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

credit bubble: Today, the eurozone is in the same situation as those hikers, according to The Japan Times. It has become increasingly clear that establishing the euro was the wrong path to take. They want to get to a castle on a hill in the distance, but the path they are on seems to be leading in a different direction, and their leader's only advice is to hurry up. The single currency caused an inflationary credit bubble in Southern Europe. These measures have sustained the wrong relative prices that resulted from the bubble, and papered over the underlying problem. ; Meanwhile, the Schengen Agreement, which eliminated most border checks between European Union member states, has facilitated the ability of immigrants from the poorer parts of Asia and Africa to flock to Northern European welfare states in recent years. When the bubble burst, the region's competitiveness was destroyed, and Northern Europe was called on to provide huge loan guarantees, public credit and transfers. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

customer assets: If necessary, the agency will carry out on-site inspections. ; Virtual currencies have led to the creation of innovative services thanks to their low settlement and remittance costs, while they have been used in crimes such as fraud and money laundering, according to The Japan Times. We pursue both market fostering and regulation enforcement, an FSA executive said. The FSA will monitor whether the exchanges for bitcoin and other digital currencies have appropriate internal systems, including ones to protect customer assets. We aim for sound market development. Pundits say there are more than 20 such exchanges in Japan. Virtual currencies can be bought and sold on exchanges run by private companies. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

material technology: There would definitely be a chance to negotiate. ; Hasuike, one of five Japanese nationals Pyongyang allowed to return to Japan in October 2002 after negotiations led by then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, spent more than two decades living in North Korea, according to The Japan Times. Then a 20-year-old student, he along with his girlfriend, whom he later married in North Korea, were kidnapped from a beach in Niigata Prefecture on July 31, 1978, by agents working for the North. Under a monitoring system, Japan should provide material and technology, not cash financial assistance that won't further North Korea's missile development, in exchange for the abductees' return, Hasuike, 59, said in a speech in Kusatsu, Shiga Prefecture. The Japanese government still has 17 people on its official list of abductees. The abductees' families, however, have reached their limits mentally and in terms of age, Hasuike warned, urging the government to resolve the issue soon. On Japan's current tensions with the North, Hasuike said the time for dialogue will surely come in the not-so-distant future because the isolated nation will be in a deadlock after its Pacific hydrogen bomb threat. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

tube star: Last month, Hikaru, a Japanese You Tube star so famous he can go by a single stage name, listed himself on Valu, a platform for people to raise money, often for personal projects or businesses, by essentially selling shares in themselves. ; Unlike many crowdsourcing sites, which are platforms for people or businesses to raise money online from large groups of individuals, the exchange also allows the trading of those who list their Valus on the exchange, according to The Japan Times. That means that prices can rise and fall. That may not be so great for investors though. And rise and fall Hikaru did. But then, just a week after going public, Hikaru and two friends, who go by the stage names Ikkun and Raphael, cashed out, according to officials from the exchange. Soon after listing, Hikaru, whose You Tube channel boasts 2.6 million subscribers, soared on the market as his fans dived in. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

lehman brothers: Experts shared their insights in a session titled Can Japan be a Role Model for Global Economic Prosperity and Stability Hiromichi Mizuno, chief investment officer at Government Pension Investment Fund, said the country can show leadership in the field of investment via education on responsible investment, according to The Japan Times. The concept gained traction after the global financial crisis, triggered in 2008 by the fall of Lehman Brothers which exemplified the long-term failure of a capitalism driven by the single-minded pursuit of short-term corporate profits. But at the same time, Japan lags behind other countries in incorporating technological innovations, such as artificial intelligence, into everyday life and financial technology to improve efficiency, they said. ; We want to talk about Japan as a role model not Japan following, not Japan copying but Japan actually and constructively led by the young generation, said Jesper Koll, who heads Wisdom Tree Japan KK, a Tokyo-based exchange-traded fund sponsor, in the opening session of the annual G1 Global Conference organized at Globis University on Sunday. In July, GPIF, the world's largest pension investment fund, started a 1 trillion program called ESG investment, which targets businesses that value three elements environment, social and governance. It's all about sustainability, long-term, inclusiveness and multistakeholder model, Mizuno said. With the pension fund behemoth focusing on these concepts, the GPIF sends a message to other investors that they should seek out socially responsible assets, experts say. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

