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If Japan Bounces Back in the New Year, Investors Will, Too
Japan has been an infuriating country for U.S. investors for almost 20 years now, since its benchmark Nikkei 225 index hit its trading high of 38,957 in late December 1989. The market then dropped steadily to a third of its peak value by the end of 1998, zoomed back up to 20,000 in March 2000, fell to a low of 7,600 in March 2003, and then recovered to 17,600 in June 2007.
Now, however, it has swooned to 8,695, infuriating global investors. And there’s two ways to look at it.
You can regard it as hopeless case, a market stuck in permanent…
14Nov2008 | Money Morning | Comments Off | ContinuedJapan Steel Works in the cuckoo bird seat
Japan Steel Works is the sole supplier of reactor vessels (besides Russia’s atomic company which does not export as of now) and can currently produce five vessels per year. the company is currently booked up until 2016. This is problem for countries that want to expand their nuclear fleets. Obviously over time either Japan Steel Works will increase production or other companies will enter the market, and this appears to be happening (see article below). I would buy this company but the only thing holding me back is the fact they have a plastics injection molding business that is fairly…
6Oct2008 | The Real Deal | Comments Off | ContinuedTurning Japanese
The happiest days are the saddest; the easiest times are the hardest; vacations are when the real work is done. Most of the year, we keep our heads down…working, going to school, doing what we must do. Then, on vacation, we look around us, and the world has changed. More below…
In the meantime, we remind readers that we are on vacation this week; don’t expect any serious reckoning.
The Dow fell 180 points on Monday. On Tuesday, it dropped 130 more.
Yesterday came more evidence that credit is still getting crunched. CDO defaults are increasing; CDO values are in “free fall,” says…
21Aug2008 | Daily Reckoning | Comments Off | ContinuedGO EAST, AMERICA! GO EAST!
It happened about six days before I expected it, but at long last the hardball tactics of iron ore giant Rio Tinto resulted in an 85% increase in iron ore prices this year. It happened earlier this week, after eight months of intense and sometimes rather unfriendly negotiations. The consequences could be very friendly for investors, though. More on that in moment.
But let me just repeat that in case you missed it – with the stroke of a pen, the value of a commodity exported by Australia went up 85%. Not even the oil market moves that fast!
The Australian resource boom is…
26Jun2008 | Daily Reckoning | Comments Off | ContinuedJapan Makes Way for China Tourist Money
From my vantage point on my recent visit to both China and Japan, the signs are clear.
China is coming. And Japan knows it.
Major department stores like Takashimaya Co. Ltd., Sogo Co. Ltd. and Mitsukoshi Ltd. are gearing up. In places like Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, they’re seeing a new wave of power shoppers at their counters – the Chinese.
A few short years ago, this was unthinkable.
Yet, as my wife and I strolled through downtown Kyoto, we saw it too. Most major department stores have added Chinese signage to the usual Japanese and English placards.
We heard it, as well, from…
5Jun2008 | Money Morning | Comments Off | ContinuedLost In Translation: The Subtle Dealings Between China and Japan Can Lead to Powerful Profits
There’s an incredible story taking place in Asia.
Based on my 20 years of experience in the region and formal academic study, you can believe me when I say that this may well be the most pivotal event in 20 centuries of Sino-Japanese relations.
We’ve reported some of this to you already. But the mainstream Western press hasn’t latched on to it.
That’s not to say they haven’t reported what happened when Japanese Prime Minister Yauo Fukuda hosted Chinese President Hu Jintao during the historic summit the two held in Tokyo last month – the press reported everything that “happened,” and did so…
27May2008 | Money Morning | Comments Off | ContinuedTwo Ways to Profit as China and Japan Quietly Forge the Most Powerful Trading Alliance in the World
Chinese President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Yauo Fukuda met recently and signed some modest cooperation agreements. That doesn’t sound much to get excited about, until you consider how well the Chinese and Japanese economies fit together.
Think of it this way: With China’s boundless supply of low-cost labor and Japan’s superb education system – and an ability to work together that’s clearly founded on considerable commonality of thinking – these two countries, as a pair, will be world-beaters.
In fact, they’ll be world leaders.
The Past has Passed
The summit – while modest – marked an important policy change from the mutual…
16May2008 | Money Morning | Comments Off | ContinuedJapan’s “Lost Decade†Has Given Way to the New Asian Reality – But Only if you Know Where to Look
KYOTO, JAPAN – On one of my first mornings at our home here, my family and I headed for the Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine. Built in the 8th century by the powerful Hata family, the shrine is best known for the four consecutive kilometers of orange Torii gates covering the mountain on which it was built.
My wife’s family has been coming here for centuries, making it a familiar and comfortable place that we enjoy very much.
It’s also a spot that tends to put things into perspective – like the Bank of Japan’s recent decision to keep its key interest rate at…
14May2008 | Money Morning | Comments Off | Continued
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