
Japans warns today that any attempt made by the U.S. to attack North Korea will be thwarted.
Here's why our Tokyo allies are issuing such a threat today.
By Money Morning Staff Reports, Money Morning -
Japans warns today that any attempt made by the U.S. to attack North Korea will be thwarted.
Here's why our Tokyo allies are issuing such a threat today.
Plus a look at what might happen if the U.S. doesn't strike Pyongyang first...
By Money Morning Staff Reports, Money Morning -
Japans warns today that any attempt made by the U.S. to attack North Korea will be thwarted.
Here's why our Tokyo allies are issuing such a threat today.
Plus a look at what might happen if the U.S. doesn't strike Pyongyang first...
By Keith Fitz-Gerald, Chief Investment Strategist, Money Map Report -
The economic impact of Japan's demographic decline is immense, but there's always opportunity in chaos.
Can clean up on this disaster with these three picks...
By Money Morning Staff Reports, Money Morning -
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pushing to get Japan back into the global spotlight.
And he's irking a lot of world leaders in the process.
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 David Zeiler, Associate Editor, Money Morning • @DavidGZeiler -
As developed nations age, birth rates drop, and populations decline, investing strategies need to change.
And Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald says no country illustrates this trend better than Japan. That country's population is expected to fall by 30 million by 20148.
But Fitz-Gerald does not advise pulling out of Japan - or any market today with an aging population.
Instead, he has an investing strategy that will prevail despite these risks...
By Keith Fitz-Gerald, Chief Investment Strategist, Money Map Report -
Empires have come and gone. Some lasted a blink of an eye and some millennia.
The question is, after 9/11, the rise of China and a great financial crisis, where does the U.S. empire stack up to its predecessors?
Well, it seems the one commonality they all have is the point when their might was undermined by sloth and greed. And entitlements: free bread and circuses. For some it took years, others centuries.
Here, in a compelling and unique address, is what Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the Roman Empire, might say to President Obama now about how to keep America great.
Read on and share with family and friends...
By , Money Morning -
How much do you spend on your summer vacation? American households usually spend about $1,200 per person on summer vacations, according to a recent American Express survey.
Presidents spend more on their vacations than you or I. They have to. Air Force One and security does cost more than loading the Honda and heading to the beach.
Here's how much some recent presidents spent our tax dollars on vacation.
Ronald Reagan spent most of his free time at his California ranch. Taxpayers covered the cost of approximately $8 million for presidential travel during Reagan's first six years in office, according to the Los Angeles Times. That amounts to $1.3 million a year.
For George Bush the cost of flying Air Force One to his Texas ranch was approximately $56,800 per trip, for each of the 180 trips according to Media Matters. President Bush spent Christmas during his two terms at the White House so his staff and secret service could spend the holiday with their family, according to Conservative Byte.
Now Obama plans to blow away all previous presidents' leisure travel costs on our dime with a better than Disney World extravaganza trip to Africa.
However Obama had to cancel the safari because of the need to fill the surrounding jungle with snipers to guard the president from wild animals!
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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 Keith Fitz-Gerald, Chief Investment Strategist, Money Map Report -
An old Japanese proverb notes "ura niwa ura ga aru" which means the reverse side has a reverse side.
Japanese markets have come a long way in the past 8 months rising an additional 4.94% in wild trading on Monday alone. Yet there are real long-term dangers to all this volatility.
First and foremost, when (not if) Japan collapses it will affect every investor, in every major market, regardless of your exposure to Japan.
Click here to find out what you can do to profit from the maelstrom...
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 , Money Morning -
Japan's newly elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is taking aggressive measures in an attempt to end the deflationary spiral that has plagued the Japanese economy for more than twenty years.
The return of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to power in a landslide election victory last month is seen as a mandate to do whatever it takes to revive the flagging Japanese economy.
One of the first policies likely to be put into place is the passage of a massive supplementary budget for fiscal 2012 (the year ending March 31, 2013). Depending upon how you count it, the budget ranges from 10 trillion yen ($112 billion) to 20 trillion yen ($224 billion).
Observers have expressed concern over the size of the stimulus and what impact it might have on Japan's sovereign credit rating and on the Japanese government bond (JGB) market, plus what it could do to the U.S. economy.
Let's take a look.
The supplementary budget is nothing but good, old-fashioned pork barrel spending; the kind of money politics the LDP was known for when they governed Japan for more than 50 years.
What is new and different about Prime Minister Abe's approach to reviving the Japanese economy is his strong arm tactics against the Bank of Japan (BoJ), Japan's central bank.
BoJ independence was enshrined in law only in 1999. Abe has run roughshod over the intent of the law by demanding that retiring BoJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa sign a written document agreeing to do whatever is necessary-generally considered to be "unlimited easing"-to achieve an inflation target of 2% over the medium-term.
At its last Monetary Policy Committee (the equivalent of the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee) meeting, which took place just after Abe's landslide election victory, the BoJ agreed to review its policy goals and come back in January with updated policy recommendations. The next Monetary Policy Committee meeting takes place over two days on Jan. 21 and 22.
Press reports indicate that the BoJ will roll over and do pretty much whatever Abe wants - and here's why.
By Keith Fitz-Gerald, Chief Investment Strategist, Money Map Report -
Behind the scenes of the Fiscal Cliff debate, there was plenty of f-bombing, poison pilling, and grandstanding leading up to the deal - and that was before the members of Congress and the Senate actually got serious with their usual ultimatums, followed by earnest- looking sound bites and posturing. But what gets me really riled up is the amount of "pork" contained in the bill...
By Keith Fitz-Gerald, Chief Investment Strategist, Money Map Report -
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By Keith Fitz-Gerald, Chief Investment Strategist, Money Map Report -
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By Keith Fitz-Gerald, Chief Investment Strategist, Money Map Report -
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