
In Japan, stock market euphoria has taken hold.
The reality of the Japanese economy is much bleaker than the roaring Japanese stock market would have you believe.
By Jim Bach, Associate Editor, Money Morning • @JimBach22 -
In Japan, stock market euphoria has taken hold.
The reality of the Japanese economy is much bleaker than the roaring Japanese stock market would have you believe.
Here are four charts that explain Japan's current crisis not reflected in this rally...
By Jim Bach, Associate Editor, Money Morning • @JimBach22 -
In Japan, stock market euphoria has taken hold.
The reality of the Japanese economy is much bleaker than the roaring Japanese stock market would have you believe.
Here are four charts that explain Japan's current crisis not reflected in this rally...
By Jim Bach, Associate Editor, Money Morning • @JimBach22 -
The Japanese stock market is up big and the yen is getting crushed as the Bank of Japan lays on the stimulus.
This is all unfolding as the BOJ planned when it first announced an acceleration of its quantitative easing measures in October 2014.
By Jim Bach, Associate Editor, Money Morning • @JimBach22 -
U.S. market indexes plunged yesterday (Wednesday) and took the Japanese stock market with them.
The Nikkei 225, a Japanese stock market index tracking 225 Japanese blue-chips, fell 1.4% today. This was the day after a broad sell-off in the U.S. stock market. This was a blip in what will be a larger rally.
By Jim Bach, Associate Editor, Money Morning • @JimBach22 -
The best Japan ETF to buy right now will do one of two things.
It will either play the surging Japanese stock market. Or, it will short the yen. The Nikkei 225 index is up 7.2% so far this year. The yen has fallen 16% in the last 12 months.
By Jim Bach, Associate Editor, Money Morning • @JimBach22 -
Amidst a wave of central bank meetings this week, the European Central bank and the Bank of Japan matter the most.
The BOJ strategy will change little save for the possible extension of a mostly ineffective lending program. The ECB will probably announce a bond-buying program to hasten depreciation of the euro.
Savvy investors can profit from both moves.
By Jim Bach, Associate Editor, Money Morning • @JimBach22 -
The news of the Japanese recession has taken economists by surprise, but the problems with the Japanese economy have been so entrenched that no negative news should come as a shock.
You see, Japan has been battling with deflation for most of the last two decades, and that's only helped to reinforce this current bout with recession.
Here's how to play the Japanese recession for gains.
By Jim Bach, Associate Editor, Money Morning • @JimBach22 -
An already aggressive Bank of Japan stimulus plan was expanded Friday.
While this won't help address the real issues underlying Japan's deflationary spiral, it will give investors an opportunity to profit.
Here's what to do with the BOJ's announcement...
By Shah Gilani, Chief Investment Strategist, Money Morning • @ShahGilani_TW -
Today (Friday) Japan announced new plan in their already aggressive Bank of Japan QE plan: more stimulus.
And while markets have been soaring on this new expected stream of easy money, it can't last.
By , Money Morning -
The Bank of Japan is sticking to its policy of fiscal stimulus to try to stoke inflation, and that's rattled markets worldwide.
There are short-term signs of economic recovery such as an increase in consumer spending and in manufacturing.
But longer-term, Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald told CCTV, "there has never been an instance in history where stimulus has worked. So the question really is when, not if, this will break down."
By , Money Morning -
Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa told Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday (Tuesdsay) that he will step down a few weeks early, on March 19, in order to align his term, which expires on April 8, with those of the two BoJ deputy governors.
"I told the prime minister that I will resign on March 19 so that a structure with a new governor and two deputy governors can start simultaneously," Shirakawa said at a press conference called after a meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Poicy.
This will enable Abe to replace the entire central bank leadership all at once with people who are more sympathetic to his policy of unlimited easing.
Although some press reports have highlighted the apparent unenthusiastic support Shirakawa is giving to Abe's policies, Shirakawa's resignation is really just putting the Bank of Japan leadership transition process back to normal.
The Bank of Japan governor must be approved by both houses of the Diet. Back in 2008, former deputy governor Toshiro Mutoh was nominated for the top spot by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) which held a majority in the Lower House but not in the Upper House, where the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) held sway.
The DPJ rejected Mutoh's nomination and it took three weeks of political infighting before Shirakawa was approved as a compromise candidate and took office on April 9.
The situation is exactly the same today. Abe's LDP has a super majority in the Lower House but must get some opposition support to get their nominee approved by the Upper House.
By resigning as governor effective March 19, Shirakawa is undoing the delay caused by political wrangling five years ago.
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By , Money Morning -
With the Bank of Japan now buying government bonds and targeting an inflation rate of 2%, a global "race to the bottom" is on again.
Japan's latest move has sparked new fears of a currency war. They're competing with the Fed's commitment to "quantitative easing" and the ECB's promise to buy dodgy Mediterranean economies' bonds.
However, the mathematical reality is that the world's major currencies can't all be catastrophically weak against each other. It's impossible.
Like any other war, this one won't end well, either.
But the winner may surprise you...
By , Money Morning -
The Bank of Japan (BOJ), Japan's central bank, bowed to government pressure this week by adopting a 2% inflation target and accepting responsibility for achieving that goal "as early as possible."
The BOJ announced today (Tuesday) that it will begin a program of "unlimited easing" beginning in January 2014 following the end of the central bank's current asset-purchasing program in December.
In a statement announcing the results of Tuesday's Monetary Policy Committee meeting, the Bank of Japan said it anticipates purchasing 10 trillion yen in Treasury notes and 3 trillion yen in Japanese government bonds (JGBs) each month beginning in January 2014.
The statement also indicated the central bank's balance sheet will expand by about 10 trillion yen by the end of 2014 as a result of the purchases. No further expansion of the BOJ balance sheet is anticipated thereafter.
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By Kerri Shannon, Associate Editor, Money Morning -
By , Money Morning -
To see where the central bank has gone wrong, please read on...
By , Money Morning -
To see how you can profit from "QE2," please read on...