The impact of U.S. devaluations on the stock prices of multinational corporations

In recent years, multinational corporations (MNCs) have faced several currency realignments including the U.S. dollar devaluations, and the revaluations of the Japanese yen and German mark. These adjustments precipitate defensive measures such as hedging by MNCs. While the strategies and tactics of such firms in adapting to currency realignments have received increasing attention in the literature 4,5,6,7,8], the question of how the stock prices of MNCs react largely has been ignored. This question is important both from the investors' viewpoint of investment timing and from the viewpoint of MNCs' managers relative to their abilities to use outside financing before and after realignment, as well as to the proper timing of such financing.This article investigates the behavior of stock prices of multinational corporations during two U.S. devaluations. Also, a model is presented which isolates the international component of the MNC's stock prices from its domestic component.