They caused global markets to seize up – and raised serious questions about just how much money was at stake. No, we’re not talking about Nvidia’s earnings. Or the US jobs report. We’re talking about carry trades – an obscure part of international markets that’s suddenly less obscure.

On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, the Bloomberg Explains series continues with Bloomberg Opinion columnist Shuli Ren. She tells hosts K. Oanh Ha and David Gura about how the yen carry trade became so popular with big banks to small-time investors, what went wrong during the August markets rout and how soup dumplings are key to understanding why carry trades shouldn’t work … but do.

Read more: How Big Is the Yen Carry Trade, Really?

Further listening: Odd Lots Podcast - Bloomberg

Watch, from Bloomberg Originals: Why Japan’s Yen is So Volatile

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