So everyone on the East will be waking up soon and getting to the office to check WSO. And you'll learn about the 8.9 earthquake that hit Japan a few hours ago, along with the crazy tsunamis that have swept across the country. Twitter is goin crazy, my facebook feed has everyone praying and whatnot.
My question is do you guys think this could be the tipping point for the market? Seeing as Japan is so tech heavy, shares should drop a bit. We'll definitely see the market as a whole fall later today. And I'm sure rice will have a lot more traffic that it normally does. Also look at the other locations that will feel the effect. Russia will have unrest from tsunami warnings. Hawaii is being evacuated/moved to higher ground, so sugar should trade a lot more as well.
But with everything seemingly crashing down right now... Euro crisis, middle east unrest, oil crisis, and now this. It seems like everything that CAN go wrong, will go wrong. Since a lot of this recession has had to do with consumer confidence building back up, when do you feel we will start going back into a slump?
I thought a close under 12 was bad yesterday, but I'm just bracing myself for what's going to happen today.
8.9*
Shits crazy dude. You'd think the Lord would let the Middle East calm down before he put Japan in a paint shaker.
The end is near (2012)
This might be the largest earthquake in world history since Alaska in 1964.
IIi, this will not be the the largest earthquake in world history since Alaska in 1964.
Chile May 1960: 9.5 Alaska 1964: 9.2
As of today, the 9.5 magnitude earthquake in Chile is the Largest earthquake in the World.
Consequences of the Chilean earthquake:
Approximately 1,655 killed, 3,000 injured, 2,000,000 homeless, and $550 million damage in southern Chile; tsunami caused 61 deaths, $75 million damage in Hawaii; 138 deaths and $50 million damage in Japan; 32 dead and missing in the Philippines; and $500,000 damage to the west coast of the United States.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/events/1960_05_22.php
earthquake that caused the big tsunami in asia a few years ago was bigger, although epicenter was out in the ocean.
You are right. The Sumatra earthquake was 9.1
I think it was Illini, have you seen the tsunami videos? Man that was scary. My prayers to all the Japanese.
Can anyone explain why the Yen is up though?
EDIT: nevermind, got my answer already
Whats the answer?
Holy ish!!!
Umm... yeah, I come to WSO to get my dose of global news.
Ha yeah, i woke up this morning turned CNN on and thought, fuck i better get to the office and hop on WSO to find out the truth behind this earthquake
Note: never mis-type something in a post on WSO.
I meant to talk about markets for the day, along with learning about the news from other sources. I didn't word that too well, my apologies.
Guys-- in all seriousness, can we rank the prestige of earthquakes of the recent past. What do you think is more prestigious, a strong earthquake based on the richtor scale (i.e. 8.5) or raw carnage associated with the quake?
just in
another 2~300 bodies found
HE SAID SINCE 1964 jsdhfkjladfkjlad motherfucking goddamnit.
You are right. He said SINCE. Anyhow, it still not the biggest one SINCE Alaska because the Sumatra earthquake was 9.1.
Not 2012. I say 2011 Sep. 11.
ndh
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2011/03/world/hires.japan.quake/index.ht… ridiculous pictures
Wow, thats horrible. Kind of crazy how it seems we're so sophisticated and in control of things.
I'll take a silver nanner actually. I'm not a cyber bully (whatever the fuck AOL chatroom thats from) I just think people should be able to read. Sue me.
You want a silver nanner? Take one.
You want a silver nanner? Take one.
Believe me dude, in some of your responses to the kids here, yo do try to sound like a wannabe cyber-bully. Anyhow, it doesn't work with everyone. pfff , I am not impressed with your tone.
All he was asking you do, was read...it's that simple....he comes of sarcastic because its true... If you wan't someone to hold your hand finance isn't the industry for you.
The dude on bloomberg news right now covering the quake/tunasimi has the most douchey glasses.
jesus i just saw vids of the quake/tsunami and they were scary as fuck
I'm sure there's a lot more to it but the same thing happened during the Kobe earthquake apparently, the Japanese started repatriating foreign assets which led to an 18% gain back then so I guess the traders are betting that the same thing would happen. Or it already has. Either way, at the very least its a flight to safety, even though this may turn out bullish for Japanese equities.
