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.

Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rational who wrote (20440)	1/4/2005 10:07:00 PM
From: mishedlo	Respond to of 116555

Japanese 2004 department store sales seen falling to 16-year low - report Wednesday, January 5, 2005 12:54:00 AM afxpress.com TOKYO (AFX) - Final data is expected to show Japanese department store sales in 2004 fell below 8 trln yen for the first time since 1988, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported without citing sources Overall sales, which include sales by stores opened in 2004, are likely to have fallen on a year-on-year basis for the seventh year in a row Department store sales peaked at 9.7 trln yen in 1991, and have been trending downward since. Sluggish consumer spending amid Japan's most severe economic downturn in five decades is primarily to blame. But so too is the opening of large shopping malls, often filled with a new breed of specialty and discount stores which have lured away customers In the Japanese retail industry, department sales are second only to those of supermarkets. But if the decline continues, convenience store sales could surpass department store sales by 2006 The Cabinet Office recently replaced department store sales with convenience store sales as one of the 12 indicators used to compute Japan's leading index of economic indicators, saying department store sales no longer were a good gauge of basic consumer spending patterns. Department store sales for the past January-November period totaled 6.96 trln yen, down 2.9 pct from the same 11-month period a year earlier, according to the Japan Department Stores Association. In order for sales to top 8 trln yen for the year, December sales would have to have risen 10 pct in December from a year earlier, the Nikkei said But preliminary figures from major department store operators Takashimaya Co and Mitsukoshi Ltd indicate that sales for the month were below those of a year earlier, the report said

To: Rational who wrote (20440)	1/4/2005 10:34:48 PM
From: RealMuLan	Respond to of 116555

First, I have never claimed myself as an expert on China, so don't label me such! I am not even an expert in what I am trained to do, how could I become an expert on China? Everyone is entitled to have his/her own opinion on everything. So-called "expert" is only the person who makes a living out of whatever he is doing. He can be right, but can be wrong too. There are so many so-called "experts"/economists on Wall Street, and how many of them really know anything on their "expertise"? Second, if you think Chinese gov. infused the fund into their state banks because of your recommendation, you make me laugh. Nothing more to say. There are many Westerners, after staying/studying China for a couple weeks/months/years, then all "painted" themselves as an expert on China. Third, you are not the first one who predicts China's banking system is going to collapse, and won't be the last one either. I have heard this kind of "prediction" ever since mid-90s, when the first real estate bubble in China bursted. Just as the prediction on bull/bear market, eventually they will be right, the only difference is the timing. Fourth, yes, there is no need for the conversation to continue. So long.