Japan has been synonymous with technology for decades. More recently though, debt, deflation, and now demographics, have taken their toll on this image. According to the latest figures from the Ministry of the Interior, the Japanese population shrank by more than a quarter-million people last year – the third decline since 2005.  The number ofContinue Reading

A lot of people would like to reach what is commonly referred to as a ‘ripe old age’. A better formulation might be to ‘enjoy one’s golden years’ because reaching a given age is not the objective, it is how these years are spent that matters. Often, pensioners end up in a retirement home. TheContinue Reading

Relative gains from the sell-off might have offset Q1 losses 11 April 2012. FRANKFURT (Börse Frankfurt). It didn’t seem to matter whether it was caused by the global economy taking another downturn, or by the monetary policymakers withdrawing crisis measures prematurely, investors in this survey were convinced last week that stock prices were going lower.Continue Reading

It is amazing what can become of a bond engagement if one happens to choose the wrong issuer. Yes, I was one of those unfortunate souls who decided to take a bet on short-dated Greek bonds in the middle of the eurozone bailout negotiations. In retrospect, it was not my best idea, but the engagementContinue Reading

Futures expiry has created an opportunity, at least temporarily 21 March 2012. FRANKFURT (Börse Frankfurt). It has been three weeks since the ECB opened the cash floodgates for the second time. The banks have ample liquidity, a credit crunch has been avoided, and the measure seems to have cooled what had become a heated debateContinue Reading

Investors finally adopt the position they should have had all year At the start of the year, it would have been difficult to convince too many investors that the DAX would trade above the 7,000 mark already in the first quarter. Many might well have imagined it at this lofty level some time later inContinue Reading

Institutional investors need more than just a correction; they need a profitable correction The prospect of a Greek default has been poison to the sentiment of German domestic institutional equity investors. Since the rating agency S&P downgraded nine eurozone sovereigns in mid-January, they have been tenacious in their bearish beliefs even though the DAX hasContinue Reading

Rating agency tarnishes sentiment but not equities. 18 January 2012. FRANKFURT (Börse Frankfurt). There was a marked increase in the proportion of DAX pessimists on the Börse Frankfurt’s weekly sentiment panel this week. Most of them migrated from the optimists’ camp, meaning that bears now outnumber the bulls for the first time in eight months.Continue Reading

Investors are not really discouraged , they are just practical "The early [DAX] gains are not solely remarkable because of the very disappointing end to 2011 – a fat minus of 15 percent for the DAX index – but also because domestic investors seem to have anticipated them so well. At the time of theContinue Reading

Some consider the eurozone debt crisis to be the result of a fundamental design flaw. They may be right. But then, when in political history has any project been done completely right from the outset. Political and financial frameworks have always had to be modified or adjusted as a function of new events or opinions.Continue Reading

Brussels outcome deflated dollar-based DAX investors more than domestics. To put in place, before Christmas, the basis for a lasting and definitive solution to the eurozone debt crisis was the expressed wish of many EU officials at the end of last week. Many market participants shared these hopes even though, for a group that usuallyContinue Reading

Gold mining stocks have a less than a shining reputation among precious metal investors. The expression ‘lame duck’ is appropriate for describing its performance this year. The NYSE Acra Gold BUGS Index (HUI), which includes the stars of the sector, currently stands at the year’s opening price. Perhaps it is for this reason that soContinue Reading

Frankfurt tourists probably think they have found the spiritual home of the single-currency when they pose in front of the huge euro symbol that stands in front of the European Central Bank. But it turns out that the monetary policymakers will not be taking it with them when they move to their new home onContinue Reading

9 November 2011. FRANKFURT (Börse Frankfurt). Just one week ago we reported on lowest level optimism among domestic DAX investors in six months. It was not hard to understand what was troubling them. It was the same thing that had been steadily gnawing away at their enthusiasm for German blue chips since the start ofContinue Reading

When the hapless Mr Bean, through a string of clumsy gestures, manages to convert a harmless sneeze into the destruction of a priceless painting, movie audiences laugh until they cry. Nobody actually thinks that something like that could happen in real life. They are wrong; not only does it happen, but Forbes magazine has takenContinue Reading