So that means Yen rally?
I think that's what they're betting on. Here's what happened to the Yen after the Kobe earthquake:
Not a good time to be long any firms involved in nuclear engineering:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/11/japan.nuclear/index.html?hp…
Don't want to be a sensationalist, but this looks as bad as Three Mile Island. This is a genuine loss-of-coolant-accident. The good news is that this is a western Reactor with a 6 ft thick containment dome to prevent the kind of steam explosion that caused Chernobyl to spread radioactive debris that resulted in a 1000 square mile exclusion zone, but a below-ground breach of containment wouldn't be a picnic, either.
The good news is that unlike 1979, we know what the problem is. The bad news is that we don't know how to fix it right now. They're reporting that the water levels "are trending down" and the reactor core is overheating.
I give them 50-50 odds of fixing this before a breach of containment, and 95-5 odds that if there is a breach, it will be below ground and result in an order of magnitude less damage than Chernobyl.
I give it a 0% chance that if there is a breach anyone is going to find out about it.
I find this to be pretty bullish for Japanese equities (I was bullish before but this adds to my case). Natural disasters are generally inflationary and growth-enhancing because they destroy productive capacity/infrastructure that needs replacing, look at the US numbers that printed after Katrina. In the case of Japan, which suffers from an existential crisis of weak demand, this should be pretty helpful. Hard to make a call on the yen, the currency really doesn't trade on much logic. Possible that we may see more accommodative measures from the BOJ.
You can't seriously be implying there is an observable correlation between a single natural disaster and the performance of the US economy? There is a big difference between the size and economic scale of the United States and that of Japan. For a natural disaster to actually have an observable impact on the US economy, it would have to be faaaar worse than Katrina... which says a lot.
I'm not talking about a material directional change, but if you look at the way the data trended and outliers from the trend after Katrina happened you can clearly see the impact. On Bloomberg try pulling up CPI YOY and GDP QOQ, there is a spike in both right after Katrina. You can expect these spikes to be much more significant in the case of Japan.
How many shocks can the global economy handle? Way too much shit happening this year. Also anyone know why there have been so many earthquakes the past couple of years?
It's just the beginning of 2012 end of the world...
I just heard that radiation is being vented from neculear plants to prevent damage to the reactors. There are hundreds of engineers there working in conditions that will more than likely kill them. That my friends is true bravery and loyalty to your country and fellow citizens.
http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20110312-red-alert-nuclear-meltdown-qu…
Wow.
thats totally overkill by that website. An explosion did happen tempatures and pressures did rise for a breif moment, but they said there has been no radiaiton leak and that saftey measures have lowered pressures and tempatures.
Eligendi quibusdam iste animi vero ut cumque. Sit explicabo et asperiores dolor est esse ad libero. Animi perspiciatis aut et laboriosam magnam.
Dolor sint similique molestiae optio ullam consectetur nostrum. Cupiditate soluta quia quaerat perferendis. At eum consequatur qui incidunt corrupti. Aut repellat perspiciatis delectus.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Aliquam impedit sunt ut id sed voluptas autem. Eum aut magnam expedita omnis doloremque. Eligendi quo non exercitationem corrupti debitis eos. Sit et veritatis atque.
Magni et ipsa pariatur ducimus. Beatae sit harum dignissimos. Quia et ut aliquam error nobis asperiores. Nostrum ut quis animi molestiae ut perspiciatis.
Nemo non similique maiores voluptatem voluptatibus. Nihil explicabo minima vitae dolorum. Mollitia veniam minima aliquid nisi asperiores asperiores. Fugiat vitae quo veritatis.
Aliquid laboriosam rerum optio autem nemo aut eveniet. Eveniet totam expedita totam. Ipsam est et aliquid est autem. Vel est consequatur saepe eligendi facilis quia molestiae. Voluptate harum vitae aspernatur rerum perferendis odio.