iShares MSCI Japan Index (EWJ)

All Comments on EWJ

  • commenter
    jag
    Nov 28 09:38 PM
    Five Most Interesting Asian ETF and Indexing Stories Currently Playing Out [view article]
    The world's second largest country and third largest economy, with a growth story that is at least as fundamental as China's, is dismissed with a brief "Never been sure"? I for one see a much more optimistic long term story for India due to its inherently more functional and stable form of governance - when I choose to invest my money between capitalist authoritarianism and capitalist democracy, the latter seems like the sounder long term bet. Reply
  • commenter
    huangjin
    Nov 28 05:06 PM
    Five Most Interesting Asian ETF and Indexing Stories Currently Playing Out [view article]
    I've never seen anything but technical analysis on Chinese television and in Chinese newspapers, although one can find plenty of books on or by people like Buffett and Lynch. Reply
  • commenter
    ikkyu
    Nov 27 10:04 PM
    Japan's LDP: Let Them Eat Cake [view article]
    Mr Huangjin,
    Mr. Whitten is not not oblivious to these trends, i can assure you.

    Nice piece once again. i am sure no one would welcome a bull more than you, so you words ring true in contrast to Barron's.

    When the bull does come, I wonder if we could have a repeat of 2005 with a strengthening nikkei and a weakening yen?

    itsudemo benkyou ni natte imasu!

    Thanks from Osaka.

    john     Reply
  • commenter
    huangjin
    Nov 27 10:41 AM
    Japan's LDP: Let Them Eat Cake [view article]
    I don't think you can properly understand Japanese GDP numbers without considering demographics and the declining population. Reply
  • commenter
    Georealist
    Nov 26 08:31 PM
    Asia Region ETFs Struggled Last Week, But Poised to Rally [view article]
    The Asia markets are still very much copycat entities..I wouldn't be too quick to assume any of them will rally as long as sporadic bad and worse news is coming out of US markets concerning debt and liquidity problems. Reply
  • commenter
    jaycey
    Nov 23 05:06 PM
    Yen Carry Trade: Dire Threat or Poltergeist? [view article]
    Is there something somewhere on the net that explains in a schematic fashion just how Japan deals with these surpluses? It is my view that despite the fact that they've been running surpluses for decades the old saw that "Things that can't go on forever, don't go on forever" must eventually blow up the currency pressure cooker that is the yen.

    I've read a lot of "revisionist"... history about Japan and it seems to me that "smoke and mirrors" is a way of life for government officials over there. It also appears that deflationary policies are a deliberate means of dealing with a yen that wants to go up because of economic forces and foreign pressure while still maintaining their sacred surplus.

    Your thoughts? Links?     Reply
  • commenter
    ikkyu
    Nov 20 03:02 AM
    Yen Carry Trade: Dire Threat or Poltergeist? [view article]
    Wow, that is very fascinating and detailed information, Mr. Whitten. Thanks.

    Can you tell on a daily basis when they are in action? Are they mainly buying u.s. treasuries?

    I really appreciate your posts. they are the most valuable ones on japan.

    Best wishes,
    john     Reply
  • commenter
    Darrel
    Whiten
    Nov 20 01:47 AM
    My Website
    Yen Carry Trade: Dire Threat or Poltergeist? [view article]
    John;

    The BOJ is the agent for the MOF in effecting forex intervention, using the Foreign Exchange Fund Special Account, which has two elements, the Foreign Exchange Fund and the narrowly defined Foreign Exchange Special Account. The former is a separate fund prepared for foreign exchange trading by the Government, and purchases/sales of foreign exchange by this fund are not recorded as the revenues/expenses of the Government. In the latter, results of trading such as (1) profits/losses arising from foreign exchange trading and (2) payment/receipt of interest arising from fund-raising/investmen... accompaning foreign exchange intervention are recorded as the revenues/expenses of the Government. In this case, the government issues finance bills to fund the intervention. So, Japan's total debt would technically be affected if it were a sizeable intervention.

    As for the impact, in 2001, the BOJ spent $28 billion to prevent the yen from breaking JPY100/US$, and in 2002 had to spend another $33 billion to keep the yen from getting too weak. During this period, the yen swung from JPY105/US$ to JPY135/US$, so the interventions were apparently effective.

