Japan
German and Japanese Growing at Vastly Different Speeds
August 9, 2010
Monday has seen Asian and European equities move impressively higher, but the trend was not shared by Japan. While the Nikkei lost 0.7%, stocks advanced 0.9% in Taiwan, 0.7% in India, Indonesia, and China, 0.6% in Australia and Hong Kong and 0.4% in South Korea. The Paris Cac, British Ftse, and German Dax are up […] More
Weaker Stocks and Euro Ahead of U.S. 2Q GDP Release
July 30, 2010
The dollar has climbed 0.6% against the euro but fallen 0.7% against the yen. The greenback is stronger by 0.5% against the kiwi, 0.3% versus the Aussie dollar, and 0.2% relative to sterling. Dollar/Swiss is unchanged, and the yuan ticked up 0.1% against the U.S. currency. The loonie is 0.2% higher. Stocks in the Pacific […] More
Japanese Prime Ministers and the Yen
June 2, 2010
Prime Minister Hatoyama resigned today after only 8.5 months in office. Thirteen different men have been prime minister since the end of 1991, and Junichiro’s stewardship from April 2001 to September 2006 accounted for slightly more than 25% of that period. The average term of the other dozen prime ministers was about 14 months. This […] More
Last Weekend of May
May 28, 2010
Yesterday’s better market tone is holding. The U.S. and British markets will be closed Monday for Memorial Day and a Banking Holiday. The euro strengthened 0.4% against the dollar. The U.S. currency otherwise has dipped 0.2% against the Canadian dollar and Swiss franc, risen 0.2% against the kiwi and by 0.1% against the yen, and […] More
U.S. and Japanese Growth Properties
May 27, 2010
U.S. real GDP growth of 3.0% at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (saar) in the first quarter was only 60% as rapid as Japanese growth of 4.9% saar in the same period. However, two-quarter U.S. annualized growth between 3Q09 and 1Q10 was very similar at 4.3% saar to Japan’s 4.6% over the same period. Other […] More
Long-Term Slumps in Stock Prices
May 20, 2010
In an update yesterday entitled U.S. Unemployment, CPI Inflation, Stock Prices and Fed Policy, I quantified several data trends, which make a rate increase by the Fed this year unlikely. This posting looks in further depth at the prolonged weakness of stock prices, which is already more than a decade long. It’s not limited to […] More
Further Sharp Drop in Australian and Canadian Dollars
May 20, 2010
The U.S. dollar advanced 2.1% and 1.1% against the Aussie and Canadian currencies. The kiwi, down just 0.5%, has shown greater resilience following a well-received New Zealand budget that cut income taxes, raised sales taxes to 15% from 12.5%, and emphasized a long-term plan to contain raising foreign debt. The dollar has also risen 0.6% […] More
Data Deluge on Last Day of Month and Week
April 30, 2010
The dollar eased mostly on month-end flows but also hopes that a Greek aid package will be fashioned soon. The greenback lost 0.6% against the euro, Swissy and kiwi and 0.3% against the Canadian dollar. It is unchanged against sterling, however, and up 0.5% versus the yen. U.S. 1Q10 GDP data arrive later today. Asian […] More
A Benign Market Environment for Economic Recovery
April 26, 2010
Yes, you read my headline correctly. This certainly has not been true about Greece, and financial markets in other peripheral members of the common currency bloc are at risk. But the statement does fit the situations pretty well for key advanced economies such as the United States, Germany, Britain, and Japan. At noontime in New […] More
Bank of Japan Broke No New Ground
April 7, 2010
As noted in my preview, the March 17 and April 30 policy meetings of the Bank of Japan were bound to be more important than this week’s. Sure enough, the Policy Board voted unanimously to leave its key interest rate unchanged at 0.1%, where such has been since December 2008, made not further announcements about […] More
