Yen

TOKYO -- Currency crises are typically too amorphous to produce demonstrable pain, but yesterday's brief surge in the value of Japanese yen to 80 to the dollar raised genuine concerns in Tokyo about an international economic crunch that won't spare America."

Here I am having dinner at Pappas Restaurant on a weeknight in summer, supposedly a dead time for restaurants, and every table is filled. This Parkville institution must be doing something right, but I'm not sure what it is. Sometimes the reasons for a restaurant's success are obvious. Not this time. True, the staff couldn't be nicer, harder-working or more professional. But that doesn't make up for the fact that there were too few of them. Even with reservations, we had a long wait before a busboy was available to clear and set a table for us. We waited even longer for the waitress to get free to take our order.

NEW YORK -- The dollar tumbled 2.5 percent against the German mark yesterday and fell to a post-World War II low against the yen on the first trading day after leaders of the Group of Seven nations offered no plans to stabilize the U.S. currency."

With dumpy Left Bank hotels going for $250 a night, the only way my family was getting to Paris this summer was if some French family agreed to clear out and let us sleep in their beds, eat off their plates and use their bathroom for free. Fortunately, a nice couple in the 11th arrondissement - an advertising manager and a travel executive - said that was fine with them. Of course, while we're watching Les Guignols de L'Info on their TV, they'll be watching Denise Koch or Deal or No Deal on mine.

NEW YORK -- The dollar rallied against the yen yesterday, buoyed by dollar purchases by the Bank of Japan and signs that the yen's strength was exacting a heavy toll on the Japanese economy.The German mark declined against the dollar and other currencies, meantime, amid speculation that slowing inflation would give Germany's central bankers leeway to cut interest rates when they hold their biweekly council meeting today. Lower rates would make mark-denominated deposits less attractive.The dollar started rising in Tokyo as the Bank of Japan bought dollars for yen in a continuing effort to keep the yen from strengthening.

NEW YORK -- Aggressive purchases of dollars by the Bank of Japan and expectations that the Federal Reserve Board could follow suit helped strengthen the dollar against the yen yesterday.Against most European currencies, however, the dollar slipped, although it gained on the British pound.The dollar jumped against the yen in Tokyo trading as the Japanese central bank spent about $1 billion to try to keep the yen from rising. The dollar held its gains and finished at 103.75 yen in New York, up from 103.05 Monday.

NEW YORK -- The dollar soared against major currencies yesterday, rallying against the Japanese yen after Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa lost a no-confidence vote among the country's legislators, forcing him to call elections or resign.Gains against the yen and lingering concern about the slumping German economy helped send the dollar to 1.686 German marks, a 15-month high. The dollar rose 3.3 percent against the mark this week."Everything is lining up for the dollar all of a sudden," said Earl Johnson, foreign exchange adviser at Harris Trust & Savings Bank in Chicago.

NEW YORK -- The dollar tumbled against the Japanese yen yesterday on news of disappointing housing starts and speculation that the Clinton administration might press for a stronger yen.Elsewhere, the British pound jumped against the dollar and the mark as the British government's budget plan left interest rates there unchanged and kept alive the prospects for economic recovery.The dollar began its slide against the yen after Japanese news reports said economist C. Fred Bergsten was advising the Clinton administration that the dollar should be weakened 10 percent against the the Japanese currency, according to MMS International.

NEW YORK -- The dollar rose yesterday against major currencies, rebounding from a post-World War II low against the yen, amid speculation the U.S. government will buy dollars again after aggressive purchases Monday.The dollar stabilized Monday after the New York Federal Reserve, the government's agent in the foreign exchange market, paid an estimated $2 billion to $2.5 billion for marks and yen. Many traders said they expect the Fed to be back for more."The dollar has benefited from the threat of continued intervention," said John McCarthy, manager of foreign exchange for ING Capital Markets in New York.

