1. The Formal End of the Era of Global Negative Interest RatesThe Bank of Japan concluded its two-day monetary policy meeting on the March.19th and decided to set its policy interest rate in the range of 0% to 0.1%, marking the first rate hike by the Bank of Japan in 17 years since February 2007.Hideo Kumano, Chief Economist at Japan's First Life Research Institute, said, "This is a significant policy shift, much more comprehensive than I expected." With this, the formal end of the era of global negative interest rates (in recent years, the BOJ has been the only central bank in the world to maintain negative interest rates) has arrived. This historic shift aims to free the Japanese economy from the deflationary spiral. The effectiveness of Japan's negative interest rate policy, a non-tradi

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq reached their highest closes in 14 months on Tuesday (June 13th) after data showed consumer prices rose modestly in May, boosting bets that the Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates on Wednesday.Regarding the options market, a total volume of 43,195,998 contracts was traded, up 12% from the previous trading day.Top 10 Option VolumesTop 10: $SPY(SPY)$; $QQQ(QQQ)$; $Tesla(TSLA)$; $Nvidia(NVDA)$; $AMD(AMD)$; $IWM(IWM)$; $VIX(VIX)$;

June 19th, $Berkshire Hathaway(BRK.B)$ announces its further increase in holdings of Japan's Five Major Trading Companies!After the close of the Japanese stock market on June 19th, Berkshire Hathaway announced that it will continue to increase its holdings in Japanese stocks. Through its wholly-owned subsidiary, National Indemnity Company, Berkshire Hathaway has raised its average stake in Japan's five major trading companies to over 8.5%.The five major trading companies in Japan are $Itochu Corp.(ITOCY)$, $Marubeni Corp.(MARUY)$, $Mitsubishi Corp.(MSBHF)$, $Mitsui & Co., L

Wall Street stocks may now technically be in a bull market, but exchange traded fund investors appear to be largely resisting the siren call to jump on board the rally. Net inflows to US equity ETFs did tick up to $22.1bn in May, their highest level this year, according to data from BlackRock. However — technology stocks aside — there seemed to be greater enthusiasm for more idiosyncratic assets such as Japanese equities and gold. “The overarching theme is that flows did pick up in US equity, but still nowhere near the peak of flows we have seen in the past,” said Karim Chedid, head of investment strategy for BlackRock’s iShares arm in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The relatively lacklustre buying is suggestive of unusually muted enthusiasm for US stocks, even though the S&P 500

A few days ago, Berkshire Hathaway, led by Warren Buffett, increased its stake in $Occidental(OXY)$ Petroleum , raising its stakes to 25%. Buffett's favoritism towards Occidental Petroleum is well-known, and with the endorsement of the stock market guru, Occidental Petroleum is one of the strongest performing companies in the energy sector.However, Buffett also endorsed an oil and gas company. On July 10th, $Berkshire Hathaway(BRK.B)$ Energy agreed to acquire a 50% stake in $Dominion Resources(D)$ energy's Cove Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Maryland for $3.3 billion. After the completion of the transaction, Berkshire Hathaway will own a 75% limited p

On June 27th, the aviation industry experienced a general surge, with the $U.S. Global Jets ETF(JETS)$ soaring by a remarkable 4.41%, approaching the high point seen in February. Among the three major airlines, $Delta Air Lines(DAL)$ led the rally, reaching a new high for the year and returning to its March 2020 level. $United Continental(UAL)$ and $American Airlines(AAL)$ had relatively smaller declines previously, so their rebound on the same day was slightly less impressive. UAL has shown the strongest rebound since the beginning of the year. Overall, the aviation industry has benefited from low oil prices and a slowdown

On Friday morning July 23, 1982, news broke around the world that a consortium of Japanese companies was acquiring Rouge Steel… which until that point had been a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Ford Motor Corporation. It was unthinkable: the Japanese were buying up an American steel company??!? But it was just one of the first of many, many more acquisitions to come. Within a few years, Japanese companies and investors had bought up large chunks of prime US real estate, major companies, and just about any US asset they could get their hands on. Sony bought the iconic Columbia Pictures (which had recently released cinematic gems like Ghostbusters and The Karate Kid). Japan’s Bridgestone Corp. snapped up the legendary Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. Mitsubishi bought 51% of the world famous R

