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

To: Earlie who wrote (28736)	4/27/2005 10:53:58 PM
From: GraceZ	Respond to of 116555

I believe it!

To: Earlie who wrote (28736)	4/28/2005 1:17:10 AM
From: mishedlo	Respond to of 116555

Bank of Japan decides by majority vote to leave monetary policy unchanged [No surprise here - Mish] Thursday, April 28, 2005 4:40:18 AM afxpress.com TOKYO (AFX) - The Bank of Japan's (BoJ) policy board decided by a majority vote after a one-day meeting to leave its super-loose credit policy unchanged, the central bank said in a statement It said the board also voted to maintain the liquidity target at 30-35 trln yen. The decision means Japan's central bank will continue to keep short-term interest rates around zero by flooding the short-term money market with excess cash. The policy is aimed at ending Japan's seven-year battle with deflation No change in the fundamental zero-rate policy was expected. But the level of support for maintaining all aspects of the current policy was of major interest after the vote at the last meeting was not unanimous. The nine-member board had previously voted unanimously at 17 straight meetings to maintain all aspects of its ultra-loose credit policy The vote was 8-1 at the April 5-6 meeting, with the one dissenter backing a change to the central bank's 30-35 trln yen liquidity target, BoJ governor Toshihiko Fukui told a subsequent press conference The central bank has faced problems maintaining liquidity within that range since the start of the year through its daily market funding operations The BoJ said the board resolved to maintain its target for the outstanding balance of current account deposits held by private financial institutions at the central bank in a range of 30-35 trln yen. This is the bank's primary tool for keeping lending rates near zero As is standard practice, the BoJ provided no mention of the issues discussed during the meeting, nor any details of the reasons behind the voting. And no official explanation might be available until June 20 when the BoJ releases minutes of the just-ended meeting However, Fukui might cast light on the nature of the vote, and the issues that most concerned the nine board members, when he holds a press conference today at 3.30 pm. At 3.00 pm (0600 GMT), the BoJ will also release its outlook for overall economic activity and prices for this year and the next Major attention is focused on whether the central bank retracts its previous forecast that the Japanese economy will emerge from deflation during the current fiscal year to March 2006 Twice a year, the BoJ releases projections for GDP and the change in prices, as measured by the core consumer price index. The core rate strips out volatile fresh food prices to show the fundamental trend of price movements. In the previous outlook issued in October, the BoJ said the core rate would probably rise by 0.1 pct this year But the recent steepening of the drop in the core rate, primarily the result of declines in telecommunication and utility charges, has prompted expectations the BoJ may now project Japan will not escape deflation for another year. Yesterday, the government reported that the nationwide core consumer price index fell 0.3 pct in March from a year earlier "The data shows that the BoJ will probably say in the report it issues on Thursday that it expects the core consumer price index will start rising above zero during the year to March 2007, one year later than previously projected," Tatsuya Torikoshi, senior economist at Daiwa Institute of Research, said That means the BoJ is unlikely to abandon its zero-rate interest policy anytime soon. Fukui has said the central bank will not abandon its super-loose credit policy until three conditions are met. Two conditions are that the year-on-year change in the monthly core consumer price index must remain at or above zero for a prolonged period, and show no prospect of again dropping below zero. The third requirement is the economy must be growing steadily But expectations have grown that BoJ would move to alter its liquidity target, especially after the lifting at the start of this month of the government blanket guarantee of bank deposits passed without a ripple. From April 1 the government guarantees only 10 mln yen per account Because of the big improvement in the financial health of most of Japan's biggest banks, lenders have less need to maintain large reserves as a precaution against a bank failure precipitating a run on deposits As a result, the BoJ's attempts to inject lush funding into the system through its daily market operations have often gone under subscribed.

To: Earlie who wrote (28736)	4/28/2005 1:30:29 AM
From: mishedlo	Respond to of 116555

Desperate home buyers tap-dance for sellers moneycentral.msn.com "I just oohed and ahhed my way from room to room," read one letter to Jane Centofante, who was selling her 2,000 square-foot home in Westwood, a tony L.A. suburb, for a cool $1.49 million. "I gather from your [house] that you are warm and smart and bring incredibly beautiful detail to your world," read another. Centofante was stuck -- deciding between the family who included a photo with their dog and the young screenwriter who wrote a flattering two-page letter -- when other events put the sale on hold. Welcome to America's frothy real estate market, where in some places enthusiasm and excess have reached a point that, to many, seems eerily similar to the dotcom craze of the late 1990s.