I have explained that watch the core regions in real estate and you will forecast the rest. Real estate booms and busts always begin in the core regions. As that property rises sharply, people begin to buy what is cheaper the next two over. This is the process of the economic wave in real estate […]

Secondary economic data in Japan coupled with slight dovish comments BOJ comments and the Nikkei started to drift lower. At worse the index was down around 1% but a lack of follow through volume saw a reasonable bounce into the close. Eventually, the Nikkei closed down 0.3% which, around mid afternoon looked very unlikely. The […]

After Fridays Payrolls release we saw Asian futures reflect a solid performance which was carried into the cash indices this morning. The Nikkei lost a little of the futures euphoria but still closed up 0.7% and the highest close in over 3 months, the JPY gained 0.55% rejecting the 104 handle and closing closer to 103 instead. […]

Thailand is looking to issue SIM cards to all tourists to protect national security. They say they will be able to respond to tourists in trouble, but they are really looking to track everyone because of the rising threat of Islamic extremism. Domestically, you are already being tracked. Google wants to “verify” who you are by using your […]

QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong, What comes first? The banking Crisis or the Sovereign Debt Crisis? Thank you for bringing our attention to these events OD ANSWER: The central banks are trapped. They can no longer even hope to sell the bonds they have bought in a vain attempt to stimulate the economy. So government can, in theory, keep their rates […]

QUESTION: Sir, You mentioned in your blog post that money market funds now have to be in government bonds as per SEC ruling. You have said we are going through a sovereign debt crisis which means government bonds are at risk. If I’m trading and my money is now parked as “cash” before I make another […]

The Nikkei was not the main topic of conversation today in Asia as the Shanghai and Hang Seng both outperformed the Tokyo exchange. The HSI closing up 0.85% and was the best performer, until after Asian cash markets closed. Throughout the European and US time zone the JPY has weakened through the 103 handle and […]

We knew what to expect from the Nikkei cash this morning after we heard remarks late Friday and Saturday from all at Jackson Hole. On Saturday it was BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda who said he would approve further monetary stimulus without hesitation! Having seen the Nikkei futures up 1% and the JPY weaken by 1% this […]

I have warned that when I am traveling these days, the question always posed is – “How much cash do you have?” Even traveling to Warsaw, there are big signs saying you may not have more than €10,000 in “value” on your person. In Italy, if it looks like you have a lot of jewelry, they […]

Neither the Nikkei nor Hang Seng could decide on a direction today as both flip-flopped between positive and negative territory. Only Shanghai was to remain lower for the whole day closing well above the days lows but still 0.5% weaker. Yesterday we heard that the PBOC added (through 14 day reverse repo’s) cash into the […]