Japan's Topix Index Has Biggest Slide Since Sept. 11 Attacks

[tritsofme]

May 10 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks plunged, dragging the Topix index to its biggest slide since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Kyocera Corp. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. led declines after a U.S. labor report fueled concerns the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates as soon as next month.

``Investors are focusing on the outlook for interest rates,'' said Yoichi Kuwata, who helps manage the equivalent of $1 billion in Japanese equities as chief fund manager for Nikko Global Asset Management Ltd. in New York. ``The declines in share prices reflect concern that earnings growth may be hampered with higher borrowing costs.''

NTT DoCoMo Inc., the world's second-largest mobile-phone company, slumped after saying sales and operating profit might fall this year as price competition in the wireless Internet market escalates. Brokerages including Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Nomura Securities Co. cut their recommendations on the stock.

The Topix slid 65.35, or 5.7 percent, to 1085.54 at the 3 p.m. close in Tokyo. The slide was the biggest since Sept. 12, 2001. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slumped 554.12, or 4.8 percent, to 10,884.70, its biggest drop since Oct. 23. The average fell for a sixth day, its longest losing streak since March 11, 2003.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10001063&sid=aHjRkDjaE2Ws&refer=movers_by_index

I have a bad feeling that its going to be a bloody day on Wall Steet.

[PaDUer]

1. Something up..n/t

[BeHereNow]

2. Monkey King headed for the Penta-gram-gon tomorrow...

More prison photos making their way to the public eye,
market crashing, etc.
Hmmm...
BHN

[tritsofme]

5. Rising US interest rates are bad for profits,

Bad for corporations.

Nikkei is now down 554 points!

[Art_from_Ark]

12. I have a feeling this may be related to recent political scandals

both Koizumi's No. 2 man and the leader of the main opposition party have tendered their resignations over a small scandal about the national pension plan.

[frank frankly]

3. maybe they were scared of Tommy Friedman?

he is a huge jerk and he was just in Japan...

:shrug:

[truthisfreedom]

4. if they do raise the rates, won't it be the first time they've done it in

an election year?

[tritsofme]

6. When they raise interest rates,

it will be the first time in awhile during an election year.

I can't imagine that interest rates were not raised during 1980 when we were choking inflation out our system.

Unless the CPI report on Friday comes in surprisingly low, I'd say its almost certain the fed raises the FFR in June.

[On the Road]

15. In 1980 They Did it Differently

The Fed experimented with targeting money supply growth and letting interest rates swing. The result was interest rates of over 20% for a brief period.

[tritsofme]

16. That's right, they played with the discount rate in 1980 IIRC... nt

[Media_Lies_Daily]

7. Nope...they did it during 1999 & 2000....take a look....

<http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h15/data/m/fedfund.txt>

05/1999 4.74
06/1999 4.76
07/1999 4.99
08/1999 5.07
09/1999 5.22
10/1999 5.20
11/1999 5.42
12/1999 5.30
01/2000 5.45
02/2000 5.73
03/2000 5.85
04/2000 6.02
05/2000 6.27
06/2000 6.53
07/2000 6.54
08/2000 6.50
09/2000 6.52
10/2000 6.51
11/2000 6.51

[PaDUer]

8. Faux News just said..

Japan received an email threat for an attack for the week of the 10th.

[truthisfreedom]

10. who exactly received this email?

[Art_from_Ark]

11. According to another thread, it was the US Embassy

that received the threat

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x543908

[tritsofme]

9. Duh, I should go to bed.

I was only thinking of an incumbent running for reelection. But they may well have raised them in 1984, I just don't remember and I'm now going to sleep.

[Art_from_Ark]

13. Possible factors

1) As I mentioned earlier, there has been a political scandal here in Japan which has cost both Koizumi's No. 2 man and the leader of the opposition party their jobs. These scandals are relatively tame by American standards, but they have nonetheless angered a lot of Japanese.

2) The US Embassy apparently received some sort of bomb threat.

3) My broker friend here in Japan has told me that 12,000 was the expected peak of the recent bull market, which was fueled by government statistics which "showed" that Japan had finally emerged from its years-long recession. However, like similar announcements in the US, this may be little more than smoke and mirrors. At the same time, the big players could be shaking out the "weak hands" so they can scoop up stocks later at a cheaper price.

4) The yen has weakened considerably from a recent high of about 103/dollar to the current level of about 110/dollar. Thus, foreign investors may be pulling out in anticipation of an even weaker yen.

5) There is a lot of renewed reflection on Japan's role in Iraq now that these torture scandals have made it to the mainstream media. Add to that general malaise about the future, especially regarding the United States, which Japan is so dependent on.

[keithyboy]

14. Here it comes!!! The stock market, oil prices, inflation.

Osama has won...and we are in denial if don't see this. We are in a state of continuous disrruption and paranoia...and it is only going to get worse.