Japan

By Annaly Capital Management A common phrase often overheard on your favorite financial news channels goes something like this: “Stocks are cheap relative to bonds.” After all, the dividend yield on the Dow Jones Industrial Average is now…

Japan's Finance Minister Noda has indicated that he will take advantage of the upcoming G7 and IMF meeting to explain its Sept 15 intervention. While US Fed and Treasury and the ECB did not comment on the intervention, several others did,…

Yesterday, Ed sent me an article by James Fallows on some 2006 comments by Republican gubernatorial candidate Christine O'Donnell regarding the threat to the United States posed by China. She said China had a "carefully thought out…

Highlights The US dollar rise yesterday looks like a one-day wonder, with the euro returning to the $1.38 area, sterling moving through yesterday’s highs and the Swiss franc at new record highs vs the greenback.  The Australian…

In yesterday's daily note, David Rosenberg showed us this chart of the wild swings in the foreign exchange markets since the beginning of 2007. His interpretation of the chart is that it demonstrates a "series of rolling currency…

Earlier today, Japan's second largest consumer lender, Takefuji sought legal protection of bankruptcy. The source of its woes, and apparently others in that space, is that the borrowers were overcharged interest. Japan's regulator says that…

US President Obama is scheduled to meet Chinese Premier Wen tomorrow on the sidelines of the UN meeting. Reports also suggest a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Kan may take place. Even though the meetings will be separate,…

The economic historian Arnold Toynbee argued that civilization began in the East, expanded around the world, and will return to the East. Even if expressed somewhat differently, many people seem to believe that the 21st century will be a…

Highlights The US dollar is firmer against the major foreign currencies, but the main interest today is on the first Japanese intervention in six years that has succeeded in driving the greenback through the JPY85.00. This appears to have…

by Michael Pettis I apologize for taking so long to write but for the past two weeks (and the next five days) I have been travelling for conferences and meetings.  I spent last week in Buenos Aires at the 75th Anniversary Conference…