Japan Back From the Brink

A couple of weeks ago, we did a post on how poorly Japan's Nikkei 225 had been performing in recent months.  On November 27th, the Nikkei 225 was up just 2.5% for the year, and it looked like the index was destined to end 2009 in the red.  Since its close on November 27th, however, the Nikkei has seemingly salvaged its year, surging 11.66% and breaking a multi-month downtrend.

Comments

[Michael]

I said it before, and I am going to say it again: What we need in this country, even more than Japan, is vigorous economic growth. If other countries can grow at 10% a year, so can we! It is all a matter of putting in place the right policies and tax incentives.

This is the only way out of this mess that we are in. Strong growth reduces unemployment. This is a prerequisite for homeowners to have a paycheck to pay the mortgage, so that real estate stabilizes and the banking crisis abates.

It will also increase company profits and help the stock market move higher to help people's retirement plans catch up. Why don't we do it? Wish I knew. All the focus has been on irrelevant issues and not on this important one. Hopefully it will be addressed soon.

By the way, with all the volatility in the stock market, it is important to know when to get in and when to get out. Timing signals can help an investor enhance their investment returns.

Consider http://invetrics.com

Its daily DJIA index trading signal is up a respectable 77% for the year (as of December 2, 2009) and it is free of charge for individual investors.

[Financial Asset Management by]

Having in mind that the Japanese government just unveiled its $81 Billion stimulus on December 8, the appreciation of the Nikkei index is an expectable result. It seems to me that the Nikkei stocks may be over-bought on increased investor confidence.