ASIA:   The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today: NIKKEI 225 increased 510.08 points or 1.77% to 29,301.79 Shanghai decreased 7.45 points or -0.20% to 3,632.33 Hang Seng increased 15.09 points or 0.06% to 23,289.84 ASX 200 increased 145.20 points or 1.95% to 7,589.80 Kospi increased 0.47 points or 0.02% to 2,989.24 […]

ASIA: Singapore’s economy expanded at its fastest annual pace in over a decade in 2021 as the country emerged from its worst recession on record, caused by the deep hit to activity from the coronavirus pandemic. The Singapore economy grew 7.2% in 2021, preliminary data showed on Monday, broadly in line with the government’s official […]

ASIA:   The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today: NIKKEI 225 decreased 162.28 points or -0.56% to 28,906.88 Shanghai decreased 33.11 points or -0.91% to 3,597.00 Hang Seng decreased 194.02 points or -0.83% to 23,086.54 ASX 200 increased 89.50 points or 1.21% to 7,509.80 Kospi decreased 26.95 points or -0.89% to 2,993.29 […]

ASIA:   The major Asian stock markets had a green day today: NIKKEI 225 increased 392.70 points or 1.37% to 29,069.16 Shanghai increased 14.14 points or 0.39% to 3,630.11 Hang Seng increased 56.80 points or 0.24% to 23,280.56 ASX 200 closed Kospi increased 20.69 points or 0.69% to 3,020.24 SENSEX increased 477.24 points or 0.83% […]

ASIA:   The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today: NIKKEI 225 decreased 106.13 points or -0.37% to 28,676.46 Shanghai decreased 2.08 or -0.06% to 3,615.97 Hang Seng closed ASX 200 closed Kospi decreased 12.88 points or -0.43% to 2,999.55 SENSEX increased 295.93 points or 0.52% to 57,420.24 Nifty50 increased 82.50 points or […]

ASIA: Japan’s government is set to unveil its largest annual budget on Friday with $943 billion in spending for the fiscal year beginning next April, further straining the industrial world’s heaviest debt, Reuters reported. The first annual budget to be compiled by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government got a boost from Covid-19 countermeasures, social security […]

ASIA: Japan’s parliament on Monday approved a record extra budget of nearly 36 trillion yen ($317 billion) for the fiscal year through March to help pandemic-hit households and businesses. The budget largely is to fund COVID-19 measures, including booster shot vaccines and oral medicines. It also includes cash payouts for families with children and a […]

ASIA: Chinese economic growth rate is expected to slump below 5 percent following the property crisis, industrial slump, weak consumption, and the fallout from COVID-19-led lockdowns. Think-tank China Finance 40 Forum, which has the deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) as a member, has expressed concerns over growth rate remaining below 5 […]

ASIA: Debt problems at a major Chinese property developer have now spilled over into a vital artery of the nation’s industrial engine – the steel sector – and started to ripple through to other critical parts of the world’s second-largest economy. The spreading balance-sheet crisis at real estate firms is a warning for policymakers as […]

QUESTION: Marty; would you comment on David Stockman’s insistence that the fundamental consequence of 30 years of Fed-fueled financial asset inflation is that the prices of stocks and bonds have way overshot the mark. Thank you HW ANSWER: David Stockman was the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (1981–1985) under President Ronald Reagan. […]