Japan

The Japan External Trade Organization has released its latest trade figures, which paint a grim picture for foreign trade by the world's second largest economy. Year to date imports have dropped by 31.9% to $252.9 billion, while exports have plunged 36.8% to $252.2 billion. Most stunning is the disclosure on trade flows with the United States: exports to the US have dropped by 43.5% to $40.5 billion, resulting in Japan's largest positive trade balance. Another development is that China has now replaced USA as Japan's primary trade destination. However that is not saying much: trade with China has declined for the 8th consecutive month. The last fact is among the primary reasons why the Chinese Central Bank has blown a credit bubble of epic proportions in order to mitigate the unprecedented collapse in Chinese trade with its traditional trade partners.

A blast from the manipulated past (via Bloomberg). When will domestic regulators demonstrate they are at least on par with their Japanese colleagues.

Nikko Salomon Banned From Japan Trading for 20 Days

Moody's is swinging the axe again, and in a move which could spell trouble for the rating for the US itself, it downgraded Japan's last triple-A foreign currency credit rating. Amusingly, Japan has almost no foreign currency debt exposure, so the action may be perceived as posturing by Moody's as it prepares for some sort of credit action on the US. In Moody's own words:

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