Hedge funds are rapidly unwinding their bearish Yen bets following US-Japan FX intervention: Leveraged funds cut their net short Yen positions by -74,440 contracts, to 63,600 contracts, over the 5 weeks ending August 4th, according to CFTC data. This was one of the sharpest reductions in short positioning since the 2008 Financial Crisis. At the end of June, leveraged funds held 138,000 net short contracts, the largest short position since 2007. This comes as Japanese authorities purchased ~$85 billion worth of Yen between July 30th and 31st to prop up the currency, the largest 2-day currency intervention since 2011, when Japan intervened in the aftermath of the tsunami that caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster. This also marked the first coordinated action between Japan and the US in 15 years, after the Yen weakened to its lowest since 1986. Historic intervention is changing FX market dynamics.