real trade

Paper trading means recording your decision to trade and tracking it as if it were a real trade, only without money.

and the yen's real trade-weighted value is at its lowest for at least 30 years.

Its real trade-weighted exchange rate (the best measure of competitiveness) is at its highest for 35 years.

Ted Truman of the Peterson Institute in Washington notes that Japan's real trade-weighted exchange rate is around its long-run average.

The appreciation in China's real trade-weighted exchange rate is only about a third to a half of what is needed.

"We currently see a real trade imbalance, " Mr Long says.

Its real trade-weighted value fell this month to its lowest since 1982 (see chart).

The bill was dropped, but the yuan has since risen by that magic amount in real trade-weighted terms (see left-hand chart, below).

Between mid-2005 and mid-2009, China's real trade-weighted exchange rate appreciated by about 5. 5% a year.

But the yen's real trade-weighted exchange rate remains historically weak.

The Kobe conundrum: What's his real trade value?

There is a huge potential upside 'because of the sheer size of the real trade that happens with China, ' said Scharff-Hansen.

In real trade-weighted terms it is about 10% cheaper than at the dollar's peak in 2002.