What Fed’s Move Means for Currency ETFs

When the Federal Reserve announced that it would grow its balance sheet, that move also comes with implications for currency exchange traded funds (ETFs).

The Federal Reserve said it would expand its balance sheet to include another $750 billion of agency mortgage-backed securities, $100 billion in agency securities and $300 billion in longer-term Treasury securities over the next six months.

After the announcement, foreign currencies rallied and ultimately brought the rally seen in the U.S. dollar to a grinding halt, leading to its biggest daily drop in more than two decades. Last week, the dollar fell 3.8% against the euro and 3.6% against the pound.

The long-term value of the dollar is now being questioned by some officials at Asia’s top think tanks, reports Reuters. Will the dollar remain a key global currency when all is said and done? Asia hopes that any decline in the dollar will be gradual to avoid more shocks to financial systems. For the time being, many market participants believe that the latest stimulus could lead to a prolonged decline in the dollar’s value.

If this is true, we could be looking at upswings in foreign currency ETFs in the near future. Watch the trend lines to see if this bears out, though. Note that these funds have already popped above their 50-day moving averages, and in some cases, the 200-day.

• WisdomTree Chinese Yuan (CYB): up 0.4% in the last week

• WisdomTree Dreyfus Brazilian Real (BZF): up 3.2% in the last week

• CurrencyShares Swedish Krona (FXS): up 9.1% in the last week

• CurrencyShares Swiss Franc (FXF): up 1.2% in the last week

Comments

[paddywhack:]

In times of uncertainty we all seek to withdraw from stocks and other securities and hold everything is cash. Now What ? Recent generations have become inured to gradual loss of value in the dollar, but what happens if (when) it becomes immediate and precipitous - Now What ?
Gold can be confiscated - real estate is plummeting - Scary to Terrifying !

Mar 22 05:42 PM

[flyfarmer:]

It is very scary. I'm recently retired and have decided to go ahead and pay off my house rather than to risk some crazy event taking it away in another fashion. At least I get a guaranteed 5% return on my money (my interest rate on my mortgage). I wouldn't do this if I needed the funds to live on though. I think the best investments are in canned goods and toilet paper. We all need those. fly

Mar 31 05:54 PM