NZD Trade

Could not resist!

Bought 1m NZD sold USD at 0.5515.

Will review at 0.5100 and 0.6100.

See earlier post as to why.

NZD/USD thoughts

The NZD/USD has fallen from the highs of 0.8216 on 27 Feb 2008 to lows of 0.5191 on 20 November 2008, a fall of over 30 cents, or 36.81%.

The average move from high to low (in a calendar year) over the last 17 years is 15%, with the greatest move being in 2001, of 26%. So the NZD/USD is clearly oversold, by any measure, even bearing in mind the turbulent offshore markets.

There are three main drivers of the NZD/USD:

Capital Markets
I was advised last week by a major bank that in their view some 40-50% of the normal foreign exchange volume is absent from the markets due to volatility and the lack of M&A activity. I believe that a good deal of the offshore investment present in New Zealand over recent years has departed our shores. Corporate offshore investors simply would not stand by and watch a fall of the above magnitude without hedging or withdrawing funds. The key barometer of this is the NZD/JPY, which has fallen nearly 40 cents from the highs of 88.10 to lows of 48.69 or 45% this year, a record move that surely means they have departed New Zealand for now.

Importers
The import community has been engulfed with a wave of global negative news, and lower forecasts from the various banking forecasts. Hence many have taken large amounts of NZD/USD cover, not dissimilar to the events seen a few years back when they covered some years ahead. The key time of the year for importers is right now, Christmas, with the bulk of payments for Christmas stock occurring in November and December. The import community is largely fully covered in the NZD/USD, and their selling of the NZD/USD will diminish as we move into year end and they go on holiday.

Exporters
The vast majority of exporters have low levels of cover. Manufacturing exporters have various levels of cover but all the agricultural and horticultural exporters have low levels of cover, firstly because their season has yet to begin, and secondly they are waiting for lower levels as indicated by the banking forecasts.

So with the capital market players absent, and the importers largely hedged, who of substance is left to sell the NZD/USD? If the rate starts to rise then importers will only be in a position to watch, and exporters will be scrambling to hedge export receipts, as we go into the thin markets in January. There may even be buyers attracted to our (still high) interest rates given that the rest of the world will be closer to zero, even if we have dropped another 1% next week.

Buy NZD/USD!!

Stop Loss Orders

I have been asked why I don't use stop loss orders.

Stop loss orders are an order to cut a position when certain levels are reached to stop the loss getting any greater. I don't usually use them.

I do use "review levels", which are internal levels that I use to re-assess whether the position in place is still valid, or whether to just cut and run. The recent huge volatility in the markets are a case in point. The fall in the USD/JPY was nasty, and at 90.00 I would have been looking at some big losses.

So before it got that bad, I took some alternate positions as follows:

Original trades are 3m USD long short Yen at 103.10. (1m 105.66, 1m 104.00, 1m 99.64)
I sold USD1.5m bought Yen at 96.72 on 23 Oct and again sold USD1.5m at 97.21 bought Yen on 24 October (average 96.97) thus making the overall USD position bought and sold, but essentially square with a loss between the 5 trades of Yen18,390,000 or USD189,646.28.

So effectively I have locked in the loss and the 5 trades are in the "deep freeze" until I close them out or take the hit.

What I am looking to do is cut the 3m at under 96.97 and take a cash gain, with a greater unrealised loss on the original trades, then look for the USD/JPY to move back over 103.00 to make a profit overall.

But need equity markets to calm down first, so still waiting. But these trades are not what I would normally do, but when the markets are so unruly, protection is the best policy untill all calms down.

Still have the NZD/JPY carry trade, will add further if we see a move to 51.00, as I see this cross getting back to 80.00 over time.

Review levels are 90.00 in the USD/JPY and 50.00 in the NZD/JPY.

Position update

Bought 1m USD sold Yen at 99.64 last night.
Average now 3m USD long short Yen at 103.10.

Bought NZD1m sold Yen at 59.83... my first carry trade for a while!!

Position update

Here are the trades I am active in:

USD/JPY
Long USD 2m short Yen at 104.83 average.

Current rate:101.40

Comment:
Underwater here as the carry trade repayment has dragged this rate lower.
Will look to add a further 1m USD long on approaches to 100.00.

NZD/JPY
Square

Current rate 63.13

Comment:
Almost getting time to re-enter carry trades again. Will use approaches to 60.00 to begin building a position.

EUR/USD
Back to Square

Current rate 1.3600

Comment:
Decided discretion was the better part of valour, so cut the position out completely last week and took the gains. Will re- assess if EUR/USD moves back above 1.4000 in coming weeks as the madness around the world calms down.

Cashed out:
Short EUR4.0m (1.4283 average) long USD at 1.3885 last Friday, for a gain of USD159,200 @0.6600 NZD241,212.12 (not counting carry interest).

AUD/USD
Square

Current rate 0.7090

Comment:
Probably fallen far enough for the year, looking for a retracement. However AUD/USD has further to fall into next year. Use retracements higher into 0.7800 to begin building a short position.


Total gains banked this year to date:

NZD1,051,735.00

And that's how to become a millionaire!!!

Next trades:
Looking to buy NZD1m sell JPY on a move into the 60.00 area.
Looking to buy USD1m sell JPY on a move into the 100.00 area.
Looking to sell AUD1m buy USD on moves into the 0.7800 area.

Euro position

Just cut my Euro position completely at 1.3885, so now square.
Not sure which way this vote will go in the US tonight, so decided to take profits and re-assess next week.

So now square in the Euro trades.

Discretion is the better part of valour!!

Will update profits etc over the weekend.

Position update

Order at 104.00 was struck, so now long USD2m short JPY at an average of 104.83.

With the rate at 106.15 right now, looking good.
Euro position has lurched into profit as well overnight.

USD is strong, because they are in a mess, but it is known.
Everywhere else is also in a mess, but the scale is unknown.

And the US has a rep for sorting stuff quickly. Europe and Asia (not so much the UK) have reps for hiding and covering bad news.

Buy USDs!!