Yen (¥)
The yen continues to be stronger than the Ministry of Finance would like. There is still little stomach for reform in Japan even though they talk about it a great deal. The government is pro-active when it comes to intervening in the currency markets. They want to make sure that the yen remains relatively cheap so that exporters to the United States will continue to benefit because of lower prices and be able to bring home higher profits besides. Recent appreciation of the yen has nothing to do with economic fundamentals, but rather aversion to the dollar thanks to geopolitical factors and the economy's slow return to growth. This has made U.S. investments less attractive to foreign investors, which in turn reduces the demand for the dollar.