The Democrats Emphatic Win Last Week Doesn’t Mean Much in the Short Term and I’ll Tell You Why

November 14, 2006 - Last week, in the U.S. Mid-Term elections, the Democrats won a stunning sweep of both houses of Congress, throwing the U.S. government into what many term as “gridlock” for the next two years as a Republican President will fight a Democratic Congress. But what does this sweeping change mean in terms of a market perspective?

I really don’t think too much. Maybe that’s just my skepticism, but I think it’s more a dose of reality. The biggest changes that can affect markets are likely to come through legislative changes,

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Japan’s Economy Surprises Today

November 14, 2006 - Just a few hours after I posted my blog entry on J-REITs this morning, this article appeared on the newswires.

“HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Japan’s gross domestic product expanded 0.5% in price-adjusted terms in the three-month period ending in September from the previous quarter, or at an annualized rate of 2%, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of growth, Japan’s Cabinet Office said Tuesday.

The figures bettered forecasts of zero growth for the September-ending quarter, or 0.1% in annualized terms, cited by Thomson Financial IFR.”

So given this surprise growth, investors may start considering re-entering the Japanese markets even before the new year. However, as far as the J-REITS sector is concerned, it is still the ignored ugly duckling, generating very little interest as it patiently waits to morph into a white swan.

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