After cornering the bond market, the Bank of Japan has its sight on the stock market with a Record Buying Binge in March.
The Bank of Japan spent 833 billion yen ($7.8 billion) on exchange-traded funds tracking the country’s shares last month, the largest amount ever according to data back to 2010. The BOJ stepped in as the Japanese market slumped and its benchmark Topix index inked its first back-to-back monthly declines since the start of 2016. Haruhiko Kuroda’s bank is now ahead of its scheduled goal to spend about 6 trillion yen a year on ETFs. “If the market keeps on falling, there will be the problem of what they do next,” said Kazuyuki Terao, chief investment officer for the Japan arm of Allianz Global Investors.
Just buy them all. 100% of every ETF. Given the Bank of Japan has cornered the bond market, it’s simply the logical next step.
Once Upon a Time
Once upon a time, I seem to recall central banks discussing and setting monetary policy in a very strange way.
For those of you not old enough to remember, the Fed and other central banks actually discussed the growth rate of money supply at monetary policy meetings.
How peculiar, to actually discuss money at monetary policy meetings. Those silly days are gone.
New Normal
- Central banks now sponsor negative interest rates, something that could never happen in the real world.
- The Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank are playing roulette with the stock market.
- The Fed embarked on three rounds of QE to force bond yields lower.
- The ECB is still at it, in a clear attempt to keep Italy on life support.
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