market committee: On Thursday, the key market gauge rose 37.02 points. ; The Topix, including all first-section issues, ended down 4.13 points, or 0.25 percent, at 1,664.61, after gaining 0.82 point the previous day, according to The Japan Times. The Tokyo market got off to a firmer start, backed by hopes for further gains in stock prices, brokers said. The Nikkei 225 average fell 51.03 points, or 0.25 percent, to close at 20,296.45. Stocks gradually gave up gains, however, due to the dollar's fallback below 112 yen and selling to lock in profits from the recent advance, leading the key market gauges to slip into negative territory, brokers said. Tokyo stocks took a breather, with investors finding no major buying incentives after the FOMC Federal Open Market Committee meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Ota also said. The market was battered by profit-taking by individual investors ahead of the weekend, Chihiro Ota, general manager for investment research and investor services at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

services agency: In his eyes, that's getting in the way of one of the key missions of Abenomics to encourage Japanese people to move more of their 8.4 trillion in cash and bank deposits into the stock market. ; In an attempt to address this, Mori is starting a new tax-free investment program for individuals who want to put a small amount of cash into equities and bonds each month for their retirement, according to The Japan Times. Only cheap funds suited to long-term investment are eligible, which ruled out 99 percent of those available as of March. Nobuchika Mori, the head of the Financial Services Agency, has publicly criticized the country's money managers for what he sees as failing to offer products that suit their customers. For one of the few money managers whose funds meet the strict criteria, the program will be a game-changer. This one is at the megaton level. It'll be a powerful bomb, said Haruhiro Nakano, president of Saison Asset Management Co., a provider of low-cost mutual funds in Tokyo and advocate of long-term investing. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

unit: The chip unit deal is subject to regulatory screenings in major markets, and a lengthy process may prevent the Japanese conglomerate from raising necessary funds in time, according to The Japan Times. Also looming ahead are challenges from a legal battle with Toshiba's longtime U.S. partner, whose bid for the unit has been rejected. ; Further concern about Toshiba's future is its perceived lack of leadership an impression made by the months-long bidding process for the chip unit, characterized by indecision and confusion, which came following a series of scandals, analysts said. But the embattled tech giant faces big hurdles ahead as it tries to fix its finances and remain a listed company. On Wednesday, Toshiba said it will sell Toshiba Memory Corp. to a Japan-U.S.-South Korean consortium for 2 trillion 17.8 billion after failing three times to meet a target date to announce a deal. But he also warned of lingering uncertainty, saying that Toshiba's chances of ending its financial crisis is still not 100 percent. Toshiba has taken a major step forward, said Hideki Yasuda, a senior analyst at the Ace Research Institute. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

bond yields: The Fed announced on Wednesday that it will let a small portion of its 4.5 trillion balance sheet mature without being replaced, starting in October with reductions of 10 billion a month and gradually rising over the next year to 50 billion a month. ; The central bank left its key short-term rate unchanged but hinted at one more hike this year most likely in December, according to The Japan Times. The Fed policymakers' updated economic forecasts show that three more rate increases are expected in 2018. The move reflects a strengthened economy and could mean higher rates on mortgages and other loans over time. The Fed's policymaking committee approved its action on a 9-0 vote after ending its latest meeting. Bond yields rose, reflecting expectations of higher rates. Stocks turned lower after the announcement before finishing mixed. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

policy board: Haruhiko Kuroda and his Policy Board left its target interest rates and asset-purchasing program unchanged, a decision expected by all 45 economists surveyed by Bloomberg, according to The Japan Times. The vote was 8-1, with Goushi Kataoka objecting. ; Kataoka argued that there was little chance of reaching the BOJ's inflation target by the projected time frame of around fiscal 2019, according to the central bank's policy statement. Still, BOJ Gov. He said the effects of the current yield curve program weren't strong enough, though inflation was likely to continue rising for the time being due to oil prices and foreign-exchange rates. In November 2016, he argued that the BOJ should have expanded its easing, just two months after the implementation of the yield curve control program. The BOJ statement didn't mention any policy suggestions from Kataoka, an economist who advocates expansionary fiscal and monetary policies. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

topix index: On Wednesday, the key market gauge rose 11.08 points. ; The Topix index of all first-section issues ended up 0.82 point, or 0.05 percent, at 1,668.74, also the highest close since Aug. 18, 2015, according to The Japan Times. It gained 0.04 point the previous day. The 225-issue Nikkei average advanced 37.02 points, or 0.18 percent, to close at 20,347.48, its best finish since Aug. 18, 2015. Both indexes extended their winning streaks to a fourth session. The dollar's firmness came after the Fed decided at its two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting through Wednesday to shrink its asset purchases starting next month and maintain its forecast for another interest rate hike by the end of the year, brokers said. Stocks attracted hefty purchases in the morning session, with investor sentiment lifted by the dollar's first rise above 112 in almost two months. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

