Business Monitor International (BMI) has just published a Special Report examining the economic consequences of Japan’s March 11, 2011, earthquake. The report analyses the following topics: The economic consequences for Japan The impact of the quake on global financial markets The impact on global commodity prices The impact on Japan’s infrastructure sector The impact on… [Read more]

Yesterday, my colleagues and I wrote about the domestic implications of Japan’s earthquake. Today, we look at some of the more salient external ramifications: Downside Risks For Base Metals… Base metals continue to correct in line with the view our Commodities team presented last week, but the earthquake in Japan has added additional downside pressure… [Read more]

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has described Friday’s devastating earthquake and its aftermath as the country’s worst disaster since World War II. Indeed, it is quite possible that the latest quake will surpass the Great Hanshin Earthquake of January 1995 in terms of lives lost and damages incurred. Japan is better placed than many other… [Read more]

I’ve long been a keen observer of ‘Frontier Markets’, that is, markets which are considered too risky for most investors, due to their political instability or economic mismanagement/vulnerability. However, these markets sometimes provide the best returns. A case in point is Sri Lanka, whose Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) index has emerged as the best-performing stock… [Read more]