The Japanese Crash

A Yen to put people ahead of plutocrats.

© Bryan Zepp Jamieson
http://zeppcommentaries.com/10/09/2008

Ironically, the Dow Jones hit its all-time high of 14,164 on this date
last year. It fetched up today at 8,579.19, That came on the heels of
another sickening plunge of nearly 680 points, most of which occurred in
the final 15 minutes of trade.

That is, in technical terms, a fair chunk of change. Five trillion
dollars, according to one economist on NPR today. To paraphrase a 1960s
Republican Senator, Everett Dirkson, “It adds up. A trillion here, a
trillion there. Pretty soon you’re talking about some real money.” Of
course, when Dirkson said it, he said “millions”, a term that is
regarded as pocket change in Washington these days.

Some people are comparing the present market crash to 1929. It’s far
larger in sheer size, but then, so is the economy. So I went looking. In
the month following the October 1929 crash, the Dow went from 341 to
220, about 35%. It then rallied over the next few months, back up to
about 290. However, by 1932 it was down to 125. Factoring in inflation,
that meant it lost nearly 80% of its value.

Since September 10th, the Dow has lost nearly 25% of its value. That’s
bad, but not quite as severe as November 1929. Of course, we don’t know
where the bottom lies. People think of the Crash as a single day event
that led promptly to the Great Depression, but that’s not quite true.
The original crash occurred in two stages about a week apart, followed
by a fairly steep decline for three more weeks. It made a partial
recovery, and then went into an extended 26 month decline. It was during
that time that banks began failing, factories closed, and unemployment
started climbing. It wasn’t until 1931 that the crash translated into a
depression, and another year before it became known as the Great
Depression.

Free market optimists on the web have been making hopeful noises,
noting, accurately, that the market suffered even bigger declines in
single DAYS in 1987 and in the wake of 9/11 in 2001, and recovered in
fairly quick order, with no depression, or even recession hitting main
street. Those claims are accurate, but in both instances, they were
rogue events that rattled the economy, but the economy was basically
sound. That isn’t the case here. This is a serial crash following two
months of general decline, and it’s happened despite a mind boggling
$3.5 trillion in bailouts from governments around the world, and a
worldwide concerted effort to staunch the bloodletting. Obviously, basic
conditions are not fundamentally sound, and despite what John McCain
opined three weeks ago, the economy is not strong. (That may have been
the remark that cost him the election).

More realistic market advocates are noting that busts come and go, and
eventually a boom cycle comes around, and the smart investors will make
their money back, and more. This too, is true, and I even entertain some
hope that it will pertain in this case. But I’m not counting on it, and
here’s why:

December 29th, 1989 is an interesting date in Japanese history. It was
on that day that their stock exchange, the Nikkei 225, hit a peak of
38915.87. It was fueled by a monumental run-up in corporate debt and
property values. A penthouse apartment in Tokyo might rent for ten
million dollars –dollars, not yen–a month. In a drive for ever greater
productivity, wages had stagnated and workers will routinely putting in
15 hour days just to keep pace with their income of three years earlier.
Japan was a huge fad among capitalists here in America, with the
smartest guys in the room all chorusing that we needed to adopt and
emulate the Japanese model, and that it would make everyone unimaginably
wealthy, except of course for the 95% of Americans who are just workers
and thus don’t count. (They were similarly enthused by the German
“economic miracle” that seemingly beat the Great Depression in the mid
to late 30s).

Then the Nikkei crashed, and it was a gigantic crash, as bad for Japan
as 1929 was for America. It lost 2/3rds of its value over the following
eight months, fetching up at about 14,000.

It was a speculative bubble popping that fueled the crash. If you
compare the rate of growth of the Nikkei from 1975, when it stood at
5,000, to where it was in August of 1990, it was actually above what a
straight line progression would have made it going by the pre-bubble
rate of growth. So the crash corrected the anomaly of the bubble, and
the market came out of it basically healthy, right?

Wrong. The Nikkei stayed essentially flat for the next EIGHTEEN YEARS,
hovering around 14,000. The economy slumped in the wake of the bubble
bursting, and never recovered. Now the events of the fallout from the
vast American derivatives bubble has impacted Japan, and as of this
hour, the Nikkei crashing again today and down nearly 10% in the
session, is just below 8,000. That would be the 80% loss that the Dow
experienced between 1929 and 1932. It just took six times as long for
the bottom to arrive this time.

Still, despite the vicissitudes the Tokyo stock market has faced and is
facing, the Japanese economy, while subdued, it in some ways prepared to
weather the financial storm better than America’s will. Japan, in the
wake of the bubble and growing social discontent, pushed for higher
wages and stronger control of companies. CEOs only make about 22 times
what an average worker makes, compared with something like 450 times
here. The result is that while the markets haven’t made a killing, the
economy has been generally healthier.

