Did Goldman "short" Japan.....

[Dot Com]

.....like they did the Gulf?

Bad news from all angles to greet Wall Street - Business - Stocks & economy - msnbc.com

Bad news from all angles to greet Wall Street
Middle East, oil, still question mark, and Japan quake may weigh on already weakening market

Andy Borowitz: Goldman Sachs Reveals it Shorted Gulf of Mexico

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) - In what is looming as another public relations predicament for Goldman Sachs, the banking giant admitted today that it made "a substantial financial bet against the Gulf of Mexico" one day before the sinking of an oil rig in that body of water.

I wouldn't put it beneath them. Aint laissez- faire capitalism grand?

 

[skeptic]

BOJ just injected $146 billion into circulation to bolster their markets against this kind of short.

They shorted the PIIGS big time, they actually tried to drive them into default so banks like JPM and GS could profit from their credit default. They were hysterically trying to drum up rumors of the imminence of the PIIGS defaulting in a domino series and they failed.

I think cannibal capitalism is the new normal.

PIIGS: they are what's for dinner.

 

[Dot Com]

Japan needed a break before this happened. They've been in perpetual recession since the early 90's. My heart goes out to them. I used to live there too.

 

[waltky]

Nikkei tumbles at opening...

Tokyo stocks in slide
March 13, 2011 -- The leading Japanese stock index recovered a little after dropping nearly 6% early Monday, the first full day of trading following last week's earthquake, but remained sharply lower.

The Nikkei-225 index tumbled 457 points, or 4.5%, to about 9,759. It was down even further, almost 598 points, in the first few minutes before rebounding. Some of the biggest names in Japanese industry fell sharply. Toyota was down more than 8%, while Sony was 10% lower. Elsewhere in Asia, stocks in China and Hong Kong were lower with the trading day about halfway through.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange opened as usual at 9 a.m. Japan time on Monday. The exchange had issued a statement saying that it has contingency plans in the event of blackouts or other disruptions. U.S. stocks were poised for a moderately lower start when the new trading week begins. S&P 500 futures slipped 4.3 points, about 0.3%, and Nasdaq-100 futures were 9 points lower, about 0.4%.

On Friday, investors worldwide were rattled after the massive earthquake and tsunami struck Japan. Asian markets, which were falling before the tsunami hit, ended sharply lower. Japan's benchmark Nikkei index declined 1.7%. Stocks in London, Frankfurt and Paris fell less than 1%.

The most powerful earthquake to hit Japan in at least 100 years unleashed walls of water that caused widespread damage. By official counts, more than 1,500 people have died and about that many are missing, though fears remain that the toll could go much higher.

Source

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Bank of Japan to pump cash into banks
March 13, 2011 -- Japanese officials said Sunday they will backstop the country's financial system when markets reopen after Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami.

The Bank of Japan, in a statement, said it would monitor financial markets and the operation of banks and "stand ready to respond and act as necessary." The head of the Japanese Central Bank, Masaaki Shirakawa, told reporters that the Bank of Japan stood ready to "provide markets with a lot of liquidity first thing tomorrow morning," according to numerous news reports.

The aim is to make sure the banks have enough cash on hand to meet demands of panicky investors and cover withdrawal demands of bank customers. Officials will rigidly monitor the markets to prevent any transactions by people trying take advantage of the disaster, Japanese Minister for Financial Services Shozaburo Jimi said Sunday. Specifically, the ministry will ban so-called naked short selling, which can cause a run on stocks.

The earthquake hit off the coast of Japan, several hundred miles from Tokyo, just before the close of trading in Japanese markets on Friday afternoon. The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index dropped just over 100 points, or 1%, in the final minutes of trading and ended the day 1.7% lower. Trading in stock futures, which tend to predict future stock movements, suggest that stocks will fall when markets open for trading on Monday.

Friday's earthquake -- the most powerful to hit Japan in at least 100 years -- unleashed walls of water that caused widespread damage. By official counts, more than 1,500 people have died and about that many are missing, though fears remain that the toll could go much higher.

Source

 

[konkon]

The world's money markets are unrelenting. A future profit downgrade can justify anything these days.

 

[westwall]

Just another example of what an evil corporation Goldman Sachs is. I would love to see the bastards in charge of that company in prison.

 

[Dot Com]

Good responses. They are basically Las Vegas East. They may add SOME value to the U.S. but betting against us & our allies isn't one of them.

 

[waltky]

Quake's effect on global economy...

Will global economy be hit by Japan?
March 14, 2011 -- Japan is at serious risk of falling into a recession due to Friday's tragic earthquake and tsunami, according to many leading economists. But Japan could recover quickly, sparing the global economy a significant shock.

The earthquake and tsunami is confirmed to have killed nearly 2,000 people and put several of the nation's nuclear power reactors at risk of a meltdown, leaving many without power and nearly a half-million people in shelters. While most of the industrial base of Japan was spared the worst of the disaster, few plants are back up and running yet as the country tries to come to grips with the crisis.

