Location, location, location doesn’t only apply to buying the right
house or piece of real estate, it also means being near the few
countries in the world that are showing growth. March Japanese core
Machinery Orders fell 1.3% m/o/m, better than forecasts of a drop of
4.6% and foreign orders rose by a record 46.4% after sharp declines in
Jan and Feb and a Japanese official said China was definitely a factor
in that demand but they didn’t break out the geographic distribution.
Last summer, China passed the US as Japan’s biggest foreign customer.
The Yen is rallying to a 2 month high vs the $ in response. Led by a
weaker than expected Q1 GDP report from Germany, Euro Zone GDP fell
2.5%, .5% more than expected and it’s the weakest report since euro
region stats were aggregated in ’95. The Euro is at a one week low as a
result. Y/o/Y US CPI is expected to stay negative after last months
biggest fall since ’55.