For us here in America, it could be as long term, and with harsher
consequences, because America, intent on staving off even a mild
recession, has played out most of the tools they have to level out the
bumps in the economy. Everyone is leveraged (Wall Street talk for “in
debt”) to the teeth, including the country itself. The US was already
hemorrhaging money before the crisis began, corporations were deep in
the red from “leveraged buyouts” and the citizenry carried a mountain of
personal debt, something not helped when the crash in property values
wiped out their equity.

The market advocates are right: there is a bottom at some point, an area
where the market must simply stop dropping because it does have
intrinsic value that underpins the false values given to it by
speculators with far too much money and greed, and phony “securitized”
loans. Nobody’s quite sure where that bottom is. Henry Paulson warned
that if the Congress didn’t act to pass the bailout bill, we could be at
8,500 in a few weeks. It passed it, and we’ve wound up there anyway.
I’ve heard guesses of 7,500, 5,000, and even 2,500. I suspect people
live those numbers because they are benchmarks, nothing more.

If you look at the market from the time the last recession ended in the
Carter years and the beginning of the bubble in the third year of
Clinton’s presidency, you can straight line it out, factor in inflation,
and come up with a hypothetical value of around 6,500, which is where it
would be now if the big boom of the nineties hadn’t occurred.

I suspect that’s about where it will end up, and that’s where it will
hover while the economy at large stagnates into another major depression.

But the Japanese were smart, and put the population ahead of the market,
and as a result, they kept a decent standard of living and a good safety
net at the expense of the idle rich.

If we’re very, very lucky, America’s next government that comes to power
in January of 2009 will look at the Japanese response to their great
crash, and work along similar lines.

Overnight Asian stock markets dived with the Japanese Nikkei index recording its largest one day drop since 1987 after insurer Yamato Life filed for bankruptcy. In the wake of a panic session in Asia, European bourses opened down 9-10% across the board before some retracement of losses occurred. The yen has strengthened across the board as confidence continues to evaporate across financial instruments. The dollar is also benefitting from panic in the markets recording strong gains against all the majors except the yen. At 6am GMT this morning the AUD-USD was down 4.9% on the previous 24 hours, cable (GBP-USD) was down 2.2%, the USD-JPY was down 1.3%, the EUR-USD was down 0.9% and the USD-CAD was up 3.25% all on the same period.

Yesterday there had appeared to be signs of renewed confidence in financial markets following the coordinated interest rate cuts, Wednesday, by six of the World's leading central banks. This confidence proved misplaced as equities proceeded to dive once more as the Dow Jones went on to drop below 9000 points for the first time since 2003.

During the overnight trading session sterling dived approximately 2% across the board. The main reason for this is the continuing dispute between Iceland and the UK over the bankruptcy of three Icelandic banks which has jeopardized billions of dollar's worth of UK based assets. A crisis between the two countries appears to be brewing as the UK threatens to retaliate against UK based Icelandic investments.

Oil prices are continuing to decline sharply. Light sweet crude oil is currently trading around $83 per barrel after another day of heavy declines appears to be underway. Gold meanwhile is once more benefiting from its reputation as a safe haven asset and is trading above $915 per ounce. At 6am GMT the gold price was up 2.5% in 24 hours, the silver price was up 3.6% in the same period.

EUR
1.3750 1.3700 1.3620 1.3600 RES
1.3444 1.3500 1.3540 1.3580 SUP

JPY
101.50 101.00 100.60 100.30 RES
97.90 98.30 98.80 99.00 SUP

CHF
1.1400 1.1350 1.1310 1.1200 RES
1.1050 1.1095 1.1140 1.1180 SUP

GBP
1.7050 1.7000 1.6950 1.6900 RES
1.6700 1.6802 1.6850 1.6880 SUP

Los precios de las acciones en la Bolsa de Tokyo continuaron su tendencia negativa para terminar la sesión correspondiente al quinto día de la semana registrando su nivel más bajo en los últimos cinco años.

El Indice Nikkei perdió 881,06 unidades para cerrar en 8 mil 276.43 puntos, influenciada por la fuerte caída del Dow Jones de Wall Street de la víspera que cedió 700 unidades, hecho que motivó una gran oferta de órdenes de venta en el mercado de valores tokiota.

Por su parte, el Indice Topix que comprende todas las acciones de la primera sección de la bolsa nipona perdió 64,25 unidades al cerrar la jornada en 840,86 puntos.

El temor de la inminente crisis financiera global se refleja en los inversores nipones quienes prefieren no arriesgar y deshacerse de las acciones que consideran no les resultarán rentables en las próximas semanas.

Finalmente, en el Mercado de Divisas de Tokio, el dólar norteamericano continuó perdiendo valor frente a la moneda japonesa al cerrar cotizarse entre los 99 y 99,05 yen es, representando una caída de 2,16 yenes con relación a la jornada del jueves.

EL DATO
El Banco de Japón inyectó la histórica suma de 35 mil millones de dólares en el mercado de fondos a corto plazo en el décimo octavo día hábil consecutivo que inyecta dinero para incrementar la liquidez del sistema financiero nipón luego del colapso del banco de inversiones norteamericano Lehman Brothers.

Mata yasi!