Although the vast majority of DAX trading since the last poll took place at prices that were also available one week earlier, investors became less optimistic. Indeed, the domestic investors on the panel now express their lowest levels of optimism since the summer downswing got underway in the first week of August.... http://www.boerse-frankfurt.de/EN/index.aspx?pageID=44&NewsID=6245

It used to be so easy: one didn’t need to ask whether gold price would go higher, just how high. These days, things are not so straightforward; the $400 price slump in September has muddied the waters a little. But it has not bothered the dyed-in-the-wool gold fans. For them, a 20-odd percent decline isContinue Reading

Investors have already abandoned the idea of a year-end rally and are firmly focussed on the bear-market rally. FRANKFURT (Börse Frankfurt). The popular belief that the recent DAX upswing is little more than a dead-cat-bounce, seemed to be confirmed in the results of today’s survey. Börse Frankfurt’s weekly poll shows that domestic institutional investors, onContinue Reading

Rather than make another 180-degree change in their beliefs, many investors have preferred to use the recent stock market strength to express their scepticism. FRANKFURT (Börse Frankfurt). An almost ten-percent move in five trading days is a DAX move that investors have become very increasingly accustomed to since the summer; there have been no endContinue Reading

The stock market volatility has taken its toll on DAX investors. Many of them simply wanted out. 28 September 2011. FRANKFURT (Börse Frankfurt). DAX investors have had to endure yet another week where they have been obliged to hop between a hot steam room and the cold shower. Immediately after last week’s survey, which showedContinue Reading

Is Europe’s economic powerhouse, Germany, sinking into a recession? Given the sobering equity price falls recently, this is a question that more and more people are asking, at least, people who, in one way or another, have an interest in the to and fro of the stock market. Inside Germany, this is probably not tooContinue Reading

Investors may agree that peripheral eurozone sovereign debt is the greatest risk for the global economy, but portfolio adjustments at the margin do not appear to have been too great. Survey by Deutsche Boerse, commented by Cognitrend. http://www.boerse-frankfurt.de/EN/index.aspx?pageID=44&NewsID=6164

Yesterday’s blog used the prospect of a British entry into the eurozone to illustrate the problems that arise when one samples public opinion on such hot topics. While writing, I got to thinking that, were it to be desired, now wouldn’t be such a bad time to tie the knot. European economies may be inContinue Reading

A clear majority of Germans (58 percent) would be in favour of Greece being ejected from the eurozone, according to a mid-August survey. I suppose, one shouldn’t be too surprised; even without a media monster that feeds on crisis escalation, it would be difficult to imagine any public tolerance for the problems of the eurozoneContinue Reading

Venezuela wants to call its gold reserves back home. It is certainly exemplary of the President to socialise the profits; nowadays most of the other world leaders are doing the opposite. But is it such a good idea to repatriate all that precious metal?

DAX-Sentiment Indicator Even during the EU debt crisis’s darkest days DAX investors stay bullish. The apparent inertia is representative of a new confidence amongst domestic traders...%0

The recipes for business success are as varied as businesses themselves. Certainly, a degree from a top university is no guarantee nor, contrary to what one might think, is a rationally thought-out business plan. Often, passion, tenacity and a sprinkling of good luck (being in the right place at the right time) are the majorContinue Reading

Why does an interview with former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan attract so much attention? Sure, Sir Alan is not short of experience: he was the longest-serving head of the most important central bank in the world. But he is not the Fed chief any more. Nor can he continue to lay claim to the ‘maestro’Continue Reading

The most vocal Greek government officials these days seem to work either in the prime minister’s office or at the finance ministry. Over the weekend, though I read some disturbing comments from the health minister. Apparently, the suicide rate in Greece will probably see an increase of some 40 percent this year. The report remindedContinue Reading

Producing a 119-page annual report is a lot of work, regardless of which organisation has to do it. It involves much collaboration, coordination and cost. The 81st Annual Report of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is such an opus. It contains among other things, an analysis of global inflation trends.