    In addition, the government is now showing massive capital gains and interest on the forex held that run into the trillions of yen, and some of these profits are being funneled back into the general account to help stop the fiscal bleeding.
    Reply
  • commenter
    ikkyu
    Nov 19 05:38 AM
    Yen Carry Trade: Dire Threat or Poltergeist? [view article]
    So how much bread does the MOF/BOJ have to throw into such protective actions? With debt at 176% of GDP how much can the manipulators manipulate in your opinion? Their track record is not stellar, is it?

    cheers from osaka,
    john

     Reply
  • commenter
    India
    Watcher
    Nov 15 01:27 PM
    iShares Asia Region ETFs (ex-India) Trade Broadly Lower [view article]
    INP units outstanding appear to now be capped ... from the prospectus:

    New York, NY (November 5, 2007) – Subsequent to the announcement dated October 26, 2007 by
    Barclays Bank PLC ("Barclays") with respect to the issuance, sale and lending of iPath® Exchange Traded
    Notes linked to the MSCI India IndexSM ("iPath India"), Barclays has received further clarification with
    respect to the announcement of the Securities and Exchange Board of India in relation to derivative
    instruments linked to Indian equity securities. Based on this clarification, Barclays announces that, with
    immediate effect, Barclays will resume sale of iPath India from inventory to the extent, but only to the
    extent, that such iPath notes, which were previously sold, have been redeemed by Barclays; and will
    resume lending activities from inventory with respect to iPath India to the extent, but only to the extent,
    that such iPath notes, which were previously lent out, have been returned to or acquired by Barclays. In
    all other respects, the suspension of issuance, sale and lending involving iPath India, as announced on
    October 26, 2007 remains in effect.INP units outstanding appear to now be capped ... from the prospectus:

    New York, NY (November 5, 2007) – Subsequent to the announcement dated October 26, 2007 by
    Barclays Bank PLC ("Barclays") with respect to the issuance, sale and lending of iPath® Exchange Traded
    Notes linked to the MSCI India IndexSM ("iPath India"), Barclays has received further clarification with
    respect to the announcement of the Securities and Exchange Board of India in relation to derivative
    instruments linked to Indian equity securities. Based on this clarification, Barclays announces that, with
    immediate effect, Barclays will resume sale of iPath India from inventory to the extent, but only to the
    extent, that such iPath notes, which were previously sold, have been redeemed by Barclays; and will
    resume lending activities from inventory with respect to iPath India to the extent, but only to the extent,
    that such iPath notes, which were previously lent out, have been returned to or acquired by Barclays. In
    all other respects, the suspension of issuance, sale and lending involving iPath India, as announced on
    October 26, 2007 remains in effect.     Reply
  • commenter
    REBEL
    Nov 09 01:11 PM
    My Website
    Japan: 40-50% Chance of Impending Recession - Report [view article]
    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.     Reply
  • commenter
    goatfarmer
    Nov 09 07:14 AM
    My Website
    Why Japan is Still Hot [view article]
    Taiwan too. EWT. Reply
  • commenter
    AFJ Garner
    Nov 02 05:58 PM
    Asset Class Update: Cross Market Momentum [view article]
    I am also not entirely sure that I am happy working with monthly data points which no doubt downplay max DD and possibly boost CAGR. I have worked with both monthly and daily data recently and tend to prefer the latter. Which makes the data collection problem even more acute. Reply
  • commenter
    AFJ Garner
    Nov 02 05:31 PM
    Asset Class Update: Cross Market Momentum [view article]
    I agree with your approach (I am testig this in Trading Blox) and no I have seen no such research. Interesting that Fundx does not do this - each asset class is treated separately. Trouble is, as both of us know only too well, ETF history is too short for meaningful test results. So, you either have to work with Mutual Fund data or create your own total return indices with suitable assumptions for tracking error. Reply
  • commenter
    AFJ Garner
    Nov 02 05:31 PM
    Asset Class Update: Cross Market Momentum [view article]
    I agree with your approach (I am testig this in Trading Blox) and no I have seen no such research. Interesting that Fundx does not do this - each asset class is treated separately. Trouble is, as both of us know only too well, ETF history is too short for meaningful test results. So, you either have to work with Mutual Fund data or create your own total return indices with suitable assumptions for tracking error. Reply
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