© 2008 BLOG DEL PETA

La Bolsa de Valores de Tokyo  volvió a cerrar en números negativo la jornada correspondiente al cuarto día de la semana influencia por los temores de una recesión global.

El Indice Nikkei perdió 45,83 unidades para terminar en los 9 mil 157.49 puntos en una sesión donde las acciones de entidades bancarias y empresas de valores se ofertaron a precios de remate, en un contexto donde las órdenes de venta se centraron en los sectores comerciales de al por menor y farmacéuticos. 

Por su parte, el Indice Topix que comprende a las acciones de la primera sección subió 6,10 unidades para cerrar en los 905,11 puntos, resultado que refleja que el temor de los inversionistas viene disminuyendo luego de la inyección de fondos públicos en bancos individuales norteamericanos.

Finalmente,  en el Mercado de Cambios de Tokio, la moneda norteamericana experimentó una recuperación con relación a la víspera ganando 1,05 yenes para terminar cotizándose entre los 101,16 y 101,18 yenes.

EL DATO

Por décimo séptimo día hábil consecutivo, el Banco de Japón volvió a inyectar yenes en el mercado monetario a corto plazo por un equivalente a los 4 billones (unos 40 mil millones de dólares) con el objetivo de ayudar a las entidades financieras a obtener fondos, los cuales les han venido siendo esquivos por el creciente temor a la quiebra de mayor número de bancos a consecuencia de la crisis financiera global.

Mata yasi!
2008 BLOG DEL PETA

How Malaysia’s PM fell from grace

China warns U.S. presidential rivals on Taiwan arms

Australia says its FTA with ASEAN is biggest trade agreement

World Bank chief: China’s economic growth important to global economy

China’s leaders address land reform and economy

Bank of Japan infuses 4 trillion yen into markets

South Korea says North to Test Fire More Missiles

India, US to sign deal on Friday: State Department

ASEAN regulators agree cross-border rules

El precio de las acciones en la Bolsa de Valores de Tokyo se desplomó nuevamente alcanzando su nivel más bajo de los últimos 62 meses mientras que el dólar norteamericano cayó por debajo de los 100 yenes.

Al final de la jornada correspondiente al tercer día de la semana, el Indice Nikkei 225 perdió 952 puntos para cerrar en 9.203 unidades a consecuencia del retiro de un significativo número de inversionistas como prevención a mayores pérdidas.

Por su parte, el Indice TOPIX de todas las acciones de la primera sección de la bolsa cerró en 899,01 unidades representando una pérdida de 78,60 puntos con relación a la jornada del martes, constituyéndose en la primera vez que cae por debajo de los 900 puntos en los últimos 64 meses.

De otro lado, en el Mercado de Divisas de Tokio, la moneda norteamericana volvió a perder valor frente al yen nipón para cerrar con un descenso de 2,58 yenes con relación a la víspera al cotizarse entre los 100,11 y 100,13 luego que en algunos momentos se registró por debajo de los 100 yenes por primera vez en los últimos 6 meses.

EL DATO
El Banco de Japón inyectó por décimo sexto día consecutivo fondos en el mercado monetario para aligerar la crisis crediticia que vive el planeta. Esta vez el monto superó los 21 mil millones de dólares.

Mata yasi!

© 2008 BLOG DEL PETA

La Bolsa de Valores de Tokio  volvió a registrar una baja histórica influenciada por la crisis financiera mundial mientras que la moneda norteamericana perdió peso frente al yen japonés.

Al término de la jornada bursátil en el segundo día de la semana, el Indice Nikkei 225 cedió 317,19 puntos (3,03%) con relación a la víspera para cerrar en los 10.155,90 puntos (el nivel más bajo en 4 años y 10 meses) luego de haberse cotizado entre los 9.916,21 puntos y 10.363,14 puntos.

Por su parte, el Indice TOPIX correspondiente a todas las acciones de la primera sección, cedió 21,44 puntos para terminar la jornada en 977,61.

De otro lado, en el Mercado de Cambios de Tokio, la moneda norteamericana perdió valor frente al yen nipón al cotizarse entre 102,69 y 102,72; representando una caída de 1,03 yenes con relación a la jornada del lunes.

EL DATO 
El Banco de Japón inyectó por decimoquinta jornada hábil consecutiva unos 9 mil 900 millones de dólares en el mercado monetario nipón. 

The euro is registering a minor correction after falling sharply against the dollar and the yen last night. The euro reached a thirteen month low against the dollar, touching the levels of $1.3444 on Monday. The euro has been weakened by the decision of the leaders of the four major European economies not to launch a coordinated rescue facility similar in an attempt to forestall the further effect of the credit crisis.

The yen registered a minor weakening against the Australian and New Zealand dollars today after short term speculators appeared to profit off market sentiment that the yens' gains yesterday were exaggerated. The USD-JPY registered yesterday its sharpest daily losses since 1998 as investors exited carry trade positions in massive volumes.

