The US dollar is exploding at a probably unprecedented rate

Citi global head of G10 foreign exchange Steven Englander blasted out an email on Friday observing that the current rise in the value of the dollar has come about at a faster rate than at any point since the modern system of currency exchanges came to be, and that the dollar's meteoric strengthening may still continue. From Englander's email:

"The recent combination of USD gains driven by the efficiency of ECB QE in depreciating the EUR and linked currencies and increasing anticipation of Fed normalization has led to an almost 4% appreciation over the last 12 trading days, which may be viewed as too much of a good thing both at the ECB and the Fed."

To illustrate the historic nature of the dollar's recent rise, Englander included this chart, showing the percent change in the dollar's trade-weighted exchange rate over the last 175 trading days going back to the mid-seventies. The rate at which the dollar has been strengthening is higher than at any other point: