🔴 Japanese insurers' unrealized LOSSES are HUGE
▶️ The biggest insurers’ paper losses on their domestic bond holdings hit a record ¥8.5 TRILLION ($60BN) in Q1. 💥 Nippon Life, the largest insurer and the world’s 6th-largest saw ¥3.6TN ($25BN) LOSS. Source: Global Markets Investor
Yield on Japanese government hashtag#bonds are back to the highs they reached in May.
Japan was always held up by the MMT (Modern Monetary Theory) crowd as an example for how debt doesn't matter because governments can always cap yields. That view needs to be retired along with MMT. Fiscal space seems to be finite. Not infinite. Source: Robin Brooks, Bloomberg
ROBOTAXIS ARE ALREADY OUT THERE
You can literally order a car with no driver in Phoenix, Shanghai, or even Seoul. No driver, no small talk, just you, a robot, and your questionable playlist. This isn’t sci-fi. From Austin to Abu Dhabi, robotaxis are creeping onto real streets. Watch your Uber driver sweat. Source: Statista thru Mario Nawfal on X
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States has struck a trade deal with Vietnam that includes a 20% tariff on the southeast Asian country’s imports to the U.S.
*ADP PRIVATE PAYROLLS: -33K vs 98K exp. First negative print since March 2023. Private sector hiring unexpectedly contracted in June, payrolls processing firm ADP said Wednesday, in a possible sign that the economy may not be as sturdy as investors believe as they bid the S&P 500 back up to record territory to end the month. Private payrolls lost 33,000 jobs in June, the ADP report showed, the first decrease since March 2023. Economists polled by Dow Jones forecast an increase of 100,000 for the month. The May job growth figure was revised even lower to just 29,000 jobs added from 37,000. To be sure, the ADP report has a spotty track record on predicting the subsequent government jobs report, which investors tend to weigh more heavily. May’s soft ADP data ended up differing significantly from the monthly jobs report figures that came later in the week. Source: Zerohedge, Bloomberg, CNBC
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority said it used HK$9.4bn ($1.2bn) of its reserves to buy Hong Kong dollars on the open market.
It acted after the local currency dropped past HK$7.85 per US dollar, the weak end of the band within which it is allowed to trade. The move will drain liquidity from the banking system and pushed up interbank lending rates on Thursday, potentially threatening a carry trade that has allowed investors to borrow cheaply in the city’s currency before investing in higher-yielding US debt securities. Source: FT https://lnkd.in/evksjsp9
US Tariffs have massive negative consequences on Japan's car exports
Source: GIR, zerohedge
JAPAN MAY CORE CPI INFLATION RISES 3.7% Y/Y; EST. 3.6%; PREV. 3.5%
HIGHEST SINCE JANUARY 2023 $JPY Source: investing.com
Asian nations have NEVER owned so many US assets:
The 11 largest Asian countries have accumulated $4.7 TRILLION of US stocks and bonds over the last 28 years. Their total investments in the US reached $7.5tn. ➡️ Will they bring the money back home? Source: Global Markets Investor, zerohedge, Bloomberg
