Free Republic

...snip... While the Bank of Japan’s name is nowhere to be found in regulatory filings on major stock investors, the monetary authority’s exchange-traded fund purchases have made it a top 10 shareholder in about 90 percent of the Nikkei 225 Stock Average, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg from public data. It’s now a major owner of more Japanese blue-chips than both BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest money manager, and Vanguard Group, which oversees more than $3 trillion. ...snip... Furthermore, recall what we have been saying ever since 2010, namely that central banks are nothing more than glorified risk-free hedge...

Fed’s $4 Trillion Holdings to Boost Growth Beyond End of QEQuantitative easing may turn out to be a gift that keeps on giving for the U.S. economy. As the Federal Reserve prepares to end its third round of bond buying next week, the central bank plans to hang on to the record$4.48 trillion balance sheet it has accumulated since announcing the first round of purchases in November 2008. That will continue to keep a lid on borrowing costs, helping the Fed lift inflation closer to its target and providing support to a five-year expansion facing headwinds abroad, from war in...

UPDATE 2-BOJ's Fukui warns of mounting downside econ risks Wed Feb 20, 2008 2:51am EST (Adds Fukui comments) By Yuzo Saeki TOKYO, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui said on Wednesday downside risks to Japan's economy may heighten as global economic adjustments continue, reinforcing market views that the bank will keep rates on hold or even cut them later this year. Fears of more credit problems at financial firms pushed down Tokyo shares by more than 3 percent on Wednesday and Fukui, whose term expires next month, signalled that investors' waning risk appetite could continue to...

BOJ pumps 1 trillion yen into money market in sync with ECB, Fed TOKYO, Aug. 10 KYODO The Bank of Japan pumped 1 trillion yen ($8.5 billion) into the money market Friday after the European and U.S. central banks supplied liquidity in efforts to calm subprime-mortgage turmoil in global financial markets. The central banks of Japan, the United States and Europe took a coordinated action to provide liquidity for the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. The size of the BOJ's money injection was larger than usual, according to money market traders....

BOJ urged to monitor missile test reaction By YURI KAGEYAMA, AP Business Writer 1 hour, 1 minute ago Japan's finance minister urged the central bank Friday to watch the market reaction to North Korea's recent missile tests, ahead of the Bank of Japan's meeting next week when the bank may raise interest rates for the first time in six years. Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki has repeatedly urged the bank to refrain from an early hike in rates, which have been at zero the last five years, so as not to hurt the nation's economic recovery. The bank's policy board meets...

TOKYO, May 1 (Reuters) - The dollar struck a seven-month low against the yen and a one-year low against the euro on Monday, extending a slide as the Federal Reserve appears set to soon end a two-year run of credit tightening. A renewed focus on U.S. deficits after last month's meeting of Group of Seven industrialised powers, worries about Iran's nuclear ambitions and deteriorating technical signals have pummeled the dollar across the board. The yen gained across the board on solid buying by foreign hedge funds and investment banks, while some Japanese players squared positions heading into the country's Golden...

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar hit a 27-month high against the yen on Monday and edged closer to recent two-year lows versus the euro and sterling as greenback buying on yield advantage gathered momentum after a long U.S. weekend. In the absense of major data on Monday, investors, coming back from the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, pushed the dollar higher in anticipation of further rises in U.S. interest rates. The euro kept a low profile as investors awaited European Central Bank speakers including chief Jean-Claude Trichet ahead of a widely-expected 25 basis point rate hike this week. But the outlook beyond...

Technical Overview · British Pound Heads To 1.7000· Swiss Franc Sees 1.3500 In Its Future· New Zealand Dollar Fails To Capture .6900 Traders Corner:Reality or wishful thinking, it’s a very delicate balance when it comes to trading. As a trader I always learned not to let the wishful thinking cloud my judgment. I never let such notions as hopes and dreams distort the reality of the market. At one point when I found myself grasping at straws in a sinking trade I realized that no matter what I think, wish or hope, the market will do what its need to...

TOKYO (Reuters) - The dollar clung close to a two-year high against the euro and a 27-month peak versus the yen on Tuesday as more investors flock to the U.S. currency for its widening yield advantage. The yen came under pressure after Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made a rare comment on central bank policy, saying it was too early for the Bank of Japan to end its ultra-loose "quantitative easing" until deflation is defeated. Koizumi's remarks on Monday added to a chorus of government officials calling for the BOJ, which gained political independence just in 1998, to work with...

Tough talk on inflation, first by US Federal Reserve officials, then by Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, has got the markets rattled. Last week all the leading equity indices retreated, with the S&P 500 down 2.7 per cent, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 down 1.8 per cent, the Nikkei off 2.6 per cent and the FTSE 100 off 2.1 per cent. It looks as if investors are questioning the notion that the US, and to some extent the world economy, has entered a new "Goldilocks" phase with growth neither too hot (risking accelerating inflation) nor too cold (risking...

