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Investors are watching the currency markets with bated breath this week
as a historic high-stakes intervention by the US and Japanese governments sent shockwaves through the global financial system.
At the center of the story, the Japanese yen.
Here's a quick look at the yen as Japan and the US warned of further coordinated action.
An intervention: the US and Japan warned they won't hesitate to defend the currency further.
We haven't seen something like this in what, 15 years?
President Donald Trump said the joint intervention was a signal of Washington's friendship with Tokyo.
You know, they have a weakening yen and they wanted a little bit of help,
and we're always there for Japan, Japan.
The Japanese yen had been slumping for months, hitting a 40-year low against the US dollar.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent raised concerns about the yen volatility earlier this year,
and currency traders have been on high alert for the US to step in to support the yen.
But the most telling clue that the US might make a move
came at a cabinet meeting last Friday at Camp David.
It's an honor to be here in this historic place.
During that meeting, a photographer looking over Bessent's shoulder spotted something that caught his eye.
A photographer from Reuters captured an image of Scott Bessent's notepad,
and scribbled across the page were a few words that would soon grab the attention of investors around the world.
The notepad clearly displayed underlined words "to do," and on it it showed "buy Japanese yen 5 to 10 bil."