The Debts of the Lenders: Japanese Forex Traders Make Record Bets on a Stronger Dollar

From the land of the rising sun. Does the last bastion of the carry trade know something that those in the West don't?

Japanese forex traders stocked up on the dollar last week by betting on a stronger USDJPY cross as the yen approaches the psychologically critical Y87.10 level.

The article does not mention the type of traders that accumulated dollars but notes that online forex trading has increased remarkably in popularity among retail traders - so much so that Japanese regulatory authorities have taken measures to cap the amount of leverage that traders can use. So, we can assume that a large segment - maybe a majority, maybe not - of these traders are new to the gladiatorial style combat of forex trading.

They also stand a higher chance of blowing out their accounts and causing further weakening of the dollar.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f6fb3808-b681-11de-8a28-00144feab49a.html