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Bloomberg (November 10)

2016/ 11/ 11 by jd in Global News

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) proved no match for the zero lower bound. “The Bank of Japan’s recent quarterly report says, in effect, that the central bank has done all it can do to raise growth and inflation, and that fiscal policy needs to step in and help.” The BoJ already “owns more than half of the ETF shares in the whole country” and is estimated to soon “be the biggest shareholder in 55 of the 225 companies in the Nikkei index.” Other central banks will follow Japan’s retreat. “The era of bold monetary policy experimentation that began with the global financial crisis is now drawing to a close.”

 

Institutional Investor (April 7)

2014/ 04/ 08 by jd in Global News

In 2013, asset managers “poured a record of $43.7 billion into Japanese equities….and the massive net inflows helped propel the Nikkei 225 index up nearly 57 percent—it’s largest gain in more than 40 years.” As concerns mount about the sustainability of Abenomics, however, “many of those investors have been reversing course.” Nevertheless, some top analysts, such as Mizuho’s Yohei Osade and Nomura’s Jun Konoumi, believe the concerns are overblown and that any consumption tax related slow down will be temporary.

 

Wall Street Journal (February 4, 2014)

2014/ 02/ 04 by jd in Global News

The Nikkei’s fall puts added pressure on Shinzo Abe’s efforts to revive Japan. The correction may prove temporary, but it is surely a sign of underlying weakness in Abenomics, which should be fortified. “Policy makers shouldn’t govern by the wishes of stock markets, but in this case Mr. Abe could take a hint. If 2013 was the year when he hyped Japan’s economic prospects, 2014 will need to be the year when he starts doing something about it.”

 

Wall Street Journal (December 26, 2013)

2013/ 12/ 28 by jd in Global News

“The Nikkei’s strong performance this year hasn’t dented the enthusiasm of international fund managers.” In the first 11 months of 2012 foreign investors brought inflows of 830 billion yen into Japan’s stock market. In 2013, inflows from foreign investors soared to 14.8 trillion during the same period.

 

Forbes (April 4, 2013)

2013/ 04/ 05 by jd in Global News

“Quantitative easing is a global craze, and now a man named Kuroda is showing Bernanke and Draghi how to do it big time….While markets expected Kuroda’s BoJ to make a bold move, the size of the purchases and the wide array of financial assets the central bank plans to stock up on came as a surprise, boosting Japanese stocks and sending the Nikkei 225 higher by 2.2%.”

 

Businessweek (December 6)

2012/ 12/ 07 by jd in Global News

“With the Nikkei stock average down 76 percent from its 1989 peak and 1.5 quadrillion yen ($18 trillion) in wealth erased when an asset bubble burst, a generation of Japanese investors has grown up convinced that stocks only go down.” They have become too risk averse. There’s a strong “case to be made for Japanese stocks. The country has the lowest taxes on dividends among developed nations and a 10 percent capital-gains tax, which compares well with 15 percent in the U.S. and 28 percent in Britain. Shares of companies in the Topix Index, a broader measure of stocks than the Nikkei, trade for less than the value of their assets.”

 

Forbes (March 21)

2011/ 03/ 23 by jd in Global News

Warren Buffet is not alone in stating Japan presents a “buying opportunity.” Forbes reports “generally bearish Dave Rosenberg wrote in his daily newsletter that the battered Nikkei 225, which plunged 12% last week, ‘may well be the most inexpensive market in the world.’” In the same note he points out that Japan markets are roughly at book value while global markets are twice book value. Moreover, at a P/E multiple of 14.5x, the Nikkei is trading at its cheapest in over 40 years.

 

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