TOKYO -- Japan's emergency plan to stem the fall of the dollar against the yen and to stimulate the nation's economy failed to impress the financial markets yesterday, raising fears here that the dollar's fall could resume next week.Critics said the measures, announced yesterday, were vague and lacked teeth. "I'm a little bit shocked at seeing today's package," said Masaru Takagi, chief economist of the Fuji Research Institute, associated with the Fuji Bank. "There are no concrete figures yet, no concrete features at all."

WASHINGTON -- The ascendance of Michigan's congressional Democrats may grant Detroit automakers a long-held legislative wish - a full hearing of their complaints that Japan uses its currency to boost its automakers. In his first salvo since regaining the chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. John D. Dingell sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., asking him to answer several questions about the Bush administration's stance toward Japan by March.

George Yen, a retired engineer who served in the Republic of China's National Assembly for more than four decades, died of pneumonia April 23 at Mercy Medical Center. The Towson resident was 101. Family members said he was born in Imperial China and counted the philosopher Confucius among his ancestors. Mr. Yen graduated from what was then called Peiping University and earned a graduate engineering degree at the University of Ghent in Belgium. A civil engineer, he oversaw transportation in 10 of 35 Chinese provinces before and during World War II. He was a founder and former president of the regional carrier Far East Airlines, according to the family and a friend.

The dollar rose yesterday in advance of reports this week that might show U.S. consumer confidence climbed to a six-month high in January and that manufacturing gained. Faster economic growth could spur speculation the United States will keep raising interest rates, widening a differential that helped the dollar rally more than 14 percent against the euro and yen last year. The Federal Reserve next meets on interest rates Jan. 31. "The U.S. economy is still doing very well, and numbers out this week should be fairly solid," said Michael Klawitter, a currency strategist at WestLB AG in Duesseldorf, Germany.

TOKYO -- The Japanese yen fell to a 32-month low against the dollar yesterday, continuing an almost yearlong slide that helps Japanese exporters but raises pressure on U.S. producers. In Tokyo, the yen traded as low as 121.39 yen to the dollar, its weakest point since March 2003. It has fallen 16 percent this year, from a high of 101.68 yen to the dollar Jan. 17. Against the euro, the yen touched a record low of 141.98. In New York, the yen weakened further to lows of 121.40 to the dollar, recovering to settle at 120.79.

The brilliance of outsider bad boy Ryan Atwood - played on The O.C. by 26-year-old actor Ben McKenzie - isn't in his subtle complexity, his dramatic intensity or his emotional honesty. Nor is it the fact that, according to both television critics and teenage girls, he bears a passing physical resemblance to a young Russell Crowe. Instead, the brilliance of Ryan Atwood can be summed up thusly: The man loves Journey. "Do not insult Journey, all right?" he tells Seth, his best friend, as they speed to the airport with the car radio blasting, hoping to stop a girl from boarding a plane and leaving Newport Beach.

The dollar traded near a five-year low against the yen yesterday as some traders declined to bet on an advance in the U.S. currency before a Treasury Department report today on foreign purchases of American assets in November. Speculation that the U.S. economy won't attract enough foreign investment to compensate for the deficit in its current account has helped push the dollar down 5 percent against the euro and 6.7 percent against the yen in the past three months. "The dollar will remain on the defensive over the next 24 hours," said Kamal Sharma, a currency strategist in London at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.

HONG KONG - A large buildup of U.S. dollars held by Japan, China and other Asian countries is fueling increasing unease among analysts and policy-makers, who fear it now poses risks to the U.S. economic recovery and global financial stability. Asian countries hold foreign exchange reserves - mostly in dollars - valued at more than $2 trillion, nearly triple the amount of seven years ago, according to the Asian Development Bank. The dollar reserves continue to grow rapidly. Japan and China are particularly heavy buyers.

NEW YORK - The yen surged to its highest against the dollar in more than two years yesterday after a European Group of Seven official said the organization may call on countries to let the market set foreign-exchange rates. Japan's currency extended its gains after Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui told reporters that "it's not good to react hastily to currency moves," suggesting the central bank may let the yen strengthen after a 2.9 percent advance this week against the U.S. dollar.