Investment Briefing March 2011: Japan

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When catastrophe strikes somewhere in the world and many lives are lost, and the human suffering is unbearable for all involved, questions about the economic cost of the disaster and

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Investor Signposts: Week Beginning March 20 2011

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The big picture If you wanted to get a good textbook example of a ‘fear-driven’ event it is the so-called Japanese nuclear crisis. It started with one of the biggest

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Credit shines and bond yields to head upwards, says INGIM

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Credit is expected to shine over the coming quarter while Australian bonds will continue to outperform their global counterparts, according to the latest fixed income outlook from ING Investment Management

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Europe’s reversal of fortunes: core trumps peripherals

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Until recently, the defining theme of European economic monetary union since its introduction in 1999 was the convergence of the peripheral economies (ex-Soviet bloc and outlying countries) and core Europe

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Can Indonesia be Asia’s star bourse for a third straight year?

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Indonesia’s stock market in 2010 was the star performer among the 10 countries in the MSCI Asia ex-Japan Index for a second straight year.1 So far, however, 2011 hasn’t been

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Lending slides; Futures market bets on rate cut

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Lending finance; RBA Board minutes; New Car Sales Lending slumped in January. Total lending finance fell for the first time in the five months – down by 6.0 per cent

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The Great Sendai Earthquake of 2011

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Perspectives At 2.46pm on Friday March 11, an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale occurred off the north east coast of Japan near Sendai, triggering a 10 metre tsunami

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Credit cards on the outer; Petrol on the rise

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Credit card lending; Weekly Petrol Price Credit card balances are growing at the slowest annual pace in 16 months. The average credit card balance in January was up just 0.8

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The likely economic/financial impact of Japan’s earthquake

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Key points The Japanese earthquake has caused terrible human suffering. In terms of the economic impact, in the short term it will likely depress Japan’s economy as a result of

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China: Food inflation remains high

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Chinese economic data Inflation prints above forecast. China’s annual inflation rate held steady in February at 4.9 per cent, but was above expectations centred on a result near 4.8 per

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