With the spotlight on Europe and the U.S. all year, most of the world has paid little attention to developed economies in the Pacific region. But for nearly all of 2010, the Japanese yen has been surging against the greenback, with the yen ETF, FXY, gaining over 10% this year. This movement has left many confused as Japanese markets have struggled with negative returns for nearly two decades and shows little prospect of improving in the near future. As the yen continues to gain, more people have shifted their focus to Japanese equities and the funds that track them to see how major exporters would be impacted by this quick change [see also Five ETFs For A Trade War With China]. [click to continue…]
Despite the high profile struggles for two of Japan’s largest and best-known companies–Toyota’s massive recall and Japan Airlines’ bankruptcy–signs of a long-awaited recovery are finally beginning to emerge in the world’s second largest economy. Japan’s economy unexpectedly grew at an annualized rate of 4.6% in the fourth quarter of 2009, crushing analyst estimates of a [...]
In the wake of the recent global recession, many investors have looked to Asia to lead the way to recovery. Emerging economies such as China and India have continued to expand at impressive pace, while Australia was recently one of the first developed markets to raise interest rates. But among these hot zones, Japan remains [...]