The Australian dollar fell to a four year low against the US dollar on Tuesday after the Reserve Bank of Australia announced a shock interest rate cut of 1% in light of the deepening crisis in financial markets. The cut was the largest single increment cut since 1994 and the Aussie fell to the level of $0.7000.

Oil prices rebounded this morning and crude has returned to levels above $90 per barrel, adding approximately 2$ to its value after falling to an eight months low and reaching the level of $87.5 per barrel on Monday. Gold prices are also displaying signs of recovery. After hitting a low below $820 per ounce yesterday gold is currently trading above $880 per ounce.

At 6am GMT this morning the 24 hour movement on the EUR-USD was -0.1% on cable (sterling-dollar) it was -0.35%, on the USD-JPY it was 0.45%. The 24 hour movement on the AUD-USD was -3% as the pair retraced some of its earlier losses. The movement on gold was a gain of 3.9% on silver it was a gain of 2.1%.

EUR
1.3800 1.3750 1.3680 1.3620 RES
1.3470 1.3500 1.3560 1.3590 SUP

JPY
105.50 105.00 104.60 104.20 RES
101.80 102.20 102.80 103.10 SUP

CHF
1.1560 1.1520 1.1480 1.1420 RES
1.1260 1.1300 1.1350 1.1380 SUP

GBP
1.7740 1.7700 1.7650 1.7600 RES
1.7400 1.7460 1.7500 1.7540 SUP

When I posted the link to the article, it didn't get a peep from anyone. If anyone is interested, Seeking Alpha still rents pixels to a response to that article, written rather glibly by Felix Salmon. I was reminded of Tiomkin when I read Wolfgang Munchau's article in the Financial Times. I urge everyone who trades currencies or invests in European equities or who does business in the EU neighborhood countries (to include North Africa and the Levant) to read this article. And watch your arses! This is one of those times when I'm not just reading a good article and passing it along. So listen up sheeples and get yer money outta there if you haven't already. Alrighty? And don't go buying commercial real estate in Dubai or large industrial farms in Southern Egypt with the remains of your risk capital, okay?

Eniway [wink], I've noticed that the only national leader in the EU to get it remotely right is Sarkozy. He spoke about the existential threat to Western capitalism as if it (capitalism, not the threat) had already failed to survive. That was before he furtively backed (and then didn't) a €300 billion rescue plan that utterly failed to be ratified. So what if he's French. So what, I say! This has nothing to do with the fact that among otherwise arrogant and self-serving EU politicians, he was quite simply about as prescient as a politician could be -- even if the monetary system in the EU ends up being spared le guillotine this fact will not change. As politicians go, he is sounding more like Adam Smith than many a number of too-self-conscious champions of free market economics today. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you just haven't been reading up on your economics. That's okay. You can click here to get away from this blog, where I'm sure you will be more entertained.

So let's watch what happens to the euro. I confess, I don't want it to go. I've heard more than one person in the US say they wish the euro and the EU would wither and die, but they don't know what the hell they are talking about. (They should take a look at the mess we have made of things.) Take a look at EURJPY --

As you can see, this isn't a price chart. It is a chart of the daily ranges of this pair since Jan 2, 2008. EURJPY is considered by more than a few sage people to be a barometer of the international monetary system. What is happening here is uncommon, to put it mildly. As the carry trade disappears down the rabbit hole and the notion of the euro as a fiat currency looks increasingly untenable (for now), there is absolutely no reason for the yen to appreciate the way it has. It is no small coincidence that in this period of painful deleveraging, the carry trade was one of the more highly leveraged plays out there -- and it was thought at one time to be "risk free". (And just take a look at AUD, NZD and GBP!) Those spikes, which started around the beginning of September, represent a death rattle of the carry trade a warning sign of the trouble ahead for the euro, the EU, and the international monetary system. If the euro dies in the next three years, the effects will be painful and widely felt. I suspect our international financial leaders are trying to figure out a way to protect it. I wish them well.

In the meantime, I tried to trade AUDJPY after the RBA announcement. (In case you missed it, they cut rates by 100 bps.) Of course, I wasn't filled even though I specified bounds of 30 on either side of price. It would have been a killer news trade with very low risk, and I was just too small, too slow, and too retail. EURJPY buy-backs have almost erased today's selling, with resistance currently sitting in the mid-14400s. The pair has been bouncing around in 100 pip waves the way it used to bounce around in 40 pip waves "back in the day". The Kern River after a summer flood comes to mind. (In other words, wear a damn life-preserver!) I may enter long on a retracement toward today's lows, but I may also just wait for a signal that goes with the current. I am wary of countertrend signals that print in strong and sustained moves. (Did anyone see those cascading stops below 10280 on the USDJPY last night? Danger for exporters in Japan!)

Not much scheduled on the calendar in the way of data for the rest of the day -- but plenty of potential action as all the fatheads try to preserve what is left of liquidity and credit and the MSM clings to every little idea -- no matter how banal -- as if it were important enough to rip another 800-point hole in the Dow. EURJPY trades 13948 at 0523 UTC.

