financializer news A weblog highlighting financial topics making news in the international media.

u.s: On Monday, the key market gauge climbed 44.50 points. ; The Topix, which covers all first-section issues, ended 10.84 points, or 0.65 percent, higher at 1,684.46 after shedding 1.13 points the previous day, according to The Japan Times. Tokyo stocks were firmer after U.S. equities extended gains Monday, inspired in particular by the U.S. Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing activity index for September, which surged to a 13-year high of 60.8, brokers said. The Nikkei rose 213.29 points, or 1.05 percent, to close at 20,614.07, the highest closing level since Aug. 17, 2015. All three major U.S. stock indexes the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index hit closing highs. The ISM index contributed significantly to the rise in Tokyo stocks, while the firmness of Japan's real economy, shown in the Bank of Japan's tankan survey, was also a factor, said Hiroaki Hiwada, strategist at Toyo Securities Co. The Tokyo Stock Exchange gathered steam further after the dollar climbed above 113, brokers said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

makuhari messe: These are among the array of cutting-edge technologies on display as Japan's largest electronics trade show kicked off Tuesday, according to The Japan Times. This year's annual Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies CEATEC which will run through Friday at Makuhari Messe in the city of Chiba, is seen as a touchstone for the 17-year-old trade fair. ; Undergoing a major revamp last year, what had been a showcase for consumer electronics such as TVs and washing machines had reinvented itself as a business-to-business exhibition across sectors oriented toward the internet of things concept, in which everyday items are linked by network. A device passes an infrared scan over some food and supplies complete nutritional information about the fare. This year, CEATEC has attracted 667 companies and organizations, up 2.9 percent from the 648 exhibitors last year. Some of you may wonder if CEATEC Japan has lost its momentum. Among the 327 newcomers are toymaker Bandai Namco Holdings Inc., housing equipment maker Lixil Corp. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

near-zero rates: It's those 10 percent-plus rates across the Turkish bond curve among the highest in major emerging markets that are luring the Mr. and Mrs, according to The Japan Times. Watanabes to the country's assets. ; Starved for return by near-zero rates at home, individual investors have propelled a 27 percent jump in Japanese mutual funds' investments in Turkish lira-denominated bonds this year. But Japan's intrepid retail investors will forgive a lot when it comes to yield. At 50.8 billion through August, it's poised to be the biggest annual increase since 2012, according to data from Japan's Investment Trusts Association. There may be more upside than downside and their higher yield levels are definitely positive from the carry perspective, said Yokouchi, who recently went slightly overweight on Turkey's lira. Political risks are still there and the economy remains sluggish while inflation remains high but those negative factors have already been priced in the markets, said Takeshi Yokouchi, a senior fund manager at Daiwa SB Investments Ltd., which manages the equivalent of about 51 billion in assets. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

fuel supplies: Trump fired back at Cruz on Twitter, accusing her of poor leadership. ; It is not clear if the two will meet on Tuesday, according to The Japan Times. She Cruz has been invited to participate in the events tomorrow, and we hope those conversations will happen and that we can all work together to move forward, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters on Monday. San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz led the attack on the administration's response on Friday, criticizing an official's description of relief efforts as a good news story and urging Trump to act more decisively. Trump will spend significant time on the island on Tuesday, Sanders said. Early on Monday Puerto Rico's governor reported some progress in getting fuel supplies to the island's 3.4 million inhabitants as they faced a 13th day largely without power after Maria. He is due in Las Vegas on Wednesday to meet with people affected by Sunday's mass shooting. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

policy stances: On Friday, the key market gauge lost 6.83 points. ; But the Topix, including all first-section issues, closed down 1.13 points, or 0.07 percent, at 1,673.62, after falling 1.42 points the previous trading day, according to The Japan Times. Stocks got off to a firm start and gained ground after the dollar strengthened on the back of the brisk Chicago purchasing managers index for September and media reports that U.S. President Donald Trump has met with potential Federal Reserve chair candidates who are viewed as having hawkish monetary policy stances, brokers said. The Nikkei 225 average rose 44.50 points, or 0.22 percent, to end at 20,400.78, its highest closing since Aug. 18, 2015. The Tokyo market was also backed by robust overseas stock markets on Friday, in which the Dow Jones industrial average rose for the third straight day and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index hit a closing high, brokers said. Domestic and overseas institutional investors were absent from Monday's trading, said an official of a bank-affiliated brokerage firm, explaining that trading was therefore thin. Individual investors showed appetites for small-cap issues in the Tokyo market, but large-cap issues remained downbeat, leading to the fall of the Topix, market sources said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

