Yen begins to pick up a bid on reports of cruise and ballistic missile strikes

There are reports that cruise and ballistic missiles are being launched at Ukrainian military bases and airfields. At this point, that almost seems obvious.

US Senator Marco Rubio also reports that "Russian aircraft are now en route to conduct additional targeted strikes on a number of key defense sites through all of Ukraine."

And now: "Long range missile launches from #Russia are now underway They are headed towards various pre-selected military sites throughout Ukraine."

I don't know if there's much more to say about military updates. This is a full-scale operation and Putin has already said he wants to 'de-militarize' Ukraine. It will be a question of how hard Ukraine fights back on that front.

As for markets, we've heard European officials say that they don't want to sanction Russian oil and gas but you have to think there will be some hysteria now. However cutting off those supplies could cause immense pain for energy prices globally, but particularly in Europe.

I still think the most-straight-forward trade on all this is buying the yen. It's starting to move now, though GBP GBP The Great British pound (GBP) or pound sterling is the official currency of the United Kingdom, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, South Georgia, and other pacific territories.The GBP is currently the fourth most-traded currency worldwide in forex markets after the US dollar, euro, and Japanese yen.As the oldest currency in continual use, the GBP holds great weight on the world market and is also the fourth largest reserve currency.The Bank of England (BoE) is the central banking auth The Great British pound (GBP) or pound sterling is the official currency of the United Kingdom, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, South Georgia, and other pacific territories.The GBP is currently the fourth most-traded currency worldwide in forex markets after the US dollar, euro, and Japanese yen.As the oldest currency in continual use, the GBP holds great weight on the world market and is also the fourth largest reserve currency.The Bank of England (BoE) is the central banking auth Read this Term/JPY JPY The Japanese yen (JPY) is the official currency of Japan and at the time of writing is the third most-traded currency in the world behind only the US dollar and euro.The JPY is used extensively as a reserve currency and is relied upon by forex traders as a safe haven currency.Originally implemented in 1871, the JPY has had a long history and has survived multiple world wars and other events. This was followed by the creation of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) in 1882 and the full oversight of the JPY by The Japanese yen (JPY) is the official currency of Japan and at the time of writing is the third most-traded currency in the world behind only the US dollar and euro.The JPY is used extensively as a reserve currency and is relied upon by forex traders as a safe haven currency.Originally implemented in 1871, the JPY has had a long history and has survived multiple world wars and other events. This was followed by the creation of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) in 1882 and the full oversight of the JPY by Read this Term illustrates how it's still a modest move.