The Yen Carry Trade Unwind: A Looming Financial Shock and the Opportunity It Presents

There’s something stirring beneath the surface of the global financial system. You can’t see it in the headlines. You won’t find it on your CommSec homepage. But it’s there—quiet, monstrous, and ready to burst.

And when it does?

It could trigger the most devastating financial event of this century. Bigger than COVID. Bigger than the GFC. We’re talking full-blown Great Depression territory.

That might sound dramatic. But stick with me, because this isn’t doomsaying. It’s pattern recognition. It’s history rhyming. It’s spotting the rickety scaffolding propping up the global economy—and understanding what happens when the wind picks up.

This story isn’t about inflation or AI or bond yields or Biden or Trump.

This is about a trade. One trade. A trade so big, so lopsided, and so globally entangled that it could ripple through every asset class on Earth.

It’s called the yen carry trade.

You probably don’t think about it much—if you’ve ever even heard of it. But it’s one of the foundational forces behind modern markets. And it’s starting to wobble.

Before we dive into how it works, how it could unwind, and how you might actually profit from it, let’s start by setting the mood.