FT Alphaville » Japan http://ftalphaville.ft.com FT Alphaville - Market Commentary - FT.com Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:51:47 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Females and the crisis http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/19/1539512/females-and-the-crisis/ http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/19/1539512/females-and-the-crisis/#comments Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:07:01 +0000 Izabella Kaminska http://ftalphaville.ft.com/?p=1539512 George Magnus, senior economic advisor at UBS has always been fond of demographics. In fact, he’s always warned the world about the dangerous side-effects of an ageing society, with specific reference to the case of Japan.

As he reminds us in a note on Wednesday:

Continue reading: Females and the crisis]]> http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/19/1539512/females-and-the-crisis/feed/ 0 The central bank (communications) bubble http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/18/1537882/the-central-bank-communications-bubble/ http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/18/1537882/the-central-bank-communications-bubble/#comments Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:05:15 +0000 FT Alphaville http://ftalphaville.ft.com/?p=1537882 Kuroding yields and a Nikkei rout have put Abenomics on the back foot.

Goldman strategists Naohiko Baba, Chiwoong Lee and Yuriko Tanaka’s considered opinion is that Haruhiko Kuroda is just, well, bad at central banker speak.

They think the loss of “any positive market reaction” to Japan’s unprecedented easing has “largely been undone”, and lay the blame mostly at the Bank of Japan chief’s feet for his communications strategy, or lack thereof.

Continue reading: The central bank (communications) bubble]]> http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/18/1537882/the-central-bank-communications-bubble/feed/ 0 The end of the end of the end of the commodities supercycle is nigh, in Asia http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/18/1537102/the-end-of-the-end-of-the-end-of-the-commodities-supercycle-is-nigh-in-asia/ http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/18/1537102/the-end-of-the-end-of-the-end-of-the-commodities-supercycle-is-nigh-in-asia/#comments Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:24:24 +0000 Kate Mackenzie http://ftalphaville.ft.com/?p=1537102

That’s from Deutsche Bank today.

+1

We joke, we joke. A little. Deutsche had of course already joined the commodities-supercycle-is-dead chorus, and this note is not from the commodities side but by Asia chief economists Taimur Baig and Jun Ma.

Continue reading: The end of the end of the end of the commodities supercycle is nigh, in Asia]]> http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/18/1537102/the-end-of-the-end-of-the-end-of-the-commodities-supercycle-is-nigh-in-asia/feed/ 0 Widowmaker of all widowmakers? http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/13/1534672/widowmaker-of-all-widowmakers/ http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/13/1534672/widowmaker-of-all-widowmakers/#comments Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:52:37 +0000 Izabella Kaminska http://ftalphaville.ft.com/?p=1534672 It’s probably too early to say concretely that the great yen short of Abenomics has turned into the widowmaker of all widowmakers.

But evidence in favour of such a suggestion is certainly mounting by the day.

We present some examples from the commentary space…

Continue reading: Widowmaker of all widowmakers?]]> http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/13/1534672/widowmaker-of-all-widowmakers/feed/ 0 Nikkei, rot to rout http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/13/1534012/nikkei-rot-to-rout/ http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/13/1534012/nikkei-rot-to-rout/#comments Thu, 13 Jun 2013 02:51:52 +0000 FT Alphaville http://ftalphaville.ft.com/?p=1534012 Slightly wearying, all this see-sawing in Japan. The Nikkei fell more than 6 per cent at one point on Thursday, though it had rallied a bit at pixel time. Still heading towards bear territory.

Some Nikkei investors spotted leaving the scene on Wednesday:

Continue reading: Nikkei, rot to rout]]> http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/13/1534012/nikkei-rot-to-rout/feed/ 0 Japan: rolling coverage http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/10/1529652/japan-rolling-coverage/ http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/10/1529652/japan-rolling-coverage/#comments Mon, 10 Jun 2013 09:17:09 +0000 David Keohane http://ftalphaville.ft.com/?p=1529652

The Nikkei was up 4.9 per cent at 13514 during the official Tokyo session, rising towards 13700 during after hours trading; the Topix was up 5.2 per cent and the yen 1.1 per cent weaker at Y98.6. Sigh…

Continue reading: Japan: rolling coverage]]> http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/10/1529652/japan-rolling-coverage/feed/ 0 The Yen (again!) http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/07/1529002/the-yen-again/ http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/07/1529002/the-yen-again/#comments Fri, 07 Jun 2013 11:13:46 +0000 Paul Murphy http://ftalphaville.ft.com/?p=1529002 Just to note…

Continue reading: The Yen (again!)]]> http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/07/1529002/the-yen-again/feed/ 0 Intended consequences and the yen http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/03/1522022/intended-consequences-and-the-yen/ http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/03/1522022/intended-consequences-and-the-yen/#comments Mon, 03 Jun 2013 09:37:04 +0000 David Keohane http://ftalphaville.ft.com/?p=1522022 From the pen of South Korea over the weekend:

South Korea has warned that G8 leaders need to do more to tackle the “unintended consequences” of Japan’s monetary easing when they gather for a summit later this month amid mounting concerns about the knock-on effects of a weaker yen.

In an interview, Hyun Oh-seok, the South Korean finance minister and deputy prime minister, said that international co-ordinated action was needed to mitigate the impact of so-called Abenomics on currency markets.

First: “unintended consequences”? Not sure about that. It all seems very intentional from where we’re sitting.

Continue reading: Intended consequences and the yen]]> http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/06/03/1522022/intended-consequences-and-the-yen/feed/ 0 The point at which the Nikkei rot stopped? http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/05/30/1520282/the-point-at-which-the-nikkei-rot-stopped/ http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/05/30/1520282/the-point-at-which-the-nikkei-rot-stopped/#comments Thu, 30 May 2013 12:16:38 +0000 Paul Murphy http://ftalphaville.ft.com/?p=1520282 Who knows. But we can report that this report, from Reuters, caused a sharp trend reversal in Japanese equity futures on Thursday accompanied by a sudden weakening of the Yen.

Continue reading: The point at which the Nikkei rot stopped?]]> http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/05/30/1520282/the-point-at-which-the-nikkei-rot-stopped/feed/ 0 Nikkei pain http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/05/30/1519972/nikkei-pain/ http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/05/30/1519972/nikkei-pain/#comments Thu, 30 May 2013 08:23:40 +0000 David Keohane http://ftalphaville.ft.com/?p=1519972 That’s the Nikkei off 5 per cent on Thursday morning, its biggest fall since last week’s 7.3 per cent hit:

Both the Nikkei and the boader Topix have lost around 13 per cent in local currency terms since hitting peaks last week:

Continue reading: Nikkei pain]]> http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/05/30/1519972/nikkei-pain/feed/ 0