Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Box-By-The-Riviera™ who wrote (75081)	3/4/2001 2:19:20 PM
From: Anthony Clement	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

Just having fun. FYI- here is part of the latest report from the Pacific Institute of Political Economy on Japan, written Feb 28 01. 1. Ruling Coalition Decides Mori¹s Fate As was widely anticipated, Japanese media reported on Tuesday (2.28) that Prime Minister Mori Yoshiro will resign. The plan is for him to step down in early April. This would be the start of the new fiscal year and just after the anticipated approval of the new budget. The Liberal Democratic Party¹s top officials met with their counterparts and fellow coalition members to plan out how Mori¹s tenure would end. As it stands now, Mori will probably announce his resignation at the LDP convention on March 13. The decision to jettison Mori comes just as another opinion poll shows his popularity sinking even further than reported just a week ago. According to Kyodo News Service, the Prime Minister¹s approval rating just hit a new record low of 6.5%. 2. Corporations Doubtful on Economic Prospects A survey of major corporations conducted in mid-February by the Asahi Shimbun strongly suggests that the Japanese economy is deteriorating. The survey covered 200 leading corporations; half each in manufacturing and non-manufacturing. Their pessimism was quite remarkable; 165 said the economy has either come to a standstill or is already contracting. A similar survey last October showed that only 24 of 200 companies believed that to be the case. The February survey revealed that only 19 of the 200 companies believed the economy was gradually improving, while three of four companies expressed doubt the government¹s 1.7% growth forecast for FY2001 could be achieved. The responding companies gave a variety of reasons why their outlook was so poor. Not surprisingly, the spate of news relating to the US economic slowdown was a factor. Other major factors included the relentless decline in the stock markets, primarily Japan¹s but also in the US. The lack of personal consumption appeared to be the single biggest reason for corporate pessimism. The 200 companies were asked to chose the two most important reasons for their opinions. One hundred and thirty eight said "trends in personal consumption" was one of the two major drags on the economy. Only 76 companies said the US slowdown was a prime concern, and 60 said "trends in corporate profitability." However, when asked to project out beyond 2001, 116 companies said a US slowdown was their biggest concern, 102 cited sluggish personal consumption, and 77 said declining stock prices. Capital investment was also viewed negatively with 94 companies saying their investment would not increase in 2001 and 49 saying theirs would go down. Only 52 companies said they planned to increase investment. This compares poorly with October¹s survey which showed that 125 companies anticipated increased capital investment in 2001. English Karen