investment trusts: By asset type, equities rose 22.5 percent to 191 trillion and investment trusts increased 15.6 percent to 100 trillion. ; Cash and deposits, which accounted for 51.6 percent of household assets, rose 2.6 percent to a record 945 trillion, according to The Japan Times. The data also showed that the BOJ's holdings of Japanese government bonds rose above 40 percent of the total for the first time, climbing 9.9 percent from a year earlier to 437 trillion. The growth was boosted by the increasing value of stocks and other assets amid a moderate global economic expansion. The central bank buys vast amounts of the debt as part of its aggressive monetary easing measures aimed at lifting the economy and spurring inflation toward 2 percent. Yields move inversely to debt prices. Meanwhile, the outstanding balance of government bonds fell 2.1 percent to 1.085 quadrillion, down for the first time in roughly eight years as debt yields rose from their lows a year earlier. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

market gauge: On Tuesday, the key market gauge jumped 389.88 points. ; The Topix, including all first-section issues, ended up 0.04 point at 1,667.92, also the best finish since Aug. 18, 2015, according to The Japan Times. It gained 28.94 points the previous day. The benchmark Nikkei 225 average rose 11.08 points, or 0.05 percent, to close at 20,310.46, its highest finish since Aug. 18, 2015. Buying outpaced selling after 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 their closing highs on Tuesday. The Tokyo market was caught in a tug-of-war between profit-taking and buying by foreign investors, an official of a bank-linked securities firm said. But active purchases were held in check in the Tokyo market, with investors taking a wait-and-see stance prior to the U.S. Federal Reserve's announcement of a monetary policy decision at its two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting through Wednesday, brokers said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

report: Rising corporate profits should help strengthen business investment through 2018, the OECD added, according to The Japan Times. In the report, the U.S. economic growth forecast was kept unchanged at 2.1 percent for 2017 and 2.4 percent for 2018. The OECD's latest Interim Economic Outlook report also said Japan's real gross domestic product is seen rising 1.6 percent in 2017, up 0.2 point from the June report. ; In Japan, growth increased in the first half of the year, supported by an upturn in public investment and stronger export growth to Asian markets, the latest report said. Consumer spending and business investment are strong, while wage growth has yet to take off, it said. The world economy is seen growing 3.7 percent in 2018, up 0.1 point from the previous projection, after a 3.5 percent increase in the previous year, unchanged, the OECD said. The OECD puts Britain's projected economic growth for 2018 at 1.0 percent, down 0.6 point from the previous year, due to uncertainties over its planned exit from the European Union. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

stimulus measures: On Friday, the key market gauge climbed 102.06 points, according to The Japan Times. The market was closed Monday for a national holiday. The Tokyo Stock Exchange was also boosted by hopes for economic stimulus measures following news that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering a snap general election next month, brokers said. ; The Nikkei average advanced 389.88 points, or 1.96 percent, to end at 20,299.38, topping the 20,000 threshold for the first time since Aug. 7 on a closing basis and hitting its highest finish since Aug. 18, 2015. The Topix, which covers all first-section issues, finished 28.94 points, or 1.77 percent, higher at 1,667.88, also the highest finish since Aug. 18, 2015. Stocks attracted hefty purchases from the outset Tuesday, thanks to the yen's drop and the Dow Jones industrial average's fifth straight rise Monday, brokers said. It rose 6.81 points Friday. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

u.s: The euro was at 1.1993-1993, up from 1.1920-1921, and at 133.97-98, up from 131.97-97. ; The Tokyo market was closed Monday for Respect for the Ages Day, according to The Japan Times. The dollar was solid around 111.50 in early trading, carrying over its strength from overnight trading overseas, where the greenback drew demand thanks to rises in U.S. long-term interest rates and stock prices. After hitting its highest level since July 26, the dollar stood at 111.70-70 at 5 p.m., up from 110.70-71 at the same time Friday. The dollar also attracted buying as hopes for an interest rate increase by the U.S. Federal Reserve later this year grew following a strong reading in the U.S. consumer price index for August, released late last week, market sources said. As the dollar has risen about 2 after dropping to around 109.50 on Friday following a missile launch by North Korea over Japan, the dollar faced heavy selling to lock in profits, an official of a currency brokerage firm said. The dollar fell to around 111.40 in midmorning trading due to profit-taking and a decline in U.S. long-term interest rates. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