"The recent events in Japan are first and foremost a human tragedy," said economists from Capital Economics in a note Monday. "Nonetheless, the markets also need to consider the economic impact." Here are the 3 key questions in trying to judge the economic chaos caused by the disaster.

How bad will Japanese businesses be hit?: Even in areas not directly damaged by the quake and flooding, many factories remain closed due to damage to roads and rails, disruptions of supply chains and limits on the supply of electricity.

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Aftershocks shake Japan's auto industry
March 14, 2011 -- With its sprawling, sometimes tangled array of parts suppliers, assembly plants, logistics networks, and dealers, the auto industry is perhaps uniquely vulnerable to disasters, natural and otherwise.

Manufacturers are all too familiar with interruptions to production from floods, blizzards, land slides, and forest fires. Dealers have seen their new car inventories wiped out by overflowing rivers, surging tides, and punishing hail storms. Catastrophes happen even at sea. A Norwegian carrier with 2,862 cars aboard sank in the English Channel in 2002 after colliding with a container ship in thick fog.

But there has been nothing like the triple threat in Japan wrought by last week's earthquake and tidal wave, combined with growing worries of a nuclear reactor meltdown. As the world's third-largest producer of automobiles (after China and the U.S.), Japan's manufacturing network is highly developed and unusually complex. The natural constraints of Japan's crowded highways and seaports, combined with man-made complications like just-in-time parts delivery have led to the creation a finely-tuned, delicately-balanced system.

Running smoothly, it is highly productive. But a single disruption anywhere along the line can tie up the whole system. Assembling a car requires some 10,000 individual pieces, and every single one of them is needed in the finished product. Japan has never seen a disruption like this. In addition to the direct damage caused by the earthquakes and tsunami, there are secondary effects -- coordinated power outages to deal with, supply shortages, interruption of highway, rail, and ship traffic -- and tertiary ripples. Some auto plants were reportedly closed so that employees could cope with personal issues stemming from disaster.

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Related:

Japan nuclear fears lift solar stocks
March 14, 2011 -- It seems callous to try and look for investing opportunities in the wake of a disaster as colossal as the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

But you know what they say about Wall Street. Fear and greed motivate the stock market. Both emotions appear to be contributing to the sharp rise in solar energy stocks Monday morning. With fears of nuclear meltdowns running rampant beause of damage done to several nuclear reactors in Japan, traders are making the bet that this will lead to a surge in demand for solar power.

Shares of industry leader First Solar, a maker of tin-film solar modules that's a member of the S&P 500, rose 4%. The Guggenheim Solar exchange-traded fund, was up 6%. And several Chinese solar companies, such as Trina Solar, Yingli Green Enegy, Hanwha Solar One and JA Solar Holdings, were all surging as well.

Analysts who follow the sector think the rally may be short-lived though. While Japan may be giving those who are worried about nuclear safety issues more evidence for their anti-nuclear argument, the reality is that nuclear energy won't go away overnight.

MORE

 

[Dot Com]

They were the 2nd or the 3rd largest economy depending where China fits in there.

 

[skeptic]

Japan nuclear fears lift solar stocks

I was reading today that uranium took a nose dive in the market and electrical utility stocks plunged 14%.

 

[boedicca]

Japan needed a break before this happened. They've been in perpetual recession since the early 90's. My heart goes out to them. I used to live there too.

Indeed. Japan is the poster economy of the Epic Fail of Keynesianism...or at least they were until the Era of Obama in America.

They are also a major holder of U.S. debt, which they are not going to be able to afford to recycle into the U.S. given the need to rebuild their own country.

 

[Dot Com]

Japan needed a break before this happened. They've been in perpetual recession since the early 90's. My heart goes out to them. I used to live there too.

Indeed. Japan is the poster economy of the Epic Fail of Keynesianism...or at least they were until the Era of Obama in America.

They are also a major holder of U.S. debt, which they are not going to be able to afford to recycle into the U.S. given the need to rebuild their own country.

Know what the rebuilding entails? Jobs and investment

Why you stalkin me girl?

 

[Modbert]

Just another example of what an evil corporation Goldman Sachs is. I would love to see the bastards in charge of that company in prison.

If you haven't, read Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America.

If you thought you wanted to see GS in prison before reading it, wait until after.

 

[westwall]

Just another example of what an evil corporation Goldman Sachs is. I would love to see the bastards in charge of that company in prison.

If you haven't, read Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America.

If you thought you wanted to see GS in prison before reading it, wait until after.

I read it when it first came available. A despicable organization. Heavily invested in the Global Warming fraud as well.

 

[Dot Com]

Just another example of what an evil corporation Goldman Sachs is. I would love to see the bastards in charge of that company in prison.

If you haven't, read Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America.

If you thought you wanted to see GS in prison before reading it, wait until after.

It was back-ordered when i tried to get it. I did read "The Big Short though:
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine [Book]

By Michael M. Lewis - W.W. Norton & Co. (2010) - Hardback - 266 pages - ISBN 0393072231
The author examines the causes of the U.S. stock market crash of 2008 and its relation to overpriced real estate, bad mortgages, shareholder demand for excessive profits, and the growth of toxic derivatives.