0804 UTC Update: Short USDJPY 10293 at 0720 UTC
0908 UTC Update: Close USDJPY 10179.9 at 0908 UTC 

A true nature of a person or nation comes to the fore, when it comes under extreme duress. A bankrupt person, corporation or a nation tries very hard to project itself as a person of extra ordinary means, contrary to facts, figures and market rumors, and go on shopping spree

This is why billions of dollars are being paid by one bankrupt bank or corporation to the other in take over process lasting only a few hours. No due diligence, no submission of bid to the board, No minority interest, no news out – just black out.

Today’s scenario reflects “blind game”. No one knows about self or other party. The suitor does not know what he has, and the target does not know what it is worth. The vultures circling on the prey, ask for $700 billions with no questions asked. With worsening scenario being played out every day, no one in right mind will ever buy US dollar. Look at the box under Dollar Up and consider the following:

• Fannie/Freddie Mae got $200 Bln,
• AIG $85 Bln,
• JP Morgan got $59 billions ($30 Bln for taking over Bear Sterns and $29 Bln given to Bear Stearns itself),
• Washington Mutual Bank (WaMu) was given $230 Bln in last 3 months, all zero now,
• $673 Blns flooded into the market on Dow’s fateful day losing 778 points, and
• Billions of others not yet declared but given to host of banks, brokers and investment banks.
• $700 billions are now planned to be spent to buy the rotten and Zero value assets of the bankrupt banks.
• Bernanke opened up the empty treasury and also opened up largest currency printing press in the world, working 247365 or 24 x 7 x 365 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week and all 365 days a year) Never before in the history of United States, the dollar was printed with such intensity and also disappearing with the speed of hurricane category 6 into a giant black hole

No foreigner in right frame of his mind would at this point of time buy US dollar against his own currency, be it Euro, Pounds, Yen, Yuan, Aussie Dollar or any damn local currency.

With Dow falling, bonds collapsing, properties dumping, interbank dealing sine die, who is buying the US dollar? Why Euro, the most suitable alternative currency for US dollar is falling, when it should have gone to almost magic 2.00 figure? If any foreigner wants to buy stocks or bonds or $ class assets, he has to sell his own currency and buy $. Then only $ could go up. But when the foreigners are not buying $, in fact, they are dumping dollar assets, who is buying this bankrupt dollar in that case?

About 10 years ago, whenever Dow rose, dollar also used to rise, because foreigners have to buy $ first before buying stocks or bonds. For the last 5 years, especially in last 3 years, dollar is falling while the Dow and Bond rising. This means that there is no demand for $ from overseas, it is only from within. The dollar so printed by FED is being used to manage (or manipulate) various sensitive commodities like Oil and other foreign currencies like Euro.

Who is Buying Dollars, Why and How?

Of course, the Americans by themselves. Not the ordinary resident Americans. They are just naïve and innocent law abiding citizens. The crooks are in the corporate world. Some US institutions, in US and newly floated off shore corporate entities, under the ostensible authority from US administration, are now buying US$ index and shorting Oil (Light Sweet grade) heavily on NYMEX. They appear to have been commissioned to search and destroy the vicious circle of oil price rise which is the major cause of inflation.

This is similar to the practice being adopted during the days of Clinton Administration when the Rupert Rubin was the Treasury Secretary. He was a proponent of strong dollar policy, and during his administration, the Asian crisis unfolded, Enron was created and busted, LTCM with over $1 trillions of exposure to the market was bankrupted. His policies and practice were known as “Rubinomics”. He engineered the rescue package for LTCM with the help of 14 local and foreign banks and brokers, raising $3.6 billion initially to $26 Billions progressively according to market rumors.

After 12 months, this group was disbanded saying that the problem was resolved. Even the best fund manager in the world, can not generate the return of $ 1 trillions or $1000 billions with meager $26 billions of fresh capital, that is, whopping 3846% return annualized. Show me a single fund manager in the world, including George Soros and Julian Robertson (now dead). The losses of $ 1 trillion are still in the system under various names and disguises.

However, both future contracts are subject to physical delivery. So on settlement day, these contracts are reversed by covering the short position in oil, and liquidating the long position in $. This is why during September settlement, there was vicious move to cover the “oil shorts” against $ index, with the result that oil prices spiked up by over $25 in a single day, and dollar slumped against the major constituent currencies like Euro. The contracts were rolled over to October/November by selling the Oil futures again, and buying the $ index. Euro weakened on the following day of its steep rise due to such roll over, and oil fell from $130 to $106 again in just under 2 days.

Another ENRON in the making, this time 20 times larger…In short, Rubinomics is back. The banks used in these cases appear to be same old players who were and are close to the US administration – CITI, JPMC and BOA. The brokers are also same as before, Goldman Sachs except Salomon Brothers this time which has been bankrupted before in LTCM saga.

The similar situation will develop again with OPEC starting to control the spot market by curtailing production. They already reduced by 500,000 barrels per day. At least that part can not be controlled by the US institutions.