september reading: The latest survey handily beat market expectations for a reading of 18, according to The Japan Times. The report is the broadest indicator of how Japan Inc. is faring, marks the difference between the percentage of firms that are upbeat and those that see conditions as unfavorable. The report comes after a batch of broadly positive economic data on Friday, including better-than-expected factory output, that offered up some good news for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he faces a national election on Oct. 22. ; The Bank of Japan's tankan a closely watched quarterly survey of more than 10,000 companies showed a reading of 22 among major manufacturers in its latest report, the highest since its September 2007 reading, when the headline figure sat at 23. The mood among major manufacturers, which plan to boost their capital spending, has now risen for a fourth straight quarter. The upbeat survey underscores how the nation's economic prospects have been improving on the back of strong exports, with investments linked to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics also giving the economy a shot in the arm. The index for nonmanufacturers came in at 23, unchanged from the previous tankan, and sitting at its highest level since the final quarter of 2015. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

tender offer: Asatsu-DK will likely be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange following the completion of the acquisition procedures, according to The Japan Times. Asatsu-DK stock ended at 3,170 on the TSE's first section Monday. Bain Capital plans to purchase all outstanding Asatsu-DK shares at 3,660 apiece and all equity warrants of the firm in the tender offer, which was to start Tuesday and end Nov. 15. ; The total acquisition costs will reach up to 151.7 billion. The Japanese firm will end its capital and business alliance with London-based multinational advertising giant WPP PLC. By coming under the wing of Bain Capital, Asatsu-DK hopes to better tackle its management challenges. The company also plans to beef up its content business abroad, mainly in Southeast Asia. Asatsu-DK faces the need to promote ads using new technologies, such as virtual reality and big data, at a time when the advertising market in Japan has been saturated. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

fuel: A day after Baghdad cut international air links with the region, Iran's state broadcaster said all transport companies and drivers have been ordered to stop carrying fuel products between Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan until further notice, according to The Japan Times. Diesel is one of Iran's key exports to the oil-rich region, mainly for power plants and vehicles, while the Kurds rely almost exclusively on crude and fuel oil exports to raise revenues. After the autonomous Kurdish region's controversial yes vote for independence, neighboring Iran announced joint border drills with Iraq and the fuel trade ban. ; In a conciliatory gesture towards the Kurds, however, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Sunday vowed to defend them against any attack. Iraqi Kurds overwhelmingly voted for independence in Monday's non-binding referendum, which has sent regional tensions soaring. A joint military exercise between Iran's armed forces and units from the Iraqi army will be held in the coming days along the shared border, Iranian armed forces spokesman Masoud Jazayeri told reporters in Tehran. Tehran, which strongly opposes independence for Iraq's Kurds, fearing it will provoke separatists among its own Kurdish minority, also announced a joint military exercise with Iraq in response to the referendum. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

market researcher: That's one of our goals, Scott Ernst, the chief executive of Macromill, said in an interview with The Japan Times last month, according to The Japan Times. Founded in 2000, Macromill is known for providing quick and reasonable online research through its own automated system, as opposed to the extensive and detailed research services offered by its bigger rivals. But Macromill Inc., Japan's biggest online market researcher by market share, with 10 million consumer monitors around the world, is determined to change that notion. ; We will break the conception that Japanese companies can't become global. Tokyo-based Macromill went public in 2004, using the cash to expand domestically. Macromill, which relisted on the Tokyo Stock Exchange earlier this year, has grown its global presence thanks to steady business and bold mergers and acquistions. But growth took off after it was bought by a U.S. investment fund in 2014 that shifted its focus to the global market and took it private. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

official prognostications: How so Conventional wisdom suggests demography is destiny, according to The Japan Times. On that basis, Japan's economic fortunes appear to be doomed According to the latest official demographic forecasts, every hour Japan's population is dropping by about 50 people. In fact, I predict Japan will emerge as the only advanced economy that achieves the ultimate goal sought by policymakers a new middle class will rise in Japan over the coming three to five years. As the baby boomer drag accelerates in coming decades, the official prognostications suggests that in about 300 years, fewer than 300 Japanese may be left. Economic growth is not determined by population as such, but by the employment opportunities created for the people by entrepreneurs and their companies. So how can we be bullish about Japan ; Simply put, demographics is little more than arithmetic and not economics. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

