No. of Recommendations: 8
The only reason for the yen debt to buy the Japanese position was because it was free (interest rate below inflation), and currency matched so that if the business value ever fell along with a falling yen, it would be made up for as a gain on the shrinking yen debt.
Just to follow up on that...it has been a very good decision so far, measured in US dollars. The debt taken on to buy the original position, assumed constant in yen, is down about 34% since then measured in US dollars. i.e., a 50% profit on money borrowed rather than money invested. Plus of course the big gains on the stocks.
On the other hand, if the dollar falls against the yen that pleasant effect would reverse.
Jim
