Major domestic sales declines from Toyota Motor Corp. (ADR: TM) and Nissan Motor Corp. (ADR: NSANY) led Japan to post its worst overall annual vehicle sales in nearly three decades.

Sales of cars, minicars, trucks and buses hit a 28-year low, falling 5%, or 5.08 million, from the 5.35 million sold in 2007, according to figures released by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association (JADA) and Japan Mini Vehicles Association, Bloomberg reported.

Worse, domestic auto sales in December totaled 183,549 vehicles - a 22% decline and the biggest drop on record - showing the sales crunch is a growing problem.

“We never imagined sales would fall this badly,” JADA Director Takeshi Fushimi said, Reuters reported. “This is a bleak situation.” Widespread job losses plagued the industry, sapping consumer demand and chopping hundreds of thousands of vehicles from sales tallies.

“The industry

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The year 2008 was for the global equity markets the worst in history. Capital outflow reached record 14 trillion dollars. The crisis of the financial system and the worst recession since 1970, froze investor confidence. MSCI index of global shares in the year fell by a record 44%.br /br /One of the worst performance posted stock market in Russia. Benchmark RTS Index closed the year 72% lower. The second worst result in the world has seen China's stock index, the SSE Composite lost a record 65% after the boom in 2006 and 2007 brought the growth of over 300%.br /br /In the U.S., the Dow Jones index ended the last trading day a profit of 2.2% over the year but lost 34% of which was the worst loss since the Great Depression in 1931. Only two titles, retailers Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) and Mc Donalds (MCD), closed the ...

Gaza bombing has dollar on the run…  More proof we’re turning Japanese…  Adding to the debt burden…  What will deflation do for the dollar? And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

The currencies had a split personality while I was gone too… At first, they rallied like there was no tomorrow, but then sold off, and then range traded. So, we’ll finish the year on a down note for most of the currencies, but knowing all too well that the markets are beginning to realize that the debts the U.S. is chalking up are not going to go away, and in fact they’re just going to get worse, and that spells bad times for the dollar… Eventually…

I

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Japan’s gold exports have doubled this year as individual investors locked in profits after gold prices soared earlier in the year, but retail demand for bullion has been picking up steadily over the past few months.

Industry sources say the rise in retail demand for gold may turn Japan into a net importer again, but that may not happen immediately as many players are still looking to unload their gold holdings when prices recover.

Japan was a net importer of gold in October for the first time this year as investors bought on a plunge in prices, but exports exceeded imports again in November, finance ministry data showed on Friday.

In the eleven months to November, Japan’s exports of unwrought solid gold, gold bars and sheet totalled 393.9 tonnes, up from 174.9 tonnes in 2007.

In November alone, Japan exported 47 tonnes of gold, rising more

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The following poem was cut from the top of my MoneyandMarkets.com column (A style=FONT-WEIGHT: bold href=http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/3-stock-ing-stuffers-2-289703 Stock-ing Stuffers/A,) today ...brbrEMTwas the eve before Christmas,brand all through the nightbrSean’s mind was whirring,brWith stocks that could ignite/EMbrbrPoetry is subjective, and everyone's a critic.brbrBefore we get to the serious stuff, A href=http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/brokerjoe_2008.pdfSTRONGhere's some/STRONG/A Christmas cheer (and humor) from the A href=http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/brokerjoe_2008.pdfSTRONGWall Street Journal./STRONG/A Click through for a laugh.brbrNow then ...brbrA href=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087sid=aFgHlh.Dn4Lcamp;refer=homeSTRONGWill the Japanese Launch a 'Marshall Plan' to Save the US?/STRONG/AbrThe dollar may lose as much as 40 percent of its value to 50 yen or 60 yen from the current spot rate of 90.40 today in Tokyo unless Japan takes “drastic measures” to help bail out the U.S. economy.brThe Japanese government could use a new Marshall Plan as a chance to shrink its $976.9 billion in foreign-exchange A href=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=JNFRTOTL%3AIND t_delay=50 t_width=110 t_bgcolor=#ddedd9 t_fontface=Verdana,sans-serif t_fontcolor=#000000 t_static=true t_above=trueSTRONGreserves/STRONG/A, the world’s second-largest after China’s, and ...