Following the departure of Sadakazu Tanigaki, the late Shinzo Abe was re-elected chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan on Sept. 26, 2012. Except for the 1993-1994 period, the LDP has consistently been the ruling party in Japan since 1955. Shinzo Abe had grand plans to save Japan after two lost decades of stagnation and deflation. The bursting of a double bubble (both in real estate and the stock market) in the early 1990s ensured that. There was an insufficient response by the Bank of Japan, but Shinzo Abe was allowed to appoint a new governor of the Bank of Japan in April 2013. It became Haruhiko Kuroda, and his appointment allowed the Three Arrows policy to become a success. The first arrow revolved around government investment, the second arrow concerned monetary pol

Since the beginning of 2023, Japanese stock market has outperformed the U.S. stock market.According to Dow Jones Market Data, the TOPIX index, Japan's benchmark index, rose 0.3% on Wednesday, May 17, to reach 2,133.61 points, marking the highest closing level since August 3, 1990.As of Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 index has risen more than 20% year-to-date, surpassing the 8.81% gain of the $S&P 500(.SPX)$ . The largest ETF tracking Japanese stocks, iShares MSCI Japan (WJ), has also risen 11.8% as of Wednesday.data from tradingviewWhy does Japanese stock market hit a 33-year high?1) Dividend payments and share buybacks reached a record high of $71.4 billionJapan has been promoting corporate governance reform for many years, including strengthening

When the shogun of value investing in Japan says "jump", my only possible response is "How high?". The Japanese stock market has been one of the bright stories this year UP +29% relative US stocks which are up +15%. The rally in Japanese stocks in 2023 has been broad-based. What's interesting about Japanese stocks is the rally has not be by singular sectors or themes (like the US) but by but rather a more broad-based rally. Japan has been put on the map by global investors since Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway $Berkshire Hathaway(BRK.B)$ made their earlier investments in Japanese commodity trading firms. Buffett disclosed in August 2020 that he acquired slightly more than 5% in each of Japan's top five trading houses: Itochu Co

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway made significant investments in five major Japanese companies in August 2020. The companies in which Berkshire Hathaway invested are: 1. Itochu Corporation: Itochu is a diversified conglomerate engaged in various businesses such as trading, textiles, machinery, energy, and more. Berkshire Hathaway acquired a stake in the company. 2. Marubeni Corporation: Marubeni is another prominent Japanese trading company involved in various sectors like energy, metals, chemicals, machinery, and more. Berkshire Hathaway also invested in Marubeni. 3. Mitsubishi Corp: Mitsubishi Corp, a part of the Mitsubishi Group, is one of Japan’s largest trading and investment companies. Berkshire Hathaway purchased shares in Mitsubishi Corp. 4. Mitsui & Co.: Mitsui & Co

When the shogun of value investing in Japan says "jump", my only possible response is "How high?". The Japanese stock market has been one of the bright stories this year UP +29% relative US stocks which are up +15%. The rally in Japanese stocks in 2023 has been broad-based. What's interesting about Japanese stocks is the rally has not be by singular sectors or themes (like the US) but by but rather a more broad-based rally. Japan has been put on the map by global investors since Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway $Berkshire Hathaway(BRK.B)$ made their earlier investments in Japanese commodity trading firms. Buffett disclosed in August 2020 that he acquired slightly more than 5% in each of Japan's top five trading houses: Itochu Corp, Marube

The Japanese Stock Market: A Sleeping Giant The Japanese stock market has been on a journey in recent years, with the Nikkei 225 index more than doubling in value since 2012. There are a number of reasons for this strong performance, including: • Abenomics: The economic reforms implemented by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have helped boost the Japanese economy and corporate earnings. • A weak yen: This made Japanese stocks more attractive to foreign investors. • Strong corporate earnings: Japanese companies have been reporting strong earnings growth in recent quarters. • As a result of these factors, Japanese stocks are now trading at some of their highest levels in years. However, there are still a number of attractive investment opportunities in the Japanese market. When choosing Ja

The Nikkei 225, Japan's stock index, shattered records on June 13, 2023, closing above 33,000 for the first time since 1990. Warren Buffett's investments in Japan have proven to be immensely profitable, particularly his initial purchase of a group of trading firms in 2020, which have now skyrocketed to new all-time highs. Beyond these noteworthy picks, eight additional component stocks of the Nikkei 225 index joined the ranks of reaching historical all-time highs lately. Is Japan's resurgence finally here after a 30-year wait? https://finbiteinsights.substack.com/p/buffetts-investment-in-japan-pays

Tytyty good morning 

A chain reaction will deeply damage the outlook of US banks. Still not done with the collapse