Importers gain in all currencies except the Australian dollar, which had a minor rebound. All eyes are on the Federal Reserve and Janet Yellen. Will they commit to raising interest rates sooner than predicted? The stock markets are already moving on the notion that rate increases are coming sooner rather than later. When rates increase this will increase the gains for importers and losses for exporters. The announcement is scheduled for 2 pm ET on Wednesday.
After a week of missing in action, Russian dictator and friend of the blog Vladimir Putin had a public meeting today. This kyboshed a number of conspiracy theories ranging from health problems to a coup. I am guessing that the news is good for the Russian economy, though I’m not sure if that will change its plummeting trajectory.
Greece is facing a liquidity crunch, paying the newly named “Brussels Group” (the Troika plus the European Stability Mechanism) with pension funds and EU farm subsidies. They claim they can get by, but for how long? A continuing fight with Germany is only hardening positions, it looks like Greece will only be able to change vocabulary and not actual terms.
Other US economic data for this week is here.
Who won the battle last week, between the USD and five currencies? The perspective is strictly from America, so if against the Aussie Dollar, United States importers won, that also means Australian exporters won as well. I am changing the sign convention: negative percentage changes mean that exporters have the advantage while positive numbers show the advantage for importers.
| Currency | Week Ending 3-13-15 | Weeks in a Row | Weekly Change | YTD Change |
| Australian Dollar (AUD) | Exporters Win! | 0 | -0.1% | 6.24% |
| Canadian Dollar (CAD) | Importers Win! | 2 | 1.1% | 9.11% |
| Euro (EUR) | Importers Win! | 3 | 1.2% | 12.34% |
| British Pound Sterling (GBP) | Importers Win! | 2 | 1.8% | 5.01% |
| Japanese Yen (JPY) | Importers Win! | 3 | 0.1% | 1.11% |
Thanks,
Damon
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