Both Rupert Rubin, former Treasury Secretary and Hank (Henry) Paulson, present Treasury Secretary, who just got the blanket authority to spend $ 700 billions whenever and wherever he wants with no questions asked or for any sort of accountability, are from the only surviving Broker – Goldman Sachs. It is obvious that part of this loot will go to his former colleague to cause the collapse of Oil prices and Euro, British Pounds, Commodity currencies like Aussie dollar, South African Rand, Canadian dollars and Russian ruble. This strategy was employed before while engineering Asian Monetary Crisis.

Myth & Reality of Oil Prices…

When the giant economy in corporate world or Central Banks (Fed in USA) or Treasury department, became very creative (manipulative in layman’s terms) in accounting, and they in the name of “financial engineering” go on inventing methods or products and use any means.

It may be noted that –

• Oil prices started falling from July onwards. US$ too started climbing from July Onwards
• The oil prices fall and dollar climbs (euro, GBP, Yen, etc falls) in beginning of the month
• The position reverses on settlement day due to physical settlement requirements
• This is why there was sharpest rise in Oil by $25 in a day, and $ fall steeply same way
• After roll over into November settlement, the oil prices fell again and US$ rose
• Many honest people believe that rise in oil prices Vs dollar was due to rising demand of oil from emerging economies like China and India. They also believed that recent fall in oil prices were due to fears of recession and demand destruction. These are naïve and puritan people who believe that the world is as pure as gold
• In reality, we are living in a murky world. No real demand or supply – just paper trading of derivatives and futures – that determine the prices. The entire dollar and oil market is dominated by powerful nations in the Middle East and United States.
• Off shore entities may have been used in more than 50% of cases to avoid any scrutiny. The funding of $ index is arranged by 3 of top 5 banks in United States

Only yesterday, the strongman Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor of California, having found his budget delayed for several days, raised a demand of $7 billions before Paulson who has $700 billions in his kitty now.

He will ask - why would not you give me $7 billions for the worthy cause of managing my sunny state, when you are trying to pump in 100 times more into the bankrupt banks and brokers? If you can print $700 billions for them, why not print $300 billions more for the states for much desirable cause?

Kalidas, Hong Kong
6-Oct-2008

La Bolsa de Valores de Tokyo inició la semana con una histórica pérdida influenciada principalmente por el ambiente de inseguridad en el sistema bancario nipón.

Al cierre de la jornada, el Indice Nikkei 225 perdió 4,25 puntos para totalizar los 10 mil 473,09 puntos, cifra que se constituye en el peor nivel en los últimos 4 años mientras que el Indice Topix cedió 4,67 puntos para cerrar en 999,05 puntos.

Por su parte, la divisa norteamericana volvió a perder valor frente al yen nipón. Al cierre de la jornada se cotizó entre 103,72 y 103,73 en el Mercado de Cambios, cifra que representa una baja de 1,29 yenes con relación al viernes pasado.

Finalmente, el Banco de Japón inyectó por décimo cuarto día consecutivo en el mercado monetario de corto plazo unos 9 mil 600 millones de dólares por concepto de fondos de emergencia.

EL DATO
La aprobación del Parlamento norteamericano a un paquete de medidas de rescate no se constituyó en la solución al problema financiero nipón donde las autoridades han solicitado a las entidades financieras extranjeras que ofrezcan intereses mucho más altos en los préstamos a corto plazo.

Mata yasi!

© 2008 BLOG DEL PETA

At stake is the $339 billion in Wachovia deposits and its network of more than 3,300 branches throughout the country that would solidify the winner as being in the top tier of U.S. retail banking. Full story: http://tinyurl.com/3ehdnj

CNN's Citizen Journalism Goes `Awry' With False Report on Jobs

CNN's plunge into online citizen- journalism backfired yesterday when the cable-news outlet posted what turned out to be a bogus report claiming that Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs had suffered a heart attack.

Apple shares fell as much as 5.4 percent after the post on CNN's iReport.com and rebounded after the Cupertino, California- based company said the story was false. Atlanta-based CNN,  disabled the user's account and said it tried unsuccessfully to contact the individual. 

In June, Yahoo shares surged after a technology blog said acquisition talks with Microsoft had resumed. The report was later contradicted by CNBC and the shares gave back most of the 11 percent gain.

A six-year-old article on the 2002 bankruptcy of UAL Corp. appeared on the Web site of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, was picked up by a Google search agent and mistakenly presented as a new story by a trade publication. Full read: http://tinyurl.com/53hp9u

Euro Falls to 13-Month Low

The euro fell to a 13-month low against the dollar as the deepening credit crisis prompted European governments to pledge bailouts for troubled banks. Full story: http://tinyurl.com/4bcr7s

Germany guarantees savings to avert panic

Germany said on Sunday it would guarantee all private German bank accounts – currently worth €568bn – in a dramatic move to prevent panic withdrawals as fears over the worldwide financial crisis spread to Europe’s largest economy. Full story: http://tinyurl.com/4myffx

El índice Nikkei 225 registró uno de valores más bajos en los últimos tres años al situarse por debajo de los 11.000 puntos influenciada por la caída que sufriera en la víspera la neoyorkina Wall Street.