vision fund: The Vision Fund is joined by Accel and other investors, Slack said Sunday, according to The Japan Times. Bloomberg reported on the latest funding in July. ; More than half of the new funding came from Soft Bank, Slack Chief Executive Officer Stewart Butterfield said in an interview in London on Monday. The financing round values the startup at 5.1 billion, up from 3.8 billion the last time. Butterfield was approached by Deep Nishar, managing director of investments at Soft Bank, about four or five months ago, he said. But Butterfield said the additional capital will also help give large clients, as well as existing and future employees, confidence that Slack is here to stay. San Francisco-based Slack said the money is for operational flexibility, not for a particular use, and added that it still has much of the 591 million it already raised. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

cash offer: The combined company would be firmly positioned as one of the four largest U.S. defense contractors, with about half of roughly 29 billion in sales last year having come from Pentagon prime contracts. ; The cash offer represents a 22 percent premium over Orbital's closing price last week, and it ranks as the largest defense deal since Lockheed bought the Sikorsky helicopter division of United Technologies Corp. in 2015, according to The Japan Times. U.S. defense companies have soared this year on prospects for greater weapons spending under President Donald Trump and from governments overseas, amid rising perceived threats. The transaction cements a turnaround for Northrop, which had been the target of breakup speculation before it scored an upset win in 2015 to build the next U.S. stealth bomber. As we watch what's happening around our globe, the rather rapid advance of some of our potential adversaries is quite concerning, Northrop Chief Executive Officer Wesley Bush said Monday on a conference call with analysts to discuss the transaction. It's something that our customers are struggling with. This issue of technological superiority for the U.S. and our allies is a real issue. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

june vote: Timothy resigned as May's co-chief of staff after the results, according to The Japan Times. Going into the election, May was more popular than any of her colleagues individually and the Conservative's brand overall, the research showed. ; Timothy's comments, in an interview for a forthcoming book on the June vote, emerged after Johnson, the former mayor of London, launched what some observers regarded as a direct attempt to undermine the prime minister. Nick Timothy said the Tories focused their election campaign on Theresa May because their private research showed nobody in the Cabinet is popular keep them away, even Boris. Johnson went out on a limb on Saturday with a 4,000-word essay about his glorious vision for post-Brexit Britain, in the Tory-supporting Daily Telegraph newspaper. In his Telegraph article, Johnson argued the U.K. shouldn't pay to access the single market for goods and services countering a plan floated by Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond and Brexit Secretary David Davis. On Sunday, Johnson's colleague, Home Secretary Amber Rudd, accused him of back seat driving with his rival plan for leaving the European Union, while Johnson became embroiled in a row with the U.K. statistics watchdog over his claim in the story that Britain pays 350 million 475 million a week to the EU. May will refresh her own Brexit vision with a major speech on Friday in Florence, Italy, amid speculation she'll offer to continue paying into the EU budget in exchange for access to the single market during a transition phase. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

sea levels: Louis or Pittsburgh, according to The Japan Times. Every job-seeker, retiree or new birth, along with billions spent by tourists, helped fuel Florida's propulsive growth and economic gains. ; Yet Hurricane Irma's destructive floodwaters renewed fears about how to manage the state's population boom as the risks of climate change intensify. Until Irma struck this month, the state was adding nearly 1,000 residents a day 333,471 in the past year, akin to absorbing a city the size of St. Rising sea levels and spreading flood plains have magnified the vulnerabilities for the legions of people who continue to move to Florida and the state economy they have sustained. A lot is going to change in the next 30 years this is just the beginning, Keenan said. Florida faces an urgent need to adapt to the environmental changes, said Jesse Keenan, a lecturer at Harvard University who researches the effects of rising sea levels on cities. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

tetsuo odajima: Saturday after losing consciousness, according to The Japan Times. He had suffered esophageal cancer and been treated at the detention facility, the ministry said. ; Odajima and an accomplice strangled the wife and daughter of Takaichi Mabuchi, who at the time was president of Mabuchi Motors, after breaking into their home in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, in August 2002. Tetsuo Odajima, 74, was pronounced dead at 10 30 p.m. After stealing hundreds of thousands of yen in cash and jewelry items, Odajima set fire to the house. According to the ministry, Odajima was diagnosed with esophageal cancer around January this year. Odajima and Katsumi Morita also killed a 71-year-old dentist in Meguro Ward, Tokyo, in September 2002, and the wife of a discount ticket shop operator in Abiko, Chiba Prefecture, in November of that year in murder-robbery cases. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

