ajc77, I was putting your "And then you have platinum, now a...

ajc77,

I was putting your "And then you have platinum, now a $2.8bn company......." comment within a contextual framework.

What did the Swiss central bank do? Made a threat to devalue the currency; the lemmings kept piling into the CHF; the bank released a few francs into market; the speculators ran for the hills, the lemmings followed pursuit; the bank bought back the few francs it released into the market; the bank now maintains a spread on the CHF. End result? A lot of speculators lost a lot of money.
It's the same with the Yen. The threat itself creates the desired reaction.

Here's an interesting interview with John Bogle (Vanguard founder). Enjoy.