Al cierre de la jornada del viernes en la Bolsa de Tokyo, el índice Nikkei 225 se situó en los 10.996 puntos representando una caída de 157,78 con relación a la jornada bursátil previa.

Por su parte, el índice Topix cerró la sesión en 1.051,88, representando una caída de 25,09 puntos en relación a la jornada del jueves.

Finalmente, en el mercado de cambios de Tokio, la moneda norteamericana perdió su valor con relación a la divisa nipona al cotizarse entre 105,04 y 105,06 yenes, representando una baja de 28 centésimas.

EL DATO
La última vez que el índice Nikkei se ubicó por debajo de los 11.000 puntos fue en mayo del 2005.

Mata yasi!

© 2008 BLOG DEL PETA

I can take my temperature, measure my pulse to know if I am still alive (I am -74bpm) and have readings taken of my blood pressure which, in turn, can tell the doctor certain facts about the condition of my arteries, stresses and such. But if I am yearning, longing, hankering or even pining away after someone or something in what units do I measure such feelings and how? How can I tell – without some measuring gadget—whether my sadness has reached its saturation or my anger its boiling point?  I suspect that the word “longing” was once measured instinctively by the length of time that had elapsed from last contact with another person. After a few months my longing has already elongated in comparison with the previous couple of weeks. It is probably hanging heavily from my heart or has become a distant target of reunion, with such a low visibility that when I shoot towards it my arrow of impatience, I can say with clear conscience: I have missed you.

Perhaps, the intensity of longing can be measured in yens? One hundred yens equals one ‘ell of  a longing time. “Yen” is a Chinese word which means “sharp desire, hunger” and in slightly another form as yan or yin means “intense craving for opium”. Another synonim for longing is “pine”, originally meant “torment, causing to suffer”, but later became more associated with wasting away through some emotional upheaval or mental torment. I wonder if that kind of yearning  could be analysed by lost weight, measured in pineapples in serious cases or in pine-cones where its symptoms were just a loss of appetite. But I mustn’t joke. Longing after another person is as serious as hankering after a long vacation. Sometimes it can mean the same thing. :-)

La crisis financiera internacional y alto precio de las materias primas son los principales factores que vienen afectando la economía japonesa cuya situación viene empeorando a pesar de los esfuerzos del gobierno.

Esa es principal la conclusión a la que llega el tradicional Informe Tankan elaborado por el Banco de Japón donde se precisa que los altos costos de las materias primas perjudican directamente las ganancias corporativas, situación que viene obligando a muchas de estas a replantear sus inversiones.

Del mismo modo, el reporte oficial destaca la crisis económica se refleja en los hogares japoneses cuando éstos pierden capacidad adquisitiva ante el aumento de los precios de artículos de consumo debido a que sus salarios siguen siendo los mismos.

El Banco de Japón considera que si bien la millonaria inyección de dólares en el mercado de consumo interno puede enfrentar el proceso de ralentización económica, precisa que la prioridad es lograr la recuperación nipona en la economía mundial.

En ese sentido, destacan la importancia de colaborar con Estados Unidos para que pueda superar su crisis financiera con el trabajo conjunto de las principales economías mundiales a través de la cooperación internacional.

Finalmente, la encuesta Tankan correspondiente al trimestre julio-septiembre del 2008 realizada a unas 10 mil empresas manufactureras niponas reveló por primera vez en cinco años indicadores negativos y se constituyó en el cuatro trimestre consecutivo a la baja.

EL DATO

La Bolsa de Tokyo se recuperó de la estrepitosa caída de 500 puntos sufrida el martes al subir 0,96% luego que el Indice Nikkei ganó 108,40 puntos para cerrar la jornada en los 11.368,26 puntos. Por su parte, el Indice Tópix ganó 13,72 puntos al terminar en 1.101,13 puntos. En el mercado de Divisas, la moneda norteamericana cerró en 106,28 yenes.

Mata yasi!

© 2008 BLOG DEL PETA

Llueve, la redacción se va quedando sola y tan solo quedo yo. Tras unos días en los que todos hemos estado saturados por los exámenes de Septiembre, no hay descanso para los malvados, llega la hora en que eso pasa factura como vosotros podéis comprobar. Estoy buscando documentación en los archivos ocultos de la Cúpula cuando algo me llama la atención. Tras ordenar un poco la redacción, Lucy esta de vacaciones, me encuentro con unas cajas que me pican la curiosidad.

Tras acercarme y abrirlas descubro para mi sorpresa unas cuantas revistas viejas, entre las que se encuentra la Hobby Consolas. Si esa consola que todo el mundo compraba de pequeño, ya sea para informarte o para llevarte de regalo las películas de Dragon Ball. Comencé a ojearla tranquilamente recordando tiempos en los que el peso del mundo no recaía sobre mis espaldas. En la portada venía el Metal Gear Solid, juego que a la postre se convertiría en unos de mis juegos favoritos, pero eso no fue lo que me llamo la atención de la revista. Quizás por la vocación de astrólogo que tengo o por cuchichear llegué a una sección que recordaba bastante bien: La sección de Yen. Si aquel pavo que se creía que entendía de videojuegos, pero que en realidad no sabia un pimiento.