wasn t: Its purpose, she'd assert then as now, was to colonize young black minds, undermine the development of healthy self-esteem, impair cultural awareness and hinder black ability to perceive ourselves in a global historical context, according to The Japan Times. The result gentrified souls, groomed to embrace white supremacy as a given, as the natural order, often without even being aware of it. ; The school I attended made heroic efforts to counteract this. To summarize, she believed the exclusively Euro-centric indoctrination that black minds are subjected to in American public schools was tantamount to brainwashing. I never even saw a white teacher until I was forced to finally attend public school in my mid-teens. It wasn't until university, when a white professor introduced me to the writings of Chester Himes and Zora Neale Hurston the two black writers who've had the greatest influence on my decision to become a writer that I began to question my resolve to judge an educator's ability to grasp blackness partly on the basis of skin color. By then, though, having been exposed for eight years to under-taught truths about the ruination of African civilizations, and the sanitization of the history about the birth of our nation truths that didn't make it anywhere near the NYC public school curriculum I took every smidgen of propaganda coming out of these teacher's mouths, or leaping off the pages of their sanctioned textbooks, with profound skepticism. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

i ve: But he also has not delivered on most of his promises and pledges, and, as I've detailed in previous columns, has been a disaster on transparency, governance, womenomics, hatemongering, immigration, press freedom, nuclear energy and historical issues, according to The Japan Times. For most sentient beings in Japan, Abenomics is a bust. Overall, I give him a D because he has not been a total failure and he shows up for work. There are many good reasons why 83 percent of the public doesn't trust Abe, and even his crack team of spin doctors is finding it harder and harder to bamboozle the Japanese about the empty suit parading as a leader. ; Abe's stealthy revision of the Constitution by reinterpretation adds perspective to Finance Minister Taro Aso's praise for how the Nazis furtively revised theirs in the 1930s. Standing by Defense Minister Tomomi Inada way after it was obvious she had to go and protecting her from Diet scrutiny for her role in a cover-up is also inexcusable. Retaining Aso after two pro-Nazi gaffes most recently giving a shout-out to Adolf Hitler for his good intentions is despicable. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

telegraph newspaper: His intervention, exactly one week before the prime minister makes a major speech on Brexit in Florence next Friday, raised more than a few eyebrows among politicians and commentators, according to The Japan Times. May's authority was weakened after she called a snap election in June, only to lose her Conservative party's majority in the House of Commons. In a 4,000-word article for the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Johnson argued for a clean break with the European Union, particularly on the fraught issue of budget payments. ; Johnson, who has long been tipped as a future prime minister, played a key role in the referendum vote to leave the bloc last year but since then has largely stayed out of domestic politics. Is this time to place our future in Boris's hands and prepare for new leadership Telegraph commentator Charles Moore wrote in an accompanying article. He wrote that the referendum was decisive and said Britain must leave the EU's customs union and single market, the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice and impose controls on borders. As negotiations with the EU stall, Johnson sought to emphasis the benefits of Brexit against those who think we are going to bottle it. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

chihiro ota: On Thursday, the key market gauge fell 58.38 points. ; The Topix index of all first-section issues ended up 6.81 points, or 0.42 percent, at 1,638.94, after shedding 5.20 points the previous day, according to The Japan Times. Stocks opened lower due to selling triggered by the missile launch, carried out hours before the opening bell, brokers said. The 225-issue Nikkei average rose 102.06 points, or 0.52 percent, to close at 19,909.50, its highest finish since Aug. 8. The missile traveled over Hokkaido and fell into the Pacific Ocean. Market players have become used to a North Korean missile launch, said Chihiro Ota, general manager for investment research and investor services at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. After the initial selling ran its course, however, stocks popped up into positive territory and expanded gains, with investors taking heart from the dollar's strength against the yen after the latest provocation of North Korea, brokers said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

lending margins: Some of the lenders don't appear to, the regulators say, according to The Japan Times. The FSA has told them to strengthen their risk management, for example by adding staff if needed, said the officials who asked not to be identified due to the agency's policy. ; Regional banks have struggled in recent years as a shrinking population and narrowed lending margins hurt their loan business, while investment in government bonds loses its appeal with yields below zero. The Financial Services Agency FSA has been talking to bankers to gauge whether the firms have the knowledge and structure to handle those products, which cover everything from stocks to real estate, according to its officials. To boost returns, so-called first-tier regional lenders poured a record 1.94 trillion 18 billion into a category of securities that includes investment trusts and other funds in the year ended in March, according to Regional Banks Association of Japan data, bringing the total outstanding amount to 7.02 trillion. It would be a problem from a credit perspective if banks lacking sufficient capital or solid profitability keep adding those investment trusts, he said. To put it simply, they are taking on more risk, said Ryoji Yoshizawa, an analyst at S&P Global Ratings in Tokyo. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.