CL Redux

Quote from RichardRimes:

If we are down 50 ES in the AM I'll start building a fall out shelter!

I was laughing at this earlier as I missed what was up in Japan as far as the market goes. Was watching the Lakers/Magic game. But actually ES is almost down 50 points. It was down 41. Wow. The Nikkei was down 14% in the afternoon session and has only rebound a bit.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/japans-nikkei-plunges-again-over-radiation-fears-2011-03-14

Japan stock crash threatens global markets

By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Japanese equities crashed Tuesday after Prime Minister Naoto Kan said a “substantial amount” of radiation was leaking from a nuclear power plant affected by Friday’s massive earthquake and tsunami.

The share plunge raised concerns that the disaster, which many analysts believed was so far restricted to Japan, could now have wider impact on global markets.

“Over the weekend, global sentiment outside of Japan was far too optimistic. ... This thing is still unfolding, as we trade the market. The only drivers coming out are increasing risks and more negative news and higher probability of an unfortunate outcome,” said Ben Collett, head of Japanese equities at Louis Capital Markets.

“Global markets are ignoring the impact of this. ... With a 12% down-move on the Nikkei, you’ve got to sell not just the Nikkei but also the S&P [and other global markets],” unless we see a Japanese government-led and coordinated move to support markets, said Collett.

The benchmark Nikkei Stock Average (NIHON:JP:NI225) nosedived 12.8% to 8,390.92 in early afternoon trading on a fresh wave of what appeared to be indiscriminate selling across sectors. The drop came on top of Monday’s 6.2% tumble. Nikkei 225 futures traded in Osaka plunged 12% to 8,330, after trading was reportedly halted briefly earlier in the day.

The latest sell-off came after one more explosion was reported at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s (TOKYO:JP:9501) (PINK:TKECY) Fukushima Daiichi plant’s No. 2 reactor, on top of previous explosions at No. 1 and No. 3 reactors. Authorities said there was a fire at No. 4 reactor, though that was later reported extinguished. See full story on Japanese nuclear crisis.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said there was high risk of radiation leak from the facility, and asked residents near the facility to stay indoors, saying “substantial amounts of radiation are leaking in the area.”

The plunge for the benchmark, which was among Asia’s best performing indexes in 2011 not many days ago, gave the Nikkei a net loss of more than 18% in the year to date at its latest level Tuesday. It also kept the Nikkei on course to fare worse than its 11.4% slump on Oct. 16, 2008.

Among the worst-hit shares, Aozora Bank Ltd. (TOKYO:JP:8304) (PINK:AOZOF) slumped 24.6%, JVC Kenwood Holdings Inc. (TOKYO:JP:6632) (PINK:JVCZF) dropped 20%, Takaoka Electric Manufacturing Co. (TOKYO:JP:6621) surrendered 14.7%, and chip maker Renesas Electronics Corp. (PINK:RNECY) (TOKYO:JP:6723) skidded 14.7%.

Elsewhere in the region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index (THE:HK:HANGSENG) plunged 3.6%, China’s Shanghai Composite (SHANGHAI:CN:SHCOMP) fell 2.1% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 (AUSTRALIAN:AU:XJO) gave up 1.9%, all in apparent reaction to the nuclear situation in Japan
 
Quote from RichardRimes:

Schizo...JMO it could be fear of economic meltdown which would collapse the demand for energy. If Japan falls into the economic abyss....perhaps it will take us with it. Remember our recovery is very fragile and it is a world economy. Nuclear disaster anywhere in the world affects the entire world. If disaster is averted then a positive rebuilding energy happens and we re-focus on the mid-East and energy goes up.
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Yes, if fact I reached the same conclusion when I wrote this last night but it still puzzles me nonetheless.

Quote from schizo:

That really depends on how big the damage is. If the scope is so huge that it can potentially drag the entire economy down the gutter, then that would be bearish.
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One last thought in regard to the nuclear situation in Japan. One of the best quotes I've ever read in regard to energy creation or anything else for that matter was from Amory Lovins. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amory_Lovins

"To use nuclear power to generate electricity is like using a chain saw to cut butter."


And again, Plutonium-239 has a half life of 24,200 years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium-239

What a horrible, horrible disaster. They always tell us "It's safe. don't worry." Poor Japanese people and maybe it will reach us here on the west coast of the US too. We'll see what happens.

Good night.
 
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