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Good Carry, Bad Carry

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  • Bekaert, Geert
  • Panayotov, George

Abstract

We distinguish between †good†and †bad†carry trades constructed from G-10 currencies. The good trades exhibit higher Sharpe ratios and sometimes positive return skewness, in contrast to the bad trades that have both substantially lower Sharpe ratios and highly negative return skewness. Surprisingly, good trades do not involve the most typical carry currencies like the Australian dollar and Japanese yen. The distinction between good and bad carry trades significantly alters our understanding of currency carry trade returns, and invalidates, for example, explanations invoking return skewness and crash risk.

Suggested Citation

  • Bekaert, Geert & Panayotov, George, 2019. "Good Carry, Bad Carry," CEPR Discussion Papers 13463, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13463
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    Cited by:

    1. Park, Sunjin, 2022. "Heterogeneous beliefs in macroeconomic growth prospects and the carry risk premium," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    2. Choi, Jin Ho & Suh, Sangwon, 2021. "A filtered currency carry trade," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    3. Colacito, Riccardo & Riddiough, Steven J. & Sarno, Lucio, 2020. "Business cycles and currency returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(3), pages 659-678.
    4. Zhenzhen Fan & Juan M. Londono & Xiao Xiao, 2019. "US Equity Tail Risk and Currency Risk Premia," International Finance Discussion Papers 1253, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    5. Choi, Jin Ho & Suh, Sangwon, 2022. "Conditionally-hedged currency carry trades," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    6. Geyikçi, Utku Bora & Özyıldırım, Süheyla, 2021. "To hedge or not to hedge: Carry trade dynamics in the emerging economies," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    7. Hertrich, Daniel, 2023. "Carry and conditional value at risk trend: Capturing the short-, intermediate-, and long-term trends of left-tail risk forecasts," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    8. Fan, Zhenzhen & Londono, Juan M. & Xiao, Xiao, 2022. "Equity tail risk and currency risk premiums," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(1), pages 484-503.
    9. Yung, Julieta, 2021. "Can interest rate factors explain exchange rate fluctuations?," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 34-56.
    10. Filipe, Sara Ferreira & Nissinen, Juuso & Suominen, Matti, 2023. "Currency carry trades and global funding risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    11. Arash Aloosh & Geert Bekaert, 2022. "Currency Factors," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(6), pages 4042-4064, June.
    12. Ferdinand Dreher & Johannes Gräb & Thomas Kostka, 2020. "From carry trades to curvy trades," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 758-780, March.
    13. José Da Fonseca & Edem Dawui, 2021. "Semivariance and semiskew risk premiums in currency markets," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(3), pages 290-324, March.
    14. Dupuy, Philippe & James, Jessica & Marsh, Ian W., 2021. "Attractive and non-attractive currencies," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    15. Byrne, Joseph P. & Sakemoto, Ryuta, 2021. "The conditional volatility premium on currency portfolios," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    16. Joseph, Byrne & Sakemoto, Ryuta, 2020. "The Conditional Risk and Return Trade-Off on Currency Portfolios," MPRA Paper 99497, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Todd M. Hazelkorn & Tobias J. Moskowitz & Kaushik Vasudevan, 2020. "Beyond Basis Basics: Liquidity Demand and Deviations from the Law of One Price," NBER Working Papers 26773, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Mo, Wan-Shin & Yang, J. Jimmy & Chen, Yu-Lun, 2023. "Exchange rate spillover, carry trades, and the COVID-19 pandemic," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    19. Fan, Zhenzhen & Paseka, Alexander & Qi, Zhen & Zhang, Qi, 2022. "Currency carry trade: The decline in performance after the 2008 Global Financial Crisis," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    20. Dupuy, Philippe, 2021. "Risk-adjusted return managed carry trade," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Currency carry trade; Predictability; Currency risk factors;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • C53 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Forecasting and Prediction Models; Simulation Methods
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions

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