90 seconds at 9 am with BNZ: Nuclear panic grips Japan; Oil and Gold fall; Dow only down 0.8%; Milk powder price down 8.2%

The worse case scenario is an increased possibility with people almost nowhere to go, then overseas.

So PM - why not evacuate the number of people from Japan, which we can accommodate here in New Zealand, among them 5’000, who have knowledge and skill to build Christchurch urgently back to the most wonderful “Garden City” in the world ?

Save power supply from nuclear plants are worldwide in question, some will be shut down and therefore have an impact on economic growth until replaced - hmm!?? The worldwide humanitarian, economic and financial implications, in case only 1/3 of Japan is inhabitable including Tokyo will be massive.

Hopefully the world is rethinking growth in respect of our environment and humanity.

You are right Walter, the implications of this are huge, but probably no suprise to some on here.

Energy has become everything in the modern world with Japan fragile in its dependency from outside sources.

What is clear is that the potential crisis in the Persian Gulf, the loss of nuclear reactors and the rising radiation levels will undermine the confidence of the Japanese. Beyond the human toll, these reactors were Japan’s hedge against an unpredictable world.

Read more: Japan, the Persian Gulf and Energy | STRATFOR 

However I disagree about importing large numbers of Japanese to New Zealand. We already have a problem with dilution of the dominant culture here. Eastern cultures are so different that a shock wave of them would have significant effect, afterall look what Europeans did to Maori. 5000 would probably be okay, but not all to one location.

Please note I am not saying Eastern is better or worse, just a difference that can cause division.

You have to laugh...". the US Federal Reserve upgraded its economic outlook"...and the idiot market believed them!...taking no notice of the fact Bernanke is to carry on printing QE2 and looks set to start QE3...then QE4...then.......

How bloody stupid can investors be?

I regard the US Fed as a pathological lying pack of criminals.

I bloody well told you …….When everyone was so optimistic about how markets would benefit from Japans reconstruction , etc ,etc , I warned of extreme volatility in markets , specifically the Foreign exchange market . I felt very uncomfortable about the effects on the Bond  market and the Stock market .

A blogger called FX rat was particularly disparaging of my views which he called “simplistic”.

Well let me tell you right now we are heading for a global market rout in the next few weeks, which will make Lehman Brothers look like a Sunday School picnic.

Cash is the only place to be for the next few months , not stocks, bonds , currencies, commodities  or property. 

Japan is too big to remove from the world economy's GDP without seriuos knock-on effects all round .

Expect extreme volatility and big losses on all bourses 

The drop in milk powder prices mirrors the drop in commodities overall and the sharp fall in the aus$...what does it signal for the future....if commodities continue to dive on market fear, bollard may decide he is safe to stay at 2.5% thinking inflation is not coming...foolish move given the chances of a middle east fireball of rebellion and likely oil shutdown at a time when Nuclear plants are closing for checks and oil demand is to jump higher.

The price of coal will likely rebound to new highs as demand jumps re the nuclear mess.

Gerry will push to dig the Southland lignite out while world demand is high and likely to stay high for 25 years. Solid Energy will go after Pike River and the mountain top will be cut off to expose the seam of high grade coal. lots of jobs in both areas.

Meanwhile expect heaps of delays in Chch and sharply rising materials prices.

Longer term JK should put some polish on the immigration policy because there will be a bloody large number of wealthy in the northern hemisphere wanting to have a safe hide out down here.

property in Qtown will explode in price.

 "Auckland is likely to make a huge economic gain should the Christchurch Rugby World Cup games be relocated, Auckland interest groups say." herald

Stuff Auckland.....the game will be either in Chch or Dunedin.

Off the cuff thought............expect insurance companies to offload the tens of thousands of Japanese quake and Tsunami damaged new vehicles...onto the NZ market asap....the price for second hand stuff here is set to crash.....

