5/16/2006

Bringing home the dollars to mama

Global asset relocation is happening. As everybody rushes for exit, the panic grows. When the dust settles down few leveraged hedge funds would be bust.
US investors are rushing for exits in risky markets across the world, accelerating an ugly sell-off in Turkey, Indonesia, India, Russia, and Brazil.
The sudden repatriation of funds back to America triggered a rebound in the dollar yesterday, halting the sharp slide that has transfixed financial markets over the past week.
"Risk aversion is taking over the show," said David Bloom, a currency expert at HSBC.
"Americans are pulling their money off the table and bringing it back home to mama. We saw the same repatriation after the 1987 crash, causing the dollar to rally for two or three days."
The dollar recovery helped settle Wall Street yesterday after two sessions of heavy losses, but the rout across riskier markets appeared to be gathering speed.
The Istanbul stock market has crashed 9pc over the past two trading days, touching a one-year low. The lira is down 15pc in a week. Indonesia's central bank stepped in yesterday to support the crumbling rupiah as panic swept the country. The Jakarta stock exchange was down 6.3pc.
"There's a wipe-out across many Asian currencies. People are taking their money out," said Shahab Jalinoos, a strategist at ABN Amro.
The epidemic even spread to Russia - now flush with oil - where the bourse tumbled 5pc yesterday.
Analysts said the global sell-off was a repeat of the "carry-trade" unwinding that hit Iceland, New Zealand, and Hungary in April, but now seems to be spreading far wider.


You can see this more clearly on following World Market Direction component list I monitor daily. Or you can monitor it here

AORD-X,Sydney All Ordinaries Index
EWA,iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund ETF
EWC,iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund ETF
EWD,iShares MSCI Sweden Index Fund ETF
EWG,iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund ETF
EWH,iShares MSCI Hong Kong Index Fund ETF
EWI,iShares MSCI Italy Index Fund ETF
EWJ,iShares MSCI Japan Index Fund ETF
EWK,iShares MSCI Belgium Index Fund ETF
EWL,iShares MSCI Switzerland Index Fund ETF
EWM,iShares MSCI Malaysia Index Fund ETF
EWN,iShares MSCI Netherlands Index Fund ETF
EWO,iShares MSCI Austria Index Fund ETF
EWP,iShares MSCI Spain Index Fund ETF
EWQ,iShares MSCI France Index Fund ETF
EWS,iShares MSCI Singapore Index Fund ETF
EWT,iShares MSCI Taiwan Index Fund ETF
EWU,iShares MSCI United Kingdom Index Fund ETF
EWW,iShares MSCI Mexico Index Fund ETF
EWY,iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund ETF
EWZ,iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund ETF
EZA,iShares MSCI South Africa Index Fund ETF
FDAC-X,Frankfurt Dax Index
FTSE-X,London Ftse-100 Index
MXY--X,Mexico Index
NIKI-X,Tokyo Nikkei Index
PCAC-X,Paris CAC-40 Index
SING-X,Singapore Straits Index

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