Focus on Japan
My comment: Japan's fiscal conditions continues to deteriorate and, due to their inordinate public debt, it would not take much of a rise in JGB rates to sink the country.
February 3 – Bloomberg (Shunichi Ozasa and Kathleen Chu): “Japan Inc. is suffering and the supply chain is bearing the cost. Sumco Corp., a supplier to Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp., said yesterday it will cut 1,300 jobs. Auto windshield maker Nippon Sheet Glass Co., which sells to Mazda Motor Corp., said it will cut 3,500 jobs. They join NEC Corp… which said last month it would eliminate 10,000 positions. The yen’s 7% surge against the dollar in the past 12 months has widened losses at Sony, Mazda and Sharp Corp., which plans to halve TV production at its biggest factory… Manufacturers have been forced to both relocate production outside of Japan and to press their suppliers for cost cuts.”
