Japan: 40-50% Chance of Impending Recession - Report

The odds of a Japanese recession in coming months are 40-50%, according to Credit Suisse analysts. Weak construction starts, falling employment levels, and slowing exports continue to weigh on the country's economy, it said. Business confidence has been eroding for the past year. "The current predicament of the Japanese economy appears to go beyond what could be reasonably be described as a 'soft patch'," Credit Suisse's Japan Economics Weekly said. However, it noted, business sentiment is not yet at the lows seen during 1997 and 2001 recessions.

Sources: MarketWatch
Commentary: Japanese Property: Fear Has Overcome Greed • Japan's Revised Q2 GDP Disappoints • Would a US Recession Negatively Impact Japan ?
ETFs to watch: EWJ, JSC, DFJ, DNL

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Comments

[REBEL:]

After cratering in 1990, Japan had just started looking like they might recover in the past couple of years. Now they are teetering on the brink of another recession. Isn't the Japanese economy the world's second largest and dependent on exports for it's economic strength? Aren't they the "canary in the gold mine" for the global economy? If they go down again then the U.S. isn't far behind. God help us because the pain will be widespread and if Japan's decade+
long recession is any indication of what the US is heading towards, then it looks like The Greater Depression is coming.

2007 Nov 09 01:11 PM