the situation. the nikkei, of course, is down. they re down about 6%, even after the bank of japan pledged to inject 15 trillion yen into the economy to calm investors. now, in the ripple effect of the markets around the world, however, this is really mixed. at home, dow futures are down slightly. markets in london and hong kong are up slightly after a negative friday last week as investors do a little bargain hunting. now, for japanese automakers, here s the thing. the damage hasn t been so much direct to the plant as indirect. now, due to rolling blackouts to conservative energy, an inability to get the cars off the island, toyota, honda, and nissan have all shut down plants for at least a week. honda plants are not going to reopen until the 20th. our most important japanese imports are made in the u.s., but other popular models such as
now in asia, stock markets were down across the region. japanese markets, though, took a beating today. the nikkei tumbling in the early trade and continued to slide throughout the day. it closed down more than 6%. you have to go back to the collapse of lehman s in 2008 to see losses like this in japan. as you see there, the nikkei was 6.18%. in seoul, the kospi pardon, it was up by about 0.8 of 1%. construction companies in seoul getting a lift there. that s based on the fact that there will be a lot of reconstruction needed in japan. australia down by about 4/10 and new zealand down by 2/3. in japan, the bank of japan pumping a record 15 trillion yen into the financial system in a move to build confidence in the markets. that s about $180 or so billion. and the central bank says it will addth in $3 trillion to the
injecting a record 15 trillion yen, $183 billion into the economy, liquidity to go in, and calm investors worries, which is a lot. the economic aftershocks here in the u.s., oil prices are down today due to less demand from japan. now, japan, here the third largest importer of oil. but overall energy prices could rise should they meet a shift from the nuclear power to natural gas and coal. here s the big impact as toyota, honda, and nissan have all shut down plants due to lelectrical shortages and an inability to export. we ll see a possible shortage of car models, including hybrid models, toyota and honda s hybrids are built in japan. we ll also see higher electronic prices because japan is a huge chipmaker. and if they have problems exporting these, as well, there could be a big disruption in terms of export. also, a lot of things you
but in hong kong, the hang seng rose 96. well, given the vast extent of last week s earthquake in japan, not surprisingly companies that do business there, as well as nuclear-related businesses look to be the most vulnerable this week on wall street. tokyo s stock market spiralled downward. japan s central bank has injected a record 15 trillion yen, $183 billion into money markets to try to defend japan s already-fragile economy. keep an eye on the nation s two biggest nuclear operators, exelon and enter g and watch shares of top uranium miners. edison international and pg & e which operate plants in california also may be in play. and expect u.s.-listed shares of japanese companies like auto manufactures, toyota and honda, which have shut down
selling amid record high prices of gold, but the mint is out. the united states minute depleted the inventory of 2010. american buffalo one-ounce gold bullion coins. i have a hunch it isn t the demand of the popularity of the buffalo this season. there is an unusually high option volume right now. which is an indicator that insiders know the leaves are changing. they choose options over buying stock. the uber wealthy are also putting down large options against betting betting against the s&p 500. what does that mean? the smart money is saying the market will tank this month. i m hoping they re wrong. don t listen just to the market listen to your gut. i m just telling you what is happening here. earlier in week japan cut interest to almost zero and set up a 5 trillion yen