by Martin Armstrong
Armstrong Economics
$278bn and the market is still disappointed! Despite the package provided by the Japanese government today late futures trading has followed the weaker cash market and extended losses by another 2%. Confidence is slightly dented as the market was hoping we would see the helicopter approach and that is why the market continued to sink and the JPY approaches the 100 level given there is no bazooka to be seen. China was really a side story today, together with the expected RBA rate cut but given all the action concentrated within Japan with Hong Kong restricted by adverse weather conditions.
In Europe it was banks that were again centre-stage. BMPS down 16%, Unicredit down 7%, UBS down 6%, Commerzbank down 9%, and Deutsche Bank -4% these make Barclays, RBS, and HSBC down between 2 and 3% look good!