Asia down

[vishaldon]

Oh what a wonder US spy satellites are , they have reported that they have detected signs that North Korea is planning to do a second nuclear test over Japan and this news took the Asian stocks down after a six week high .

What most people fear is that since this is North Korea's long-term plans meaning this is a long-term risk for the neighbouring countries , investors may deviate their money to funds that invest in other less risky countries.
I feel these fears will continue unless and untill a solid solution is found to the North Korea problem

to know more....

 

[wayneL]

Oh what a wonder US spy satellites are , they have reported that they have detected signs that North Korea is planning to do a second nuclear test over Japan and this news took the Asian stocks down after a six week high .

What most people fear is that since this is North Korea's long-term plans meaning this is a long-term risk for the neighbouring countries , investors may deviate their money to funds that invest in other less risky countries.
I feel these fears will continue unless and untill a solid solution is found to the North Korea problem

to know more....

Do I detect another bear in the house?

 

[Sodapop]

Kim Jong Il is just an attention seeking showpony... The situation on the Korean Penninsula is no more explosive than it has been in other past times (see 1976 - Poplar Tree Incident... followed by Operation Paul Bunyan in the DMZ (Wikipedia it!!!))... The thing people need to keep in perspective is that the North's Nukes are not remotely the issue at this stage - its the standing army of 1.2m politically indoctinated (+4-5m 48 hour reserves) that is the worry... The situation has not fundamentally changed - yet... if course if he launches a Taepodong 1 or 2 over Honshu (where i am OH so conveniently typing this from...) and detonates a thermonuclear device over the Pacific ocean to the East of Japan - then we have a real issue - and the markets will have a real issue... Kim is no fool - he cares more for his survival than his political ideology... and the US Admin. knows (I REALLY HOPE THAT THIS IS THE CASE) that a military option is not remotely acceptable... This will sorted out after some chestbeating and hot air (especially from the North)... Much like Ho Chi Minh - he admires the US (and i believe) wants to have "normal" realtions with the US, but through quirks of fate and history (i.e. Dubyas ill advised Axis of evil speech (- he should have replaced DPRK with S.P.E.C.T.R.E. and hoped no-one noticed), the whole Korean War thingy, that ceasefire (as opposed to one of those "armistice thingies") and that Stalinist stuff) he finds himself unable to do anything but stay his course...

Sorry about the long-windedness...

 

[wayneL]

Honshu (where i am OH so conveniently typing this from...) and detonates a thermonuclear device over the Pacific ocean to the East of Japan - then we have a real issue - and the markets will have a real issue...

Whats the feeling over there Soda?

...and what is S.P.E.C.T.R.E. please?

 

[Sodapop]

Whats the feeling over there Soda?

...and what is S.P.E.C.T.R.E. please?

Not a James Bond afficiando Wayne???

The people here are generally pretty realistic about the whole thing (it is at this stage a threat directly to South Korea)... but if he could - Kim would love to stick one to Japan (forgetting the two million+ North Koreans who starved to death on his watch...)... and deep down i think the ones that are really honest and know their history know that this is a problem created by the Post-Modern (1863>) Occupation of the Penninsula 1905-45... That's where Kim's hard-on for Japan comes from (like all despots hanging by a thread - he uses extenal sources for all that is bad and as a vector for all frustrations (check out some of those murals in the North - scary)...), and the fact that the South is streets ahead in everything (it must irk him bad)...

The Right-Wing element would be licking their chops at the (now firming) possibillity of Japan creating it's own nuclear arsenal - i work with teachers (who are prescient of Japan's history - and generally leftist) who on the main are supportive of Japan having an arsenal (a lot of Japanese know that dropping two nukes saved many more Japanese lives than were lost in Hiroshima and Nagasaki - hence the idea is more saleable) ... and there are well-founded rumors floating around that the Japanese Govenment in the past has done secret feasibility studies on nuclear weapons fabrication and could have them in service within months of getting an official go-ahead (plenty of plutonium and know-how here)... That my friends is the scary part -

 

[patanx]

Asian stocks fell from a six-week high, led by Toyota Motor Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co., after U.S. spy satellites were reported to have detected signs that North Korea may be preparing to test a second nuclear weapon.

South Korea's Kospi index snapped a three-day gain that had erased the losses that followed North Korea's first test on Oct. 9. Korea Electric Power Corp. and Posco fell.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index slid 0.2% to 130.96 as of 7:10 p.m. in Tokyo, falling from its highest since Sept. 5. South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.4%, after a three-day, 2.4% advance.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average slid 0.5% to 16,611.59. Sony Corp. fell on concern it may cut its full-year profit forecast. Benchmarks in India and Singapore fell from records, and declined elsewhere in the region, except in Hong Kong, Indonesia, New Zealand and Pakistan.

In this tinny world everything has a reaction... remember what the Butterfly Effect ´s about?? A butterfly moves his wings, it creates a tornado in the other side of the world.

 

[patanx]

Asian shares gain

Australian stocks rose to within 1% of an all-time high. Media shares surged on speculation takeovers in the industry will increase after the government relaxed media ownership laws today.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 31.9, or 0.6%, to 5313.20 as of the 4:10 p.m. close in Sydney. Thirteen stocks gained for every five that dropped. The index is less than 1% from its May 11 record of 5364.5.

New Zealand's NZX 50 Index declined 0.3% to 3664.91 as of the 5 p.m. close in Wellington.

Australia's House of Representatives approved changes to media ownership laws today, paving the way for overseas-based companies to take control of local media, and broadcasters and newspaper publishers to merge. Six of the 12 biggest gainers on the benchmark were media companies.