Idiot of the day: Japan
September 14, 2010
– Comments (4)
It is uncommon to hear a seller complain about having too many buyers, but Japan did just that.
Fortunately, there is an easy solution: if you don't like the fact that people are buying your bonds, don't sell them.
Or even better, issue a statement highlighting the dangers of holding your bonds: inflation risk, opportunity cost, risk of downgrades, etc. Ask your pension fund to dump its bond holdings. You may also want to default on some of your bonds to boost your credibility and prove that you're not bluffing. Your bonds will soon fall out of favor with investors and your currency will become much cheaper.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tokyo-to-query-beijing-on-its-jgb-purchases-2010-09-09?reflink=MW_news_stmp
" Japan plans to ask China why it's buying large amounts of Japanese-government debt, as concern that such purchases could be behind the yen's recent surge have escalated. "We are paying close attention," Japanese Minister of Finance Yoshihiko Noda told lawmakers on Thursday, referring to the recent increases in Chinese purchases of JGBs. "I don't know the true intention" of China regarding its growing appetite for JGBs, but Tokyo plans to "closely cooperate (with Beijing) and examine its intention." Noda also said he thought it strange that China could buy Japanese debt while reciprocal purchases were not permitted."
RSS Headlines
Fool UK