Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Reportedly Killed

Iran's regime supreme leader Ayatollah has been reported killed in an Israeli air strike.

According to Reuters (via AOL):

Feb 28 (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who turned the country into a powerful anti-U.S. force and extended its military influence across the Middle East while crushing repeated ‌domestic unrest, was killed in Israeli and U.S. strikes, a senior Israeli official told Reuters on ‌Saturday.

There was no immediate Iranian confirmation of his fate.

The United States and Israel carried out military strikes on Iran on Saturday, targeting ​its top leaders and plunging the Middle East into a conflict that President Donald Trump said would end a security threat to the U.S. and give Iranians a chance to topple their rulers.

To read more, go here. 

Dollar vs. Yen: Light At The End of the Tunnel?

It has been a while since I took a look at the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen.

We may be seeing "the light at the end of the tunnel" of the weak U.S. dollar vs. the Japanese yen according to Bloomberg:

Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s wish for a weaker yen is coming true as the strengthening global economy encourages the nation’s investors to send more of their money overseas in search of higher yields.

The yen has depreciated 8.3 percent from its August peak against a basket of nine developed-nation peers, Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Currency Indexes show. The lower exchange rate marks a turnaround from early 2010 when global investors demanding a refuge from Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis propelled it to a 15-year high versus the dollar.

The yen may weaken to 86 per dollar by the end of the second quarter and 90 by the end of the year, according a Bloomberg News survey of 40 forecasters. The currency gained 0.3 percent to 83.18 in the week ended Feb. 18.

It would be nice if the dollar got back into the 90s against the yen. Japan travelers would benefit. But it is still far short of the 116 yen/dollar rate I received when I went to Japan in 2007. I am planning on a return trip to Japan by the end of the year and a 90+ exchange rate would be a big help.

According to the Universal Currency Converter, today's dollar/yen rate is:

1.00 USD = 83.1135 JPY

To read the full Bloomberg article, go here.

Dollar Sinking Against The Yen

Ouch! I took a look at today's currency exchange rate between the U.S. Dollar and the Japanese Yen and it is bad (and seems to be getting worse).

Today's rate:

1 US Dollar (USD) = 86.6554 Japanese Yen (JPY)

Source: International Currency Converter

To keep this in proper perspective, I got 116 yen for every dollar I exchanged two years ago. That's a 30 yen difference!

Now is not the time to get the most value for your dollars.

Dollar Takes Beating By Yen

Oh-oh! The U.S. dollar took a beating today by the Japanese yen.

Today's rate of exchange:

1.00 USD = 91.3997 JPY

The Euro also took a beating by the yen.

Obviously, this is not good news for U.S. citizens who want to travel to Japan for business or vacationing.

Source: XE.com

Dollar Stuck In A Rut Against Yen

A few months ago, the U.S. dollar started getting some traction in the exchange rate with the Japanese yen. But since then, the dollar seems to be stuck in a rut.

For the past several months, the dollar has been mired in the 90s range against the yen.

This is today's exchange rate between the dollar and yen:

1.00 USD = 94.5261 JPY
1 USD = 94.5261 JPY 1 JPY = 0.0105791 USD

Keep in mind that I got an exchange rate of 116 yen for every dollar back in April 2007.

The world's money people have lost a lot of faith in the U.S. dollar during the past few months. Some have even gone as far as to suggest replacing the dollar as the base currency.

Obama's $9 trillion 10-year deficits is not helping matters any and we can expect to see inflation come roaring back.

With the dollar/yen exchange rate so bad, would I go to Japan now? No, only if I had do. I'd be losing money if I were to go now.

North Korea Threatening War

After Barack Obama said that he will bring diplomacy back to foreign policy during the campaign, North Korea is now threatening to attack U.S. and South Korean warships.

My Way News is reporting:

North Korea threatened military action Wednesday against U.S. and South Korean warships plying the waters near the Koreas' disputed maritime border, raising the specter of a naval clash just days after the regime's underground nuclear test.

Pyongyang, reacting angrily to Seoul's decision to join an international program to intercept ships suspected of aiding nuclear proliferation, called the move tantamount to a declaration of war.

"Those who provoke [North Korea] once will not be able to escape its unimaginable and merciless punishment," North Korea's official news agency said.

Reuters is reporting that Russia fears that a conflict with North Korea could go nuclear:

Russia is taking security measures as a precaution against the possibility tension over North Korea could escalate into nuclear war, news agencies quoted officials as saying on Wednesday.

North Korea has responded to international condemnation of its nuclear test and a threat of new U.N. sanctions by saying it is no longer bound by an armistice signed with South Korea at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

It looks like Obama's diplomacy is working out well. Talking to North Korea's leaders is tantamount to talking sense to a mad dog.

UPDATE: The Japan Times is reporting:

The [Japanese] government Tuesday welcomed the U.N. Security Council's quick opposition to North Korea's nuclear test but continued to scramble for a fresh response to Pyongyang's latest provocation.

Prime Minister Taro Aso and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed during a phone conference in the morning that Pyongyang's nuclear test was "a serious threat to the peace and stability of Northeast Asia and the international community," and that a swift adoption of a U.N. resolution against the reclusive state is necessary.

They also confirmed that Japan, the U.S. and South Korea will cooperate more closely over North Korea and stressed the importance of coordinating with China and Russia.