John Taylor, chairman of New York based hedge fund FX Concepts Inc., which manages $12 billion in currency assets, said; “There are plenty of reasons why South Africa ought to have a weaker currency,”One of the hedge fund’s portfolios, the Global Currencies Fund, has half of its assets wagered against the rand. “We have to feel pretty strongly, as we do, if we have as big a bet with such a volatile currency.”

Trading in rand futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange more than tripled in the past four months. The rand is a favorite in the foreign exchange market because it fluctuates against the dollar more than any of the other 16 most actively traded currencies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Zar is fun to trade, but be careful. You can also get burned