Japan

One of our favorite strategists, SocGen's Dylan Grice is out with a masterful in its simplicity analysis, looking at the possibility of a funding crisis enveloping the governments of the developed world, and originating in the place where ever more people see brewing trouble: Japan. The full presentation can be found here, and while we recommend a full read, for those strapped on time, here are the cliff notes.

Thoughts on Japan from John Maynard Keynes. This economist is more powerful today than he was when he was alive. I wonder what he would really say about the Nikkei. Also some interesting information from the CIA. I am always looking for 'clues'.

Japan has been the poster child of what not to do. They are a textbook case for the failure of Keynesian stimulus. After 20 years of repeating the same mistakes with the same results, you would think they would learn. They haven't. Now they may enact a policy that will lead to depression level unemployment. Remember the definition of insanity: do the same thing over and over and expect a different result?

On Wednesday Nov 25 2008, the dollar kissed its 2 year Nov 21 2007 two year anniversary low at 7450. 7450 was the 2007 year low, btw. I quickly scanned the headlines that day and sent a email memo detailing the uber-bearish headlines on the US dollar. The dollar was posting 14 yr lows in the yen. Russia was diversifying into Canadian Loonie, the Suissie rallied on news their CB would remove stimulus, the pound rallied on news the UK GDP was stronger than expected, the Aussie rallied too on news of a their reserve banks 3rd rate hike.

Developing story from Market News

Yen drops, Dollar, Euro surge. Yen - The Carry Currency, the sequel coming to a theater near you.

TOKYO (Dow Jones)--The Bank of Japan policy board will hold an unscheduled monetary policy meeting from 0500 GMT "to discuss monetary control matters based on recent economic and financial developments," the central bank said Tuesday. BOJ Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa will also meet the press from 0730 GMT.

A stunner to end the Black Friday news flow. It appears the race to the hyperdeflationary bottom just shifted into overdrive.

The $ PET (Plunge Enforcement Team) will have its work cut out for it tonight and tomorrow, after speculation was rampant that both Japan and Switzerland would intervene in their respective currency markets to halt the dollar's collapse, in essence making Tim Geithner's self-proclaimed job of maintaining a strong dollar that much easier. And even as the Nikkei has terminally decoupled from the US equity market, and is now over 10% down from its 2009 highs, the yen just passed 85, hitting a 14 year high against the dollar and throwing Japan's export economy into a tailspin: that a confirmed deflationary economy is considered a "safe-haven" in today's world should be sufficient to get Keynes boogying to the foxtrot in his grave as his economic gospel falls apart at the seams.

Japan has recovered . . . oh, wait . . .

China: Be cautious

Japan: Uh-oh ...

The most convoluted monthly report issued by the US Treasury, that of Treasury International Capital (TIC) flows was released on Friday, and it disclosed some troubling data points. While foreigners overall continued purchasing domestic assets, their appetite continues to decline. In particular foreigners increased their purchases of Treasuries marginally, while they continued selling off corporate bonds and agencies, while buying corporate stocks. Yet, most troublingly, the Big 3 (China, Japan and the UK) purchased the least net total of Bonds and Billsyear to date: as the Fed now dominates the market for Treasuries, traditional buyers are becoming increasingly nervous.

Since we are already in a deflation, the argument over inflation or deflation is moot. The real question is: how long will we remain in a deflation? And, if deflation ends, will we then see inflation, hyperinflation, or real growth?

Many deflationists assume that since we are following the Japanese path that we will have the same economic results as Japan. That is, a stagnant economy with generally falling prices as has been seen for the last 19 years in Japan.

While it depends mostly on what the government's responses will be, our experience will more likely be stagnation with long-term inflation rather than long-term deflation. The economic differences are significant.

"For years investors laughed at any attempt on my part to draw comparisons between the
inflating bubble in the US and the Japanese experience. For most in the West, Japan might as
well have been on another planet, its post-bubble experience held so little relevance. They’re
not laughing so much now. Yet we hear an increasing chorus that the extreme policy response
will safeguard the West against a repeat of Japan’s lost decade. I remain skeptical." - Albert Edwards

I was on CNBC a few days ago discussing the Japan debt situation, here are my talking points and some additional thoughts a lot of them I did not have a chance to cover in the previous note or the interview.

Japan's ruling party for the past 50 years is set to lose the elections tomorrow. The opposition has threatened to demand payment from the United States in yen.