scruffy town: The store had drawn desperate crowds of storm victims who had heard it took credit or debit cards and offered customers 20 cash back a lifeline in an increasingly cashless society, according to The Japan Times. Store employees allowed customers in, one by one, for rationed shopping trips of 15 minutes each. ; Then, at noon, the store closed after its generator croaked and before Jimenez could get inside to buy his grandmother's medicine. He ended up in Fajardo, a scruffy town of strip malls on Puerto Rico's northeastern tip, where a line of 400 waited outside a Walmart. Every day we say, What's the thing that we need the most today ' and then we wait in a line for that, said Jimenez, a 24-year-old medical student from Ponce, on the island's southern coast. For days now, residents have awoken each morning to decide which lifeline they should pursue gasoline at the few open stations, food and bottled water at the few grocery stores with fuel for generators, or scarce cash at the few operating banks or ATMs. By Saturday, 11 days after Hurricane Maria crippled this impoverished U.S. territory, residents scrambled for all the staples of modern society food, water, fuel, medicine, currency in a grinding survival struggle that has gripped Puerto Ricans across social classes. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

market gauge: On Thursday, the key market gauge rose 96.06 points. ; The Topix, including all first-section issues, finished down 1.42 points, or 0.08 percent, at 1,674.75, after climbing 11.74 points the previous day, according to The Japan Times. Selling outpaced buying as the dollar weakened against the yen on profit-taking, after it rose above 113 Thursday on expectations for U.S. tax reforms including a corporate tax cut, brokers said. The benchmark Nikkei 225 average lost 6.83 points, or 0.03 percent, to close at 20,356.28. Some investors moved to lock in profits by selling stocks that had been upbeat recently. Before Nikkei component reshuffles, investors tend to carry out massive trading to fill the price gaps between outgoing and incoming issues, leading to a volatile market. The market also saw Nikkei average-linked selling ahead of Recruit and Japan Post Holdings replacing Hokuetsu Kishu Paper and Meidensha as component issues of the key price index on Monday. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

percent: The Bundestag now counts six factions, compared with four in the previous electoral term, according to The Japan Times. Merkel's center-right Christian Democratic Union took 33 percent of the vote, its worst result since 1949, though still enough to give the CDU the most seats in parliament. Although Chancellor Angela Merkel will almost certainly gain a fourth term, her new government is likely to be considerably weaker than the three that preceded it. The center-left Social Democrats SPD Germany's second-largest political party, and a part of Merkel's last governing coalition also hit a postwar low, receiving just 20.5 percent of the vote. ; Meanwhile, the populist Alternative for Germany AfD won 12.6 percent, making this anti-euro, pro-Russia and staunchly xenophobic party the first far-right party to enter the Bundestag in almost 60 years. In this context, Germany is likely to be ruled by a so-called Jamaica coalition, named for the colors of the parties the CDU, the Greens and the Free Democrats FDP that would comprise it. And the SPD has thrown in the towel, vowing to spend the coming electoral term in opposition. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

ruling party: That came after they sold more than 7 billion in cash equities this year through mid-September. ; Some of the buying preceded even local media suggestions that an election would be called, according to The Japan Times. But it came as Abe's Cabinet approval rating jumped on his response to North Korea firing missiles over the country. Foreigners bought a net 2.1 trillion 19 billion of Japanese stock futures between Sept. 11 and 22, according to data released by Osaka Exchange Inc. on Thursday and last week. Abe has previously called a snap election when his ratings were high, and Japanese stocks tend to climb in the run-up to such votes. That's why hedge funds bought like crazy. If the ruling party wins, Japanese shares will rise even more, said Norihiro Fujito, a senior strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. in Tokyo. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

investor demand: Tokyo Electric Power Co, according to The Japan Times. Holdings Inc. issued its first 10-year notes since before the Fukushima nuclear crisis. Olympus Corp., the medical equipment maker that came under fire six years ago for a cover-up of losses, this month sold its first bond to the public since 1996, to strong investor demand. Debt of Japan Airlines Co., which emerged from bankruptcy in 2011, now outperforms bonds of domestic rival ANA Holdings Inc. ; It's not just higher yields that are attracting investors, according to Mizuho Securities Co. chief credit strategist Hidetoshi Ohashi. But some investors such as Jun Fukashiro at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management say that generally speaking bond buyers may be underestimating risks in their hunt for yield. Olympus, for example, owns competitive technologies, while JAL has cut unprofitable businesses, and Tepco has government support, he said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

