Emerginvest

Japan: Decline of a Safe Haven

Japan20000:

In response to your questions:

"where on earth did your hear of the japanese stock market to be a safe heaven?"

One of a few sources:

NYTimes article: www.nytimes.com/2009/0...

"'At one time, it looked like Japan escaped the brunt of the financial crisis. Now we see Japan’s most damaged because it’s so dependent on trade, which is stalling,' said Hideo Kumano, chief economist for the Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute. "

"Tatsuo Ichikawa, a Tokyo-based strategist at the Royal Bank of Scotland [said]: 'Japan, a source of stability and liquidity at the onset of the crisis, is falling very fast. '"

Your second question:

"And how did it crash less if it is 60% from its peak in July 2007? It is still 80% down from its peak of about 40k in 1989."

I stated: "Its stock market “only” fell approximately 30% during the September crash"

Please focus on the key-phrase "during the September crash" - as in not from its high peak in July, but during the volatile month of September. According to Emerginvest, the TSE was at approximately 122,055 Yen at the beginning of September, and ended up at approximately 84086 Yen at the end. That represents a fall of 31.1% - or, like I said... approximately 30%.

Your Third Statement:

"What have you been smoking?"

I think it is much more highly professional, and a better reflection of yourself to ask for clarification in a non-attacking/insultin... manner. If you still disagree with the answer, then so be it, but it is typically polite to ask before unabashedly personally attacking the person you are trying to communicate with.


On Feb 18 06:37 AM japan20000 wrote:

> where on earth did your hear of the japanese stock market to be a
> safe heaven? And how did it crash less if it is 60% from its peak
> in July 2007? It is still 80% down from its peak of about 40k in
> 1989. What have you been smoking? It is understandably a more volatile
> exchange because it is hugely leveraged to the outside. Tokyo has
> traditionally traded with higher multiples.
> The currency market is a totally different thing because of a number
> of issues that other markets do not have. There you could attach
> the safe heaven label to the yen... in certain periods.
> Why even bother writing stuff that doesn't tell anything at best
> or simply misleads.