by Edward Hugh: Barlecona br /br /br /Only one thing is really clear about the Germany economy at the present time, and that is that it is shrinking rapidly. In fact it contracted far more than most analysts and observers expected in the third quarter (although I, for one, a href="http://www.rgemonitor.com/euro-monitor/252923/what_is_the_recession_risk_for_the_german_economy"was not especially surprised/a), entering what now appears to be its worst recession in at least 12 years as both exports and domestic spending continue to fall. German gross domestic product in Q3 dropped by a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent from the second quarter, when it fell by a quarterly 0.4 percent, according to revised data from the Federal Statistics Office. The Germany economy last had a two quarter contraction of this magnitude back in 1996.br /br /br /pa href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SRwqCqomolI/AAAAAAAALd8/hUkBJVBg6wg/s1600-h/GDP+y-o-y.png"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5268131889409335890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 198px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SRwqCqomolI/AAAAAAAALd8/hUkBJVBg6wg/s320/GDP+y-o-y.png" border="0" //abr /br ...

The most foreboding Christmas season in history…every day brings more cutbacks, more bankruptcies and more trouble… Borrowers have counted on home equity money to fill in the gaps in their household budgets, using borrowing in place of saving… Americans are really beginning to resent Wall  Street…Consumer prices are sure to fail in the near future…and more!

The worst is over. At least in the Northern Hemisphere. Yesterday marked the earth’s greatest tilt away the sun, leaving the northern latitudes in darkness for much of the day.

Here in Paris, for example, it was practically dark at 4PM yesterday…at 9AM this morning, it is still dark.

But the world turns. Around and around it goes. It never seems to stop. Oh…we’re getting dizzy!

And while it is dark and cold today…lo! Soon it will be sunny and warm. Beginning today, the daylight will last a little longer every day. Gradually, we will tip back into

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There’s a fine line between a stimulated economy and a destroyed currency, says Adam Lass. And the world’s central bankers are in a race to the bottom. Japan’s latest rate cut has given the US dollar a short-term lift versus the yen. But the greenback will soon plummet again. Adam says investors should take up a short dollar/long gold position for 20-30% gains in the coming months.

This from Taipan Daily:

Japan’s absurd 0.2% rate cut is offering American “Dollar Shorts” a second chance at doubling their money.

Welcome to the World Banking Limbo competition, wherein central bankers around the world try to calculate that fine line between a stimulated economy and a destroyed currency.

Last Tuesday, U.S. Fed Chairman “Helicopter Ben” Bernanke re-earned that moniker when he announced that the U.S. central bank would move rates below 1% for the first time in history. What’s

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Only one thing is really clear about the Germany economy at the present time, and that is that it is shrinking rapidly. In fact it contracted far more than most analysts and observers expected in the third quarter (although I, for one, a href="http://www.rgemonitor.com/euro-monitor/252923/what_is_the_recession_risk_for_the_german_economy"was not especially surprised/a), entering what now appears to be its worst recession in at least 12 years as both exports and domestic spending continue to fall. German gross domestic product in Q3 dropped by a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent from the second quarter, when it fell by a quarterly 0.4 percent, according to revised data from the Federal Statistics Office. The Germany economy last had a two quarter contraction of this magnitude back in 1996.br /br /pa href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SRwqCqomolI/AAAAAAAALd8/hUkBJVBg6wg/s1600-h/GDP+y-o-y.png"img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5268131889409335890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 198px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SRwqCqomolI/AAAAAAAALd8/hUkBJVBg6wg/s320/GDP+y-o-y.png" border="0" //abr /br /And all the signs are that the fourth ...

Japan’s exports fell the most on record in November, as global demand for cars and electronics collapsed, suggesting that more factory shutdowns and job cuts are likely as the recession deepens. Exports fell 26.7 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the Finance Ministry today (Monday). This was thus the largest fall since the data was first published in 1980. Exports to the U.S. were down 34 percent and sales to China fell the most in 13 years, helping explain why the Bank of Japan lowered its key interest rate to 0.1 percent last week. Exports to Europe slid 31 percent, the second-biggest drop ever.The yen’s surge to a 13-year high is only making exporters problems worse, and the possibility of government intervention ...