japanese firm: There have been no public proposals like this so far, but Kalanick has privately expressed interest in helping the company in some capacity, said the people, who asked not to be identified because private negotiations are ongoing, according to The Japan Times. Kalanick still retains some power over Uber through his control of three board seats, though two of those remain unfilled. The decision removes a major obstacle from the Japanese firm's planned multi-billion-dollar investment in the ride-sharing company. ; Venture capital firm Benchmark, which led Kalanick's ouster in June, has sought a guarantee in writing from Soft Bank that it would reject reappointing Kalanick as chief executive officer and block his appointment as chairman of the board or head of one of its subcommittees, said the people. The Soft Bank-led investment in Uber could be the largest private stock sale in history or it may collapse amid continued infighting. Soft Bank and investment firms General Atlantic and Dragoneer Investment Group are still in active talks with Uber. One prospective investor in the deal, Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing, has walked away, according to people familiar with the matter. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

three-pronged assault: The government's success at monetary easing, fiscal loosening and deregulation would, by now, be removing bureaucratic headwinds, encouraging a startup wave and prodding executives to fatten paychecks. ; In September 2013, Abe captivated the investment world's imagination with his talk of big bangs and shock therapy at the New York Stock Exchange, according to The Japan Times. Buy my Abenomics! he urged traders, and they sure did. If the prime minister's three-pronged assault on deflation were working, Japan wouldn't need the 2 trillion package his Liberal Democratic Party is cobbling together. That year alone, the Nikkei 225 average surged 57 percent. His pledge to single-mindedly take action to reform Japan's economic structure from the foundation up stuck New Yorkers as odd. When Abe returned to the world's most famous trading floor recently, his message fell flat. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

wall street: On Wednesday, the key market gauge lost 63.14 points. ; The Topix finished up 11.74 points, or 0.71 percent, at 1,676.17, after losing 8.31 points the previous day, according to The Japan Times. Stocks got off to a firm start as investors took heart from the dollar's overnight firming to top 113 and an upturn on Wall Street on Wednesday, brokers said. The Nikkei 225 rose 96.06 points, or 0.47 percent, to close at 20,363.11. But the Tokyo market's topside became heavy after the spurt at the outset amid growing uncertainty over the outcome of the upcoming House of Representative election, they said. Market participants were unable to step up purchases amid ambiguity over the political situation since popular Tokyo Gov. The Lower House election was set for Oct. 22 after an important Diet session was dissolved shortly past noon on the same day it was convened. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

gregory robic: But you could say he was destined for the life from the start, according to The Japan Times. I decided to stay for the rest of my life in Japan only three days after my arrival in 1999 Sunshine recalls, describing his fascination with the country, its people and culture. One might never guess that the 47-year-old Canadian from Toronto is poised to introduce Americans to Japanese culture by performing the craft at an off-Broadway theater in New York City in mid-November, as the first non-Japanese rakugo storyteller in post-war Japan. ; Sunshine himself, whose real name is Gregory Robic, never imagined he would live the life he leads now, devoted to mastering a 400-year-old art form in the East while taking on the challenge to convey it to the West, and raising the necessary funds for the production through mainly Japanese investors. Rakugo, in its essence, incorporates everything he learned through the study of ancient Greek comedies something he discovered during his rakugo apprenticeship, he explained at a presentation for around 50 potential investors and sponsors in Tokyo in early September. Sunshine first encountered rakugo in a small tatami room on the second floor of a yakitori restaurant in his neighborhood near Yokohama Station, where he used to dine out eight times a week. He initially planned a six-month visit to appreciate Japan's traditional theater arts noh and kabuki after reading text from a scholar about a commonality that exists in traditional Japanese art forms with the old European dramas of more than 2,000 years ago. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

korean hackers: Police said the North Korean hackers, pretending to be security authorities, sent emails containing malware between July and August this year, according to Yonhap, according to The Japan Times. The emails were sent from the same IP address linked to previous North Korean hacking attempts against Seoul, police were quoted as saying. They reached the conclusion after investigating cyberattacks on dozens of email accounts of employees at four local bitcoin exchanges, Yonhap news agency said. ; North Korea is heavily sanctioned by the United Nations for its nuclear and missile programs and speculation has been mounting that the cash-strapped regime is turning to digital currency to obtain funds. The test emails sent before the actual attack were traced back to the North, the report said. Police could not be reached for comment. No computers were compromised and no digital currency was stolen in any of the cases, the report said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

market gauge: On Tuesday, the key market gauge lost 67.39 points. ; The Topix index of all first-section issues finished down 8.31 points, or 0.50 percent, at 1,664.43, after losing 0.08 point the previous day, according to The Japan Times. Stocks of companies that close their first-half accounts at the end of this month went ex-dividend on Wednesday. The 225-issue Nikkei fell 63.14 points, or 0.31 percent, to close at 20,267.05. They came under selling from the outset of the day's trading, market sources said. Most of the sectors on the TSE first section were weaker. The ex-dividend impact on the Nikkei average was estimated at about 130 points, the sources said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

