Think back. Way back. All the way back to last April when Donald Trump told the Wall Street Journal the following about the dollar:
I think our dollar is getting too strong, and partially that’s my fault because people have confidence in me.
That was on April 12, so let’s time stamp it:
“Problem” solved, sir! And all it took was nine straight months of degrading yourself and the office of the presidency. Who knew this was such an “easy” fix?!
Of course one of the things Trump was “concerned” about was trade, a concern he tried his best to express in the same article linked above when he said “look, there’s some very good things about a strong dollar, but usually speaking the best thing about it is that it sounds good.” Well, “usually speaking”, that quote doesn’t “sound good” primarily because it’s an egregious affront to good grammar, but what he was driving at is that a weaker greenback is good for trade.
This morning, speaking from Davos (where he’ll be shocked to find rich people), Treasury Secretary and man who got a box of horse shit for Christmas, Steve Mnuchin said this:
- MNUCHIN SAYS WEAKER DOLLAR IS GOOD FOR TRADE
Needless to say, that was just fuel on the fire for dollar bears. Have a look:
This of course comes on the heels of this week’s protectionist lean that found Trump starting a solar panel/washing machine war with China and South Korea. Mnuchin’s rhetoric will only heighten trade tensions.
As for Draghi and Kuroda what can we say but, “sorry motherfuckers.” And maybe “good luck leaning any semblance of hawkish now”.
DXY below 90 now for the first time in a long time:
Dollar crash is nearing exhaustion, with a significant retrace ahead, before the next shoe drops later.
US devaluation won’t make a whit of difference to US trade. If devaluation worked, the world would be driving Ladas and Yugos instead of Asian and German cars. Even with the one-year 20% dollar crash, the US share of the auto industry outside the US fell in half. Nobody else wants unreliable US cars, obsolete Whirlpool appliances, crappy RCA televisions, etc.
All the crashing dollar does is crush the living standard of US residents, in time. Same for his dimwitted trade war shit. It’s all just spasms surrounding the demise of the US, following the path of Britain decades ago.
And the phony US stock market “rise” is little more than an offset to the crashing dollar. In fact US stocks lag market performance in Asia, Europe and EM, on a currency-adjusted basis rather than in (meaningless) nominal terms.
https://tradingeconomics.com/
Thailand looks good