Commentary: Anatomy of a Currency Trader

In the context of fundamental currency analysis, we usually talk about inflation, interest rates, economic growth, politics, etc. But perhaps these variables mask some deeper "truth" in forex, specifically that there is some ultimate "force" guiding the decision-making processes of forex traders. What we are really talking about here is comfort with risk. Especially in the medium-term (the short-term consisting of hours and defined by randomness and the long-term consisting of years and defined by relative changes in the money supply), investors are constantly re-evaluating the level of risk that they want to assume.

To make this idea more concrete, let’s look at how the credit crisis has impacted forex markets. In general, it has favored major currencies, such as the Dollar and the Euro, although sometimes one more than the other. This is to be expected since the capital markets of the US and the EU are the most stable and in times of uncertainty, investors seek out stability. Likewise, the Japanese Yen has fared well. Despite a continuation of its easy money policy, investors have unwound their Yen carry trade positions, ever-fearful that a spike in volatility could cost them dearly. On the other end of the equation are emerging market currencies and beneficiaries of the carry trade, which have faltered as investors pare their exposure to risk. The underlying narrative is the same; only now, investors are willing to accept lower returns in exchange for proportionately lower risk.