yen dollar exchange rate
Mari Hodges
I know this is a stupid question, but I get really confused about the
exchange rate. Could someone explain to me which way it's going now and what
that means if you get paid in yen to an American bank account where it's
converted to dollars? To use a round number, let's say the rate is
continually 10 yen (doesn't matter for what, just so I can understand the
concept). What does that mean in dollars today compared to say 1 year ago?
Basically, if someone could clear up what a weak yen and a strong yen mean
in dollars, I'd appreciate it! Math is not my forte, but this is one of the
things one needs to understand!
(I'd also be happy if someone just wants to point me toward what I should
read up on.)
Thanks,
Mari Hodges
Tom rockwood
Basically, it might be a good start to think of the concept in terms
of 'worth', i.e., how much people think a certain currency is worth.
Right now, it seems that the US dollar is not worth didly squat to
anybody compared to most of the other major currencies in the world
(pound, Euro, other dollars). However, it has actually been perceived
as being more valuable to have than Yen these past few months or so.
To be specific, right now it is trading around 117 yen for 1 USD. A
year ago, the rate was somewhere around 110 (I think). That means that
now if you want to buy 1 USD with yen, you need 7 more yen than you
did last year. So, if you're being paid in yen and having that
converted into USD, you are effectively receiving less USD than you
did last year at this time.
The problem is, though, that the worth USD against the yen is always
moving (for a number of reasons). And, in the future, the USD is going
to be worth a lot less against most currencies out there. So, if
you're being paid in yen and having that converted to USD, I wouldn't
recommend that you change a thing. Because....you will need less yen
in the future to buy that same American dollar to put into your bank
account.
Confusing? Probably. But...I tried.
Tom
Adam
110yen/dollar is stronger than 120yen/dollar.
I'm not sure I understood the first half of your question, but I can
tell you it's not stupid. I've just started into finance myself, and I
have all kinds of questions that others more experienced might find
amusing, but never stupid.
Adam
Matt Stanton
buy an apple. Then let's imagine that the price goes to 125 yen. To
buy the apple, you have to stump up more yen. In other words, the
value of the yen has fallen: the yen has become weaker. So if you get
paid in yen, you're not going to be able to get as many apples
(dollars) as before.
This is what is happening now. The yen you get from translation gets
converted into fewer dollars than before, so a weak yen/strong dollar
is bad for you. Conversely, strong yen/weak dollar is good for you.
Murdoch MacPhee
>in dollars
Mari,
If you're paid in yen, you obviously want the yen to be "strong". It's
been getting stronger over the past few days, so that's good for you.
The rate that's usually quoted in the press is called "USD/JPY", but
actually translates into how many yen there are in the US dollar. When
the yen is stronger, there are fewer yen in the US dollar, so the quoted
rate falls. If the rate you see in the newspaper (or wherever) was 120
last week and 117 this week, you're better off this week.
At a site like this:
<http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/currencies/fxc.html>
Start in the first column, headed USD. Move down to the row JPY. When
I'm typing this it says 118.65. If tomorrow it says something lower,
smile, or at least hope it stays that way until you're next paid. If it
moves higher, the yen is getting weaker.
HTH,
Murdoch MacPhee
Matt Stanton
> The problem is, though, that the worth USD against the yen is always
> moving (for a number of reasons). And, in the future, the USD is going
> to be worth a lot less against most currencies out there. So, if
> you're being paid in yen and having that converted to USD, I wouldn't
> recommend that you change a thing. Because....you will need less yen
> in the future to buy that same American dollar to put into your bank
> account.
Wow, your ability to predict future exchange rate movements is
incredible! How come you're still translating?
Tom rockwood
Will be duly noted....
Mari Hodges
understood from that to see if someone can tell me if I've got it right.
Since I get paid in yen, converted to US dollars, lately it's getting
'better.' If yen per dollar goes down, that's good for me. However, it's
still not as good as it was at this time last year. Is that correct?
Sorry to need to be beat over the head with this!
Regards,
Mari
Chris Blakeslee
Not to complicate things, but assuming you are still living in Buenos
Aires, the even more relevant rate for you, unless you only spend a
small portion of your earnings, is the yen/peso rate, or JPY/ARS.
Today that sits at 37.79 yen per peso
one year ago it was 37.43, almost unchanged
This is the site I use for historic rates:
http://www.xe.com/ict/
Sounds like you are no better or worse off, but...
The rate of inflation in Argentina for the past year appears to have hovered
around 10% (versus roughly zero in Japan), but since the peso did not
depreciate against the yen by 10% but actually appreciated by around 1%,
you have actually suffered an effective pay cut of up to 11%.
But then again, you may very well have improved your productivity by
that amount over the past year, in which case you are back to treading
water.
Some things just aren't that simple, I guess...
--
Chris Blakeslee <cpbl...@yahoo.com>
Marc Adler
> Since I get paid in yen, converted to US dollars, lately it's getting
> 'better.' If yen per dollar goes down, that's good for me. However, it's
> still not as good as it was at this time last year. Is that correct?
Think of it this way: the best exchange rate you could hope for would be
1 yen = 1 dollar. That way, a 20,000 yen job would be 20,000 dollars for
you.
Anything where the number in the yen side of the equation is bigger is
worse for you. Big yen number = bad.
Therefore [100 yen = 1 dollar] is worse than [50 yen = 1 dollar] but
better than [200 yen = 1 dollar].
What's even better, though, and something I have done this past year, is
transition to US clients, so you don't have to worry about this stuff
anymore.
--
Marc Adler
Austin, TX
Nora Stevens Heath
> Think of it this way: the best exchange rate you could hope for would be
> 1 yen = 1 dollar. That way, a 20,000 yen job would be 20,000 dollars for
> you.
Wouldn't a job where 1 yen = 5 dollars (or more) be better? A 20,000-
yen job would net 100,000 dollars. Your statement about the yen half of
the equation staying lower than the dollar half still rings true, but
the higher the dollar half, the better.
Nora
--
Nora Stevens Heath <no...@fumizuki.com>
J-E translations: http://www.fumizuki.com/
Marc Adler
> Wouldn't a job where 1 yen = 5 dollars (or more) be better? A 20,000-
> yen job would net 100,000 dollars. Your statement about the yen half of
> the equation staying lower than the dollar half still rings true, but
> the higher the dollar half, the better.
Since it's a ratio of one to the other, it's the same thing. Higher
dollar amount = lower yen amount.
Matt Stanton
> Wouldn't a job where 1 yen = 5 dollars (or more) be better? A 20,000-
> yen job would net 100,000 dollars. Your statement about the yen half of
> the equation staying lower than the dollar half still rings true, but
> the higher the dollar half, the better.
Wow! I hope you don't take things that literally when you translate!
Mari Hodges
Mari Hodges