EP,
With talk of price caps in the US I am extremely tempted to rotate most gains out of US energy shares into Canadian. Perhaps I might keep EOG and NOV, but take profits on XTO, CHK, XEC and deploy to cash with the ultimate objective of redeploying to ECA, OPC, PBG and possibly some European shares, far out of the reach of US regulators, until they realize oil is fungible. (If they already know this are their comments merely to frighten, or are they serious and should we stick around to see?)
In the meantime I am continuing looking at interesting Japanese shares, many of which will be cheaper for awhile and this represents a good chance to buy.
David
Nikkei, Topix Fall From Highest Since May 2001; End Quarter Up
Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average and the Topix index fell from their highest since May 2001 after a government report showed less-than-expected growth in industrial production. Steelmakers such as Nippon Steel Corp. led the drop.
``With the rapid gains we had recently, it's only natural for the buying to take a break and some economic data this morning provided the excuse to do so,'' said Youichi Yanai, chief fund manager who oversees the equivalent of $28 billion at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd. in Tokyo. ``The long-term trend is that growth remains intact and we're set for a sustained recovery.''
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 42.94, or 0.3 percent, to 13,574.30 at the 3 p.m. close in Tokyo. The broader Topix index lost 15.85, or 1.1 percent, to 1412.28. The Nikkei yesterday closed at its highest since May 29, 2001, while the Topix ended at the highest since May 7, 2001.
Limiting declines, Advantest Corp. led gains by semiconductor shares after Micron Technology Inc. reported an unexpected quarterly profit and Samsung Electronics Co. said it will spend $33 billion to meet rising demand for computer chips.
Nikkei 225 futures for December delivery lost 0.6 percent to 13,560 in Osaka and fell 0.7 percent to 13,555 in Singapore.
For the quarter, both key stock indexes had their best three- month performance since the period ended September 1995, amid evidence that a pickup in economic growth will support earnings. The Nikkei advanced 17 percent and the Topix surged 20 percent.
Both benchmarks also completed their eighth weekly advance, matching the period ended Jan. 5, 1996, when they rose for eight weeks. The Nikkei has gained 3.2 percent, while the Topix has climbed 4.1 percent.
More than 3 trillion yen ($26.9 billion) in shares included in the Topix traded for a second day, the first time that amount has been exceeded on consecutive days. About 3.04 trillion yen changed hands, 83 percent more than the daily average for the past three months. Eleven shares fell for every five that gained on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section. |