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar remained firm on Tuesday near this week's three-month highs against the euro and 16-month peaks versus the yen as a Federal Reserve official joined the hawkish chorus on U.S. interest rates. The dollar also hit a two-month high against sterling and against an index of major currencies as investors priced in prospects for the Fed to press ahead with its 15-month credit-tightening campaign. Atlanta Fed President Jack Guynn told Reuters in an interview on Monday that the Fed's tightening campaign still has "a ways to go" before completion. Analysts said strong data, equity inflows and...

TOKYO (Reuters) - The euro fell below $1.20 for the first time in 10 months on Friday as traders bet that euro zone interest rates will eventually be cut and make the dollar an even more attractive destination for investors. A combination of Sweden's central bank slashing interest rates this week and the Bank of England moving closer to lowering rates has thrown the spotlight on the European Central Bank. ECB officials have held firm that current rates at 2 percent are appropriate, but political pressure has mounted on the euro zone's central bank to do something about the region's...

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar hit a nine-month high against the euro on Monday, extending recent gains made after upbeat U.S. data and comments from Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan fanned expectations of more U.S. interest rate hikes. Finance ministers from the world's rich nations (G8) during their weekend meeting in London kept up pressure on China to move toward more flexible exchange rates, but produced no clues as to the timing. Following last week's better-than-expected U.S. trade data and Greenspan's comments that the economy was on a "firm footing," the market is looking to see if this week's figures...

TOKYO (Reuters) - The euro hit an 11-month low against the yen on Tuesday, hurt by a bleak economic outlook for the euro zone and remarks by the European Central Bank chief which the market saw as a hint of interest rate cuts. The ECB will do "all it can" to reinforce consumer and business confidence, and economic reforms are fundamental to boost euro zone growth, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said in a discussion among central bankers from China, Europe and Japan in Beijing. "Trichet suggested that maybe he has to do something about interest rates," said a trader at...

In 2003 and the first quarter of 2004, Japan carried out a remarkable experiment in... ... monetary policy ? remarkable in the impact it had on the global economy and equally remarkable in that it went almost entirely unnoticed in the financial press. Over those 15 months, monetary authorities in Japan created ¥35 trillion. To put that into perspective, ¥35 trillion is approximately 1% of the world's annual economic output. It is roughly the size of Japan's annual tax revenue base or nearly as large as the loan book of UFJ, one of Japan's four largest banks. ¥35 trillion amounts...

Do you believe in coincidences? I don't. Former CIA division chief David Atlee Philips once said, "The intelligence profession does not exactly condition one to accept coincidence as an explanation for a sequence of events." The same can be said of blogging. When a bevy of public figures all begins reading from the same script at the same time, the alert blogger takes note. Consider the following. On January 19, leftwing billionaire Warren Buffett told CNBC, "Unless we have a major change in trade policies, I don't see how the dollar avoids going down." Well, we've all heard that before....

Remarks by Toshihiko Fukui, Governor of the Bank of Japan, at Japan Society, New York on Thursday, January 6, 2005 January 7, 2005 Bank of Japan 1. Introductory remarks It is a pleasure to address this eminent audience of Japan Society. Before I proceed any further, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to all the people affected by the earthquake in Indonesia and the tsunamis that followed it. Though we are far away in New York from the tragic events in the Indian Ocean, I hope that we could do everything within our capacity to help our sisters...

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar steadied versus the euro and yen on Thursday following sharp gains across the board in the previous session driven by profit-taking on bets against the long suffering U.S. currency.Unexpectedly strong jobs data from Australia appeared to counter the rising market belief the weak dollar was hurting major economies and forcing central banks to stop interest rate hikes, which in turn would bolster the greenback's appeal. Such arguments, driven by Canada's and Australia's decision earlier this week to hold rates unchanged, were seen as triggers for the dollar's rebound from record lows against the euro...

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar rose one percent against the euro and the yen on Wednesday as investors bought the U.S. currency back in the run-up to the year-end and eyed the impact of the dollar's weakness on other economies.Worries about the United States' ability to fund its huge currrent account deficit have led to persistent weakness in the dollar, taking it to fresh record lows against the euro on Tuesday and five-year lows against the yen last week. But investors are looking to take profits on the climb of a broad spectrum of currencies against the dollar, while...

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar tumbled to a record low against the euro on Tuesday after a warning by euro zone officials on the euro's rise fell on deaf ears, with investors determined to dump the U.S. currency.In a joint statement late on Monday, the European Central Bank and euro zone finance ministers gave their starkest warning to date that they were unhappy with the euro's strength. In an echo of developments that preceded the ECB's maiden intervention in the currency markets of 2000, the statement said policymakers were monitoring the situation closely. But the dollar, under pressure from...