Japan nuclear safety agency says Fukushima No. 4 reactor roof is cracked

Does Japan have access to any Aircraft Carriers ? If they did they could plug them into their local grid for the next few years( more like 5 years of more) while they get industry and living conditions back up. Though they might be over NR's for now

Just poping out to finish the shelter,

HSBC said appetite for "Uridashi" bonds of countries such as Brazil, South Africa, and Australia has "collapsed", cutting off a key source of fresh funding. The bigger effect is liquidation of global assets built up during the "carry trade", when Japan's insurers, funds and famed housewives ("Mrs Watanabe") fled zero rates to chase yield abroad. These assets include UK equities, US municipal bonds and commodity funds.

This is why an earthquake in a region covering 6pc of Japan's economy – or less than 0.5pc of global output – has set off a global rout.

Other dangers abound. CreditSights said Japan's three top banks hold $1 trillion (£62bn) of local equities. These holdings are underwater once the Topix index falls much below 800, hence the worries over the 16pc drop to 767 over the past two days.

The Bank of Japan keeps a close eye on equities and the yen. It has intervened with 21 trillion yen (£168bn) of liquidity and doubled bond purchases to 10 trillion yen to boost confidence.

Hans Redeker from BNP Paribas said the "pressure point" is the $3.9 trillion portfolio of government bonds held by the banks. The fiscal strain of the earthquake comes at time when tax revenue already covers less than half the budget, public debt is 225pc of GDP, and pension funds are becoming net sellers of bonds to meet payouts to the elderly.

I suspect that we could relocate a significant group of the most creative Japaneese and their industries to New Zealand and within a few years, the ecconomic managment of our country would have crushed them as it has for most of our creative exporters.  We need to take responsibility ourselves as a nation for the position that we are in, and not rely on some extrnal force swooping in and majically making it all better.  Grow up New Zealand!

The cost of insurance and rebuilding could cause global markets to falter – and the Japanese economy to boom

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/15/japan-earthquake-global-markets

Here you go guys and gals:

Strong hydro inflows and generation from new wind and geothermal sources has resulted in the highest level ever of annual renewable electricity generation, Acting Minister for Energy and Resources Hekia Parata said today.

“Over 32,000 gigawatt hours of electricity was produced from renewable sources in 2010 which is the highest level ever. This represents over 74 percent of all electricity generated in 2010 – a level we have not seen for 12 years.

“Generating more of New Zealand’s electricity from renewable sources will help us meet demand and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions,’’ says Ms Parata.

Data on the supply of major fuels, electricity generation and greenhouse gas emissions and the prices to the end of December 2010, is available in the latest edition of the New Zealand Energy Quarterly, published by the Ministry of Economic Development today.

Other highlights include:

Lowest quarterly electricity generation emissions in seven years. The high level of renewable electricity generation this quarter led to less reliance on thermal electricity generation sources and a decrease in electricity generation emissions.

Diesel demand returns to pre-recession levels. Diesel demand bounced back this quarter to a level not seen since June 2008.

Highest annual gas production in eight years. Production from the Kupe field saw total production at its highest level since 2002.

The New Zealand Energy Quarterly is one of a number of energy publications produced by the Ministry of Economic Development.

It is free to download or subscribe to by going to www.med.govt.nz/energy/nzeq. The Ministry also provides up-to-date information via its energy data web pages at www.med.govt.nz/energy/data.

The word just out is that markets could well cascade lower on fear and the disposal of assets to raise loot and escape shorts and longs that are wrong way bets. This explains the lies from the fed overnight.

 "The price of used Japanese cars will rise because of the number of vehicles lost and damaged in the earthquake, motor industry insiders say".herald

They were quick ...what they don't mention is the fact that the japanese insurance industry will be quick to export the damaged brand new stuff at reduced prices and NZ will see a wave of vehicles ...brand new....with no more than dents and dings...at greatly reduced prices.

But that's not a message to tell the sheeple is it!

Without meaning to sound crass , but from an economic perspective , the earthquake & tsunami in Japan may lead to a pressure-release  of the frothy commodities markets worldwide . ..... . Even the steroid monster USA economy , hooked on Dr Bernanke's pick-me-up QE needles , would benefit from a breather .

........ And to agree with Walter , I personally would be willing to assist the Japanese people , by accepting 5000 Ginza girls into Chateau  Gummy Bear .... Brilliant idea , Kunzie , cheers !

