AUD carry trade back in play (Jan 09)

This Monday's trading signals a return to the carry trade. Last October (2008) Japanese and other fund managers abandoned the AUD, NZD and other high yielding currencies in favour of the safety of the USD and EUR. This week investors are re-entering the AUD in droves. In Oct-08 we saw the collapse of the carry trade, today we are witnessing its re-building.

Why you might ask would fund managers throw money back into commodity currencies? There are several reasons:
1. The vulnerability or exposure to low commodity prices has been priced in
2. The Australian economy will benefit from a low AUD since its commodity exports are priced in USD
3. The Australian economy produces a lot of food as well as minerals, and its now out of drought, and producing record harvests.
4. The interest swap trading AUD:JPY is still very good, and that will always be the case as long as the Australian economy retains its relative size and character to the Japanese economy.

A few weeks ago traders were saying that the carry trade was over. But in fact its a cycle more than a fling. It will always exist, if not the AUD it will be another currency. Interestingly the NZD is not responding as favourably as the AUD. The reason for this is likely to be the poor NZ current account deficit, currently running at 9% of GDP. mind you, that reluctance to buy NZD will be soon corrected. I think we will see the AUD strengthen quickly from Y65 to Y70 very quickly, so I recommend that trade, thereafter I would expect some bad news to curtail it in the short term.
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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com