Si tenéis buena memoria recordareis que el tío no decía mas que tonterías, y lo que parecía que era información sobre algún videojuego ya lo sabíamos de antemano. Lo mas gracioso era las preguntas de la gente. Recuerdo una en particular:” ¿El celda va sobre cerdos?”. Por lo visto el chico era un pueblerino de las montañas de Heidi, y era el único que tenía una Nintendo 64. Por lo visto La Paqui acababa de llevar al estanco del pueblo la Hobby Consolas, y el muchacho andaba un poco perdido, más bien como un marión en una rebaja de bragas. Hombre el asunto era de risa pero el Yen comenzó a decir que si, y que Miyamoto era el mayor creador de porcinos que había en Japón. Eso tan sólo trajo la confusión y la cosa empezó a perder un poco gracia. Estaba bien OWNEAR a la criatura por su ignorancia, pero no lo hacia con estilo. Era tosco a la hora de expresarse y más que meterse con la gente, la gente se metía con él. Vamos que Yen era un Full Retarded en toda regla. De ahí mi pregunta, ¿Por qué Lucy no recogió las cajas antes de irse?

Bueno, parece que va a dejar de llover en breve así que, creo que va siendo hora de cerrar por hoy la redacción.

[caption id="attachment_455" align="aligncenter" width="218" caption="Con el papel de la Hobby tus bocatas no soltarán pringue"][/caption]

]]> http://patrioticactivist.wordpress.com/?p=835 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:40:57 +0000 John http://patrioticactivist.com/2008/09/26/us-mint-suspends-sale-of-24-karat-gold-coins/ The U.S. Mint is temporarily halting sales of its popular American Buffalo 24-karat gold coins because it can't keep up with soaring demand as investors seek the safety of gold in these turbulent economic times.

Mint spokesman Michael White said Friday that the sales were being suspended because demand for the coins, which were first introduced in 2006, has exceeded supply and the Mint's inventory of the coins has been depleted.

Click here for full story

I've always wondered this. I always just thought it was because the Japanese just love the Western pop acts, so they want to give them something back, then again I thought there must be more to it. After much research I have reached an answer.

In Japan CDs (album) are about 2,500 to 3,000 yen. Imported CDs(from UK/US etc.) are about 1,500 to 2,000 yen. So Japanese companies need bonus tracks or other bonus material to sell their CDs. Withour bonus tracks, there's no need for Japanese to buy expensive Japanese CDs.

Finanţele dau un milion de euro pentru salubrizare şi reducerea deşeurilor din oraşe
Ministerul Economiei şi Finanţelor (MEF) va organiza, în 7 noiembrie, o licitaţie pentru contractarea de servicii de reducere a deşeurilor şi apelor uzate din România, valoarea investiţiei ridicându-se la 1 milion euro, potrivit anunţului publicat, joi, pe sistemul electronic de achiziţii publice.

România a coborât anul trecut pe locul 32 în lume după investiţiile străine directe
România a pierdut 11 poziţii în clasamentul indicelui de performanţă al investiţiilor străine directe (ISD), ajungând pe locul 32 în 2007, de pe 21 în 2006, potrivit Raportului Mondial al Investiţiilor pe 2008, prezentat, joi, de Centrul de Informare al Organizaţiei Naţiunilor Unite din Bucureşti.

Por décimo segundo día consecutivo, el Banco de Japón inyectó una millonaria cantidad de dinero en el mercado de dinero tokiota con el propósito de fomentar los préstamos interbancarios.

Según la entidad estatal, el monto de dinero inyectado asciende a los 1,6 billones de yenes (unos 15 mil 206 millones de dólares) constituyéndose en uno de los mayores montos desde que el 15 de septiembre pasado se desatara la crisis internacional por la quiebra del banco de inversiones norteamericano Lehman Brothers.

En horas de la tarde del jueves, el Banco de Japón inyectó 600 mil millones de yenes adicionales pero luego decidió absorber 400 mil millones para evitar la caída de las tasas de interés aplicadas a préstamos de corto plazo.

BOLSA DE TOKYO
De otra parte, el índice Nikkei 225 se ubicó en su nivel más bajo del año al cerrar la jornada bursátil en 11.154,76, representando una baja de 213,50 puntos con relación al miércoles.

El índice TOPIX también cerró con número negativos al perder 24,16 puntos totalizando 1.076,97, que se constituye en su nivel más bajo en lo que va del año.

Finalmente, en el Mercado de Cambios de Tokio, la moneda norteamericana cerró su cotización entre 105,32 y 105,34, representando una pérdida de 0,96 yenes con relación a la sesión del miércoles.

EL DATO
Hasta el momento, el Banco de Japón ha inyectado unos 23.5 billones de yenes desde que se conoció la quiebra de Lehman Brothers.

Mata yasi!

© 2008 BLOG DEL PETA