Correct Wolly, everyone in CHC thinks it should go to Dunedin if not here, money can still be spent in SI, CHC people can go down and watch it. Plenty beds in Queenstown/Wanaka, the govt can even put that vessel down there for the beds. If AKL gets all QTR ,Semis and the Final then that would be a real shame for the rest of NZ and a waste of money if only one region was to benefit.

Civil war being declared in Bahrain seems to have slipped under the radar this morning.

the actuals courtesy of NHK World...BOJ supplies additional 8 trillion yen to market

The Bank of Japan has supplied additional funds to the financial market to calm concerns over falling share prices after the massive earthquakes and tsunami.



The central bank provided 5 trillion yen, an equivalent of nearly 60 billion dollars, to the short-term money market on Tuesday morning.



In the afternoon, the bank injected another 3 trillion yen, or 37 billion dollars, to the market, bringing the total to 8 trillion yen, or just below 100 billion dollars.



The central bank also plans to supply 12 trillion yen, or nearly 150 billion dollars, through such measures as buying government bonds held by financial institutions.



The Bank of Japan pumped a record of 15 trillion yen, or more than 180 billion dollars, into the financial market on Monday.

Priceless put-down for the "broken window" crowd.

"we cannot abstain from expressing our utter contempt for the many idiots who have already begun parroting the standard Keynesian nonsense that this calamity will ultimately 'prove positive for GDP', or that the rebuilding efforts can only redound to the nation's well-being to the extent that they shake it out of its ongoing 'deflation'.

As is their wont, such imbecile Cargo Culters are once again making a fetish of a coarse-grained statistic which is supposed—however imperfectly—to offer a rough measure of material progress being made in the real economy and not the converse, leading them to lose all focus on what is actually happening to people's living standards and wealth accumulation.

Japan has been stricken with a huge loss of productive capital—as well as an appalling toll of human suffering—and this cannot do anything other than to leave the nation discernibly poorer and, by extension, to curtail its ability to make people across the world better off than they otherwise would be by offering them valuable goods and services as part of that beneficent mutual enrichment which is the international division of labour, conducted under conditions of free(ish) exchange.

Contrary to popular belief, the Japanese have not, in fact, been trapped in a deflationary slough of stagnation these past two decades as both the real and nominal supply of money have risen throughout his period (with the exception of the worst months of the GFC itself), while real per capita  national income has also increased modestly, especially on a PPP, or TWI-adjusted basis. Granted, the consumer price basket has trended lower at a rate of less than 1% a year, but this is something which is presumably no more than a reflection of ongoing productivity gains—ones delivered, to boot, in a country formerly marvelled at for the extreme levels of its domestic pricing.

But, even were we to subscribe to this myth of secular slump, the idea that to eradicate a large quantum of people's possessions or to evaporate a sizeable fraction of their nest-eggs would be to contribute to their prosperity is to reckon that in futilely striving to heft his rock up the hill for all eternity, Sisyphus was the most tireless 'engine of growth' for Hades at large."

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/sean-corrigans-letter-all-idiots-who-believe-japanese-calamity-will-prove-positive-gdp

FYI Christchurch loses the World Cup

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/rugby-world-cup/4773298/Christchurch…

Reports coming through on twitter that Fukushima plant is being evacuated (abandoned?) due to excessive radiation levels

Bernard,

Peter Schiff today :

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=4vz345JnZUo&vq=medium

Relate what he says about Japan too what Bollard claims CHCH will do for our economy:

ie claiming "rebuilding" as the new economic stimulus

"Panics do not destroy capital; they merely reveal the extent to which it has been previously destroyed by its betrayal into hopelessly unproductive works".

-- John Stuart Mill

Günther Oettinger, Europe's energy commissioner, said: "There is talk of an apocalypse and I think the word is particularly well chosen. Practically everything is out of control. I cannot exclude the worst in the hours and days to come."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8384809/Japan-nuclear-plant-disaster-warning-of-an-apocalypse-as-fallout-hits-danger-levels.html

Olly – olla – New Zealand's next property boom coming.

 http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/16/business-us-tokyo-bankers-idUKTRE72F2MP20110316?pageNumber=2