A Yen For A Stronger/Weaker Yen

Japanese executives have been arguing that the yen has been too strong in recent months. The strong yen hurts Japanese exporters. Toyota says that a single yen change against the U.S. dollar over a full year changes operating profit by ¥35 billion ($397 million). For Nissan and Honda, the operating profit changes are ¥20 billion ($227 million) and ¥16 billion ($182 million), respectively. The downside is that a weaker yen increases energy prices since Japan imports most of its energy needs. Now, executives are worried that the weakening of the yen could go too far, eroding confidence in both Japan and the yen, resulting in a further weakening of the yen.