Hi DJ, I am back from my fishing village expedition. Food was good, atmosphere relaxing, and I had a chance to <<read … think about what it all means, what it all comes down to, and what I ought to not do>>.
The following article reminded me of Japan’s Zeitech I (Financial Engineering) in the late 80s to early 90s when it was trumpeted that Toyota made more profit from financial dealings than making cars.
interactive.wsj.com
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Money From Nothing
Finance provides a growing chunk of corporate profits as industrial, tech earnings flag by Andrew Bary
"Corporate America is rapidly becoming Bank of America," … financial-services companies … account for a record 25% of total profits for members of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, the largest industry contribution to overall earnings since energy companies contributed 30% of S&P profits in the early 1980s. … financial earnings on overall corporate profits … is understated by several percentage points because some major companies, including General Electric, General Motors, Ford Motor and Sears Roebuck, generate a sizable share of their earnings from financial subsidiaries. And big energy companies such as Enron get huge chunks of their earnings from little-understood natural gas and electricity trading …
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<<game … Mikado … out of Japan …pull out Argentina>>
... No, it is not Japanese, as you should have guessed:0) I know the game well since I was small, played using thin Popsicle sticks. I cannot pull out Argentina because it is balanced precariously on US and European banks, touching Brazil, under IMF, and there are ants like creatures crawling all over it, apparently agitated and threatening to disturb matters. Cannot do it. I will have to cheat while you are not watching.
<<Japan and Japanese ... not much I can do about the Pacific rim situation>>
... After I got done with Barrons, which was quick, because I only bothered with “Up & Down Wall Street”, which for me constitutes the Sunday funnies, I re-read something I had found in my file from sometime ago. I recommend all on this thread to read the following …
pages.prodigy.net
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THE SUPER LOW INTEREST RATES IN JAPAN AND THE ANOMALIES OF THE WORLD ECONOMY by CHIH KWAN CHEN (Dec. 1, 1998)
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The guy saw it coming, all of it. His explanation fits the subsequent facts, and we are still following his script of what was envisioned. The author is brilliantly eerie.
My conclusion upon finishing with the 13-page article is “If Japan fails to save itself, we are in trouble; and if Japan succeeds, we are in bigger trouble, at least in the short run of say 5 years”.
I am afraid.
Chugs, Jay |
