Truth behind Japan’s free and open market

Days after Obama announces plan to impose a 35% tariff on tires imported from China, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce says it will look at 'unfair trade means' allegedly aiding U.S.

Japanese government bonds (JGB) futures have been halted once again this evening as the market opens down over 1 point. 10Y yields smash 11.5bps higher to 1.00% and 5Y yields add 6bps to 47bps. These are quite simply unprecedented moves in what 'was' a safe asset class and impresses yet another VaR shock on the market (as we detailed here).

The Bank of Japan finally determined the Japanese people have suffered enough deflation as punishment for the bubbly 1980s economy. New central bank boss Haruhiko Kuroda announced the BoJ will aim to double the monetary base over two years by purchasing long-term bonds, exceed market expectations. How does this compare to the Fed’s bond-buying program? The Financial Times:

Disruption in Knowledge Businesses You may have noticed that record labels, newspapers and book publishers have been going through a bit of turmoil recently. The common thread among them is that they are information-based industries – and by extension, they are knowledge-based industries. The dilemma facing such industries is that information distribution costs are falling to $0, which blows away many of the protective barriers in these industries.

Between the Japanese Industrial Production number, that will be released just half an hour before the day ends, and the University of Michigan's Confidence report, which will be released about an hour into trading, and all the economic indicators that are due in in between, tomorrow is jam-packed with market moving events.