CNN Money is running an interesting feature by David Goldman entitled "10 countries, 10 solutions" which details the particularities of the global economic crisis facing 10 key countries. In typical old-media fashion, the layout makes no sense from a user-friendliness perspective, so I'm going to take significant liberties in reposting their original content. They also have a single table layout of the 10 countries here. Time Warner lawyers, if you're watching this, get your editorial guys to put their content into a more sensible format that doesn't require constant clicking and I won't have to go such lengths to discuss it and in turn will actually drive more traffic to your site. Got that? Good. Now then, first some

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To find out about this strategy – or Hutchinson’s new service, The Permanent …

I am rushing but would be remiss, of course, if I did not mention Sunday's landslide victory of the DPJ in Japan which marks an end to a +50 year reign of the conservatives.

from the BBC;

The DPJ has won 300 seats in the 480-seat lower house, ending 50 years of almost unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), NHK TV says. DPJ leader Yukio Hatoyama hailed the win as a revolution and said people were "fed up" with the governing party.

Prime Minister Taro Aso has said he will resign as head of the LDP, taking responsibility for the defeat. Japan is suffering record unemployment and its economy is struggling to emerge from a bruising recession.The DPJ has said it will shift the focus of government from supporting corporations to helping consumers and workers.

and here is the Economist;

IN A land of volcanoes and earthquakes

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[Editor's Note: When it comes to global investing, longtime market guru Martin Hutchinson is one of the very best – because he knows the markets firsthand. After years of advising government finance ministers, crafting deals with global investment banks, and analyzing the world's financial markets, Hutchinson has used his creative insights to create a trading service for savvy investors.

The Permanent Wealth Investor assembles high-yielding dividend stocks, profit plays on gold and specially designated "Alpha-Dog" stocks into high-income/high-return portfolios for subscribers. Hutchinson's strategy is tailor-made for periods of market uncertainty, during which investors all too often go completely to cash - only to miss some of the biggest market returns in history when market sentiment turns positive. But it can work in virtually every market environment.To find out about this strategy - or Hutchinson's new service, The Permanent Wealth Investor – please just click here.]

Investors …

Japan’s Darkest Days Lay Ahead

Ryan Cole, The Investment U Research Team

Bet against Japan.

It pains me to say it. I lived in Japan for five years – great years. I love the country, I love the people, I love the cherry blossoms in spring and the festivals in the streets and the poetic dewdrop in my window each morning.

But right now, I hate Japan’s economy. Here’s why:

1. It’s an exporting country, and nobody’s buying.

The American savings rate has gone from 0 to around 5%, and it’s still rising. Remember, this is with U.S. unemployment hovering just under 10%, officially. And, with furloughs and cost-cutting measures, the average work-week for the “fully employed” has fallen to 33 hours – the lowest number on record. So a 5% savings rate of a markedly smaller income pie, equals the collapse of disposable income spending.

That

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Well, as Claus pointed out in his last post, Japanese data is pretty much a mixed bag at the moment. Industrial output shot up in April, and the May PMI data suggested that the easing of manufacturing contraction continued in May. However household spending and retail sales fell, unemployment rose, and the CPI reading suggested the Japanese economy is once more getting itself firmly wedged in inflation territory. So while the industrial data offers some much needed short term relief, the mid term outlook is still pretty bleak. Industrial Output Surges Well, as Bloomberg kindly pointed out, industrial output surged the most in 56 years in April. Production rose 5.2% from March, marking the second monthly gain, according to data from the Trade Ministry. The increase was faster than the 3.3 percent consensus forecast, and companies ...

Japan’s Cabinet Office said today (Wednesday) that economic output fell to its worst levels ever, tumbling an annualized 15.2% in the first quarter, as the worst recession in 60 years hammered exports and consumer demand.

Despite the disturbing news from Japan - the world’s second largest economy - some analysts are optimistic that the record gross domestic production (GDP) decline may be the low point, with business activity picking up from here.

“There was a collapse across the board,” Yoshiki Shinke, a senior economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute in Tokyo, told Bloomberg News. But there’s “light at the end of the tunnel,” he said, adding that he believes the economy will rebound this quarter as companies replace inventories and stimulus plans begin to take effect.

Prime Minster Taro Aso has set forth the largest stimulus plan in Japanese history, promising to pump $160 billion into the economy, mostly

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by Edward Hugh: Barcelonabr /br /Japan's contraction showed signs of easing in March, even though the recession has now set in for the duration, the deepest point may well have been passed. The ship may be stable, but it is still far from being right side up.br /br /strongIndustrial Output Up On The Month/strongbr /br /Japan's industrial output rose in March (more than anticipated), and showed the first gain in six months, suggesting that the steepness in the plunge in production and exports may be softening. The rise followed a record 10.1 percent fall in industrial production in January and a 9.4 percent drop in February. Manufacturers also forecast further gains in production in the coming months, suggesting output may be bottoming out after the sharpest decline on record in the first quarter of the year.br /br /br /pa href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/Sf3hYl4ZGKI/AAAAAAAANpE/kOsvDIQsqgQ/s1600-h/japan+ip+yoy.png"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5331665346478282914" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: ...

 

 

China's A-Shares No. 1 In First Quarter

The best performing index in the first quarter was the Shanghai Composite, according to this Investor's Business Daily report.

It notes that a closed-end fund tapping into mainland China's stock exchange, which is largely closed to outside investors,  the Morgan Stanley China A Share Fund (CAF), has gained 49% so far this year. 

The story notes that China-focused ETFs haven't fared as well since they don't invest directly in A-Shares. But technically, they seem to be holding up well, writes IBD markets reporter Trang Ho. 

(Interestingly enough, Van Eck Global has filed to offer the first A-Shares focused open-end ETF. See story here.)

You can read the IBD report here.

 

Japan Tries Another Round of Stimulus Packages With ETFs

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso is moving forward with plans for another round of government-enduced stimulus packages aimed at jolting the country's falling economy.

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Japan’s exports plunged by 45.7 percent year on year in January, producing a record trade deficit, as recessions in the U.S. and Europe, and a sharp downturn in China crushed demand for the country’s machinery, cars and electronics. A drop of this size is truly staggering. “People are coming to realize that Japan is in deep trouble,” said Hiroshi Shiraishi, an economist at BNP Paribas Securities Japan Ltd. in Tokyo. “Considering what’s happening on the export side, and the implications that has for the domestic economy, the yen is clearly not a buy.” Japan's trade balance was sent deep into red territory driven, of course, by the 45.7% fall in overall exports to 3.48 trillion yen. As can be seen in the chart below, the ...