performance infrastructure: Switzerland topped the list overall for the ninth straight year, according to The Japan Times. The United States rose by one spot to No. 2, overtaking No. 3 Singapore. The nation saw its ranking drop for the second consecutive year. ; Although Japan's infrastructure, including railways, was highly rated, the country retreated overall as Hong Kong jumped to No. 6 from No. 9. Japan also showed strong performance infrastructure, rising one spot to No. 4 in the category. Hong Kong topped the list in infrastructure, including its airport, and was also highly rated for its tax system being advantageous for businesses. The country also improved in technological readiness, climbing to No. 15 from No. 19, as well as in its macroeconomic environment, which jumped to No. 93 from No. 104. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

string bio: Calysta Inc. in California and String Bio in the Indian city of Bangalore are among biotechnology firms that have separately discovered ways to turn methane into protein. ; Bacteria found in soil are fed a liquid containing the emitted gas, sparking a fermentation process similar to making beer, according to The Japan Times. Instead of alcohol, protein is released into the water, which is then dried into a brown powder. That's what some scientists are hoping for. The product is already being used in animal feed, the first step toward readying it for human consumption. String Bio, a startup which won 200,000 in Indian government grants, and Calysta, backed by investors including Japan's Mitsui & Co. and Cargill Inc., hope methane-made protein will become a sustainable food of the future. The companies are betting their products will help alleviate the strain of a growing global population on agricultural land and oceans while natural gas prices trade near the lowest level in almost two decades. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

infrastructure spending: However, the real causes can be traced to reduced domestic investments and increasing transfer of capital offshore by both state-run and private-sector big companies, as well as to a decline in spending by the government, according to The Japan Times. The situation threatens to derail the intent of President Xi Jinping's regime to keep the economy afloat through infrastructure spending by the government and capital investment by the corporate sector, thereby ensuring his bid to gain absolute power at the party convention. An official explanation goes that adjustments are being made to eliminate bubbles in the real estate sector and to reduce corporate debt. The risk of China's economy plummeting toward the end of the year should not be discounted. ; The way Xi's leadership has managed the economy may be likened to a car-driving technique known as heel-and-toe shifting, which involves operating the throttle and brake pedals simultaneously with the right foot while facilitating normal activation of the clutch with the left foot. Beijing has coined the phrase new normal to propagate the arrival of an age of medium growth of the Chinese economy. Xi and his men have stepped on the brake pedal in their attempt to reduce excess production capacity as part of supply-side reform, but when the economy threatens to slow down sharply, they hit the accelerator by boosting infrastructure building and real estate investments. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

japanese banks: Our strategy isn't to become a book runner or lead arranger on every Canadian deal we'll pick our spots but we want to be meaningful to customers, according to The Japan Times. MUFG's Canadian strategy mirrors that in the U.S., where the firm has been remaking its investment-banking unit to look more like bigger Wall Street rivals. It's a significant shift for a Japanese bank that's kept a low profile in the country for decades. ; It's a natural extension of our business as a relationship bank, Craig Gardner, head of Canadian corporate banking, said in an interview at the firm's Toronto office. The lender is among Japanese banks including Mizuho Financial Group Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. looking overseas for revenue and growth opportunities as negative interest rates have crimped domestic markets. MUFG has since landed some high-profile deals, including co-leading acquisition financing for Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., and acting as joint book runner on Fortis Inc.'s 2 billion bond sale. The Tokyo-based financial firm, which has been in Canada for 63 years, accelerated its push into capital markets after receiving a domestic securities license last year. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

japanese government: On Friday, the key market gauge retreated 51.03 points. ; The Topix, including all first-section issues, was up 8.21 points, or 0.49 percent, at 1,672.82, finishing at the highest level since Aug. 17, 2015, according to The Japan Times. It lost 4.13 points on Friday. The benchmark Nikkei 225 average climbed 101.13 points, or 0.50 percent, to end at 20,397.58, its highest closing since Aug. 18, 2015. Stocks rose sharply in early trading reflecting the yen's fall versus the dollar and expectations for the compilation of an economic stimulus package by the Japanese government, market sources said, adding that concerns over North Korea are slightly receding for now. But the market's momentum waned somewhat in the afternoon amid profit-taking and a lack of fresh buying incentives, brokers said. Both the Nikkei and the Topix stayed in positive territory throughout Monday's session. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.