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From BBG:
“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent challenged traders to counter his efforts to strengthen Japan’s currency, saying when he makes market calls these days he’s effectively doing so with inside information.
“Whenever people say, ‘Oh, well, Treasury Secretary is taking a risk,’ — well, it’s my dream, I have asymmetric information,” Bessent said at a Southern Methodist University event in Texas Tuesday.
Bessent, a former hedge fund executive, was reviewing occasions when he’s intervened in markets, including the joint purchases of yen he mounted with Japan’s government on July 31. While the yen initially jumped, gains ebbed in subsequent sessions, in part as traders highlighted the Treasury’s limited firepower to deploy in foreign-exchange purchases.
The Japanese currency has since gained significantly, closing in on its strongest level this year without any apparent fresh intervention by authorities. Expectations for higher interest rates from the BOJ have provided a fundamental source of support, while the break through 155 added technical momentum.
Read more: [Bessent’s Whatever-It-Takes Yen Vow Masks Limited Firepower](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-10/bessent-s-whatever-it-takes-yen-pledge-masks-limited-firepower)
“I am the house now, so when we intervene with the Japanese yen, I have pretty good insight into what the Japanese, what the Bank of Japan is going to do, what Japanese policymakers are going to do,” Bessent said. “And you can bet against me if you want.”
The BOJ is leaning toward raising its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point on Sept. 18, while leaving open the possibility of accelerating the pace of hikes thereafter, [according to](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-03/boj-is-said-to-favor-quarter-point-hike-flexible-on-future-path) people familiar with the matter. Bessent has repeatedly [hinted](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-31/bessent-tells-japan-officials-rate-hikes-are-needed-nhk-says-mthudgie) over the past year that he’d prefer the BOJ to raise interest rates to help the yen rather than see repeated intervention in the market amid an extraordinary public focus on Japanese policy by the US administration.
Bessent’s latest comments on the yen underscore his broader willingness to step into markets even in the face of criticism. The Treasury secretary [said](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-08/bessent-says-buyback-move-was-aimed-at-quelling-market-fever) on Tuesday his moves to expand a buyback program for older US government securities was aimed at quelling a “fever” in the bond market. This came after Stanley Druckenmiller, the billionaire investor who mentored Bessent in his early career as a hedge fund trader, [suggested](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-25/druckenmiller-bessent-s-early-mentor-calls-bond-buys-a-mistake) his former pupil is making a mistake by wading into the bond market.
Japan likely [sold](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-06/japan-likely-sold-treasuries-to-fund-record-yen-intervention) a portion of its holdings of foreign securities, including US Treasuries, to finance its record currency intervention over the past month, despite concern in Washington over the impact of Treasury sales on long-term yields. Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Tuesday that Japan’s stance on currencies hasn’t shifted since it conducted joint intervention with its US counterparts, and that authorities will aim to maintain an orderly FX market.”