn that, according to the WTO, the USA is the third largest exporter of goods worldwide?

Peanut butter to the mid east, tobacco..

I think you are correct..but manufacturing?

 

[rxmd]

Peanut butter to the mid east?

What's wrong with that? People want peanut butter. Seems to be working.

 

[Japan---Exposures]

Sorry for the rant, but currency exchange rates are entirely determined by the soundness of the governments who issue the currency.

Which explains the strong yen, huh? The "soundness" of the Japanese government… perhaps even the soundness of investors? You must be having a laugh mate.

Yes, it is tough selling in yen right now. Once the hedges of the big Japanese exporters run out, oh dear. Have you followed the Nikkei 225 lately?

On the good side, some great import opportunities. Even Leica are lowering their prices in Japan (on certain products).

 

[Maiku]

The yen is high because the ruling government here does not care to do anything about. It is to caught up in internal party politics to give a rat arse about the high yen, the flaying economy or society in general.

For those unfamiliar with Japanese politics please get informed. It is quite the three ring circus.

1. 6 Prime Ministers in last 4 years.
2. 5 Prime Ministers in the past 2 years.
3. 3 Prime Ministers in the past year alone!

The current ruling party is having a leadership convention in 10-days. If Ichiro Ozawa is elected that means 4 PMs in 11 months. BTW please read up on Ozawa. He is something special. It appears that he wants to be PM because if he is then he cannot be arrested by the police for embezzlement. A sitting PM can only get arrested if he or she gives the police permission to arrest him or her.

 

[maddoc]

^^ that is a nice sum-up of how it is.

 

[PKR]

The yen is high because the ruling government here does not care to do anything about. It is to caught up in internal party politics to give a rat arse about the high yen, the flaying economy or society in general.

For those unfamiliar with Japanese politics please get informed. It is quite the three ring circus.

1. 6 Prime Ministers in last 4 years.
2. 5 Prime Ministers in the past 2 years.
3. 3 Prime Ministers in the past year alone!

The current ruling party is having a leadership convention in 10-days. If Ichiro Ozawa is elected that means 4 PMs in 11 months. BTW please read up on Ozawa. He is something special. It appears that he wants to be PM because if he is then he cannot be arrested by the police for embezzlement. A sitting PM can only get arrested if he or she gives the police permission to arrest him or her.

I used to believe that the Italians got the best entertainment for their tax dollar. It seems that Japan is good for this too. We here in California are doing our best to compete with Japan and Italy. I will be watching Japan's politics in the next months. All the best to you. p.

 

[flip]

It appears that he wants to be PM because if he is then he cannot be arrested by the police for embezzlement. A sitting PM can only get arrested if he or she gives the police permission to arrest him or her.

Golly, if I had any rights in Japan, I would run for PM. 😛