Economic Growth, Financial Markets in Japan, and Emerging Markets - George Soros (2002)

Japan's securities markets increased their volume of dealings rapidly during the late 1980s, led by Japan's rapidly expanding securities firms. There were three categories of securities companies in Japan, the first consisting of the "Big Four" securities houses (among the six largest such firms in the world): Nomura, Daiwa, Nikko, and Yamaichi. The Big Four played a key role in international financial transactions and were members of the New York Stock Exchange. Nomura was the world's largest single securities firm; its net capital, in excess of US$10 billion in 1986, exceeded that of Merrill Lynch, Salomon Brothers, and Shearson Lehman combined. In 1986, Nomura became the first Japanese member of the London Stock Exchange. Nomura and Daiwa were primary dealers in the United States Treasury bond market. The second tier of securities firms contained ten medium-sized firms. The third tier consisted of all the smaller securities firms registered in Japan. Many of these smaller firms were affiliates of the Big Four, while some were affiliated with banks. In 1986 eighty-three of the smaller firms were members of the Tokyo Securities and Stock Exchange. Japan's securities firms derived most of their income from brokerage fees, equity and bond trading, underwriting, and dealing. Other services included the administration of trusts. In the late 1980s, a number of foreign securities firms, including Salomon Brothers and Merrill Lynch, became players in Japan's financial world.
Japanese insurance companies became important leaders in international finance in the late 1980s. More than 90% of the population owned life insurance and the amount held per person was at least 50% greater than in the United States. Many Japanese used insurance companies as savings vehicles. Insurance companies' assets grew at a rate of more than 20% per year in the late 1980s, reaching nearly US$694 billion in 1988. The life insurance companies moved heavily into foreign investments as deregulation allowed them to do so and as their resources increased through the spread of fully funded pension funds. These assets permitted the companies to become major players in international money markets. Nippon Life Insurance Company, the world's largest insurance firm, was reportedly the biggest single holder of United States Treasury securities in 1989.

The Tokyo Securities and Stock Exchange became the largest in the world in 1988, in terms of the combined market value of outstanding shares and capitalization, while the Osaka Stock Exchange ranked third after those of Tokyo and New York. Although there are eight stock exchanges in Japan, the Tokyo Securities and Stock Exchange represented 83% of the nation's total equity in 1988. Of the 1,848 publicly traded domestic companies in Japan at the end of 1986, about 80% were listed on the Tokyo Securities and Stock Exchange.
Two developments in the late 1980s helped in the rapid expansion of the Tokyo Securities and Stock Exchange. The first was a change in the financing of company operations. Traditionally large firms obtained funding through bank loans rather than capital markets, but in the late 1980s they began to rely more on direct financing. The second development came in 1986 when the Tokyo exchange permitted non-Japanese brokerage firms to become members for the first time. By 1988 the exchange had sixteen foreign members. The Tokyo Securities and Stock Exchange had 124 member companies in 1990. In 1990, five types of securities were traded on the Tokyo exchange: stocks, bonds, investment trusts, rights, and warrants alone.
Japan's stock market dealings exploded in the 1980s, with increased trading volume and rapidly rising stock prices. The trading recorded by the Nikkei 225 stock average, compiled by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Japan Economic Daily), grew from 6,850 in October 1982 to nearly 39,000 in early 1990. During one six-month period in 1986, total trade volume on the Tokyo exchange increased by 250% with wild swings in the Nikkei. After the plunge of the New York Stock Exchange in October 1987, the Tokyo average dropped by 15%, but there was a sharp recovery by early 1988. This was the height of the Japanese asset price bubble, which collapsed in the year 1990, and was followed by the lost decade.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese...

George Soros Breaking the Bank of England

I discuss a misconception held about George Soros breaking the bank of England

George Soros Dumps GLD, Kinross Gold, SPDR & Buys Physical?

George Soros cut his investment in the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) in half during the fourth quarter, according to a regulatory filing. Soros also sold his stake in gold miner Kinross Gold Corp. (KGC), which was worth about $18 million, but held onto 1.7 million shares of Freeport-McMoran (FCX, Fortune 500), worth about $46 million.Soros is dumping GLD because he understands the cycle we are going through. If the EU collapses, most of the funds coming out of there will go into the USD which will push gold and silver down. That's my interpretation. Visit my new channel: SilverCoinNews for recent insightful videos regarding gold and silver direction!

Gold Back in a Big Way After $130 Million Purchase by Soros

He’s buying the ETF instead of physical gold. The ETF does not carry with it any “right” to exchange it for gold, and some doubt if the fund that holds it even has much physical gold. I could be wrong but I think this ETF is run by J.P. Morgan. When the banks collapse, I think it’s a given the market will collapse as well. Won’t that leave him out in left field with all that paper? I could care less what happens to the POS George Soros, but I would have thought someone who knows the markets like he does would be in physical gold and not what amounts to another fiat. The massive investment in GLD indicates that he is betting on an overall downturn in the stock market. We might see something similar to 2008. Which would create another period of great buying opportunities. But what might be in play here are GRA’s. If Obama confiscates all public and private retirement accounts, Soros has positioned his investments in stocks that offer some protection against resulting losses. Such a confiscation of wealth could also trigger massive civil unrest. If you’re not familiar with Obama’s GRA plan, I recommend researching it.

Billionaires Paulson & George Soros Hoarding Gold

We should be focused on backing away from bank run electronic money that is leveraged to use against us. Its pretty clear to see that Gold and silver are not weapons or any threat to the current system and that people are just hoping that the system will self implode. The controllers of the system have any number of options of tweaks to make to keep the system running. But they need leverage that we can deny by simply using more cash. Printed cash is better than having your money in the fractional reserve system, but it is still just a Fed promissory note. They can print a couple of $100 trillion notes and there goes your printed cash. Gold, silver and bitcoin are the best things I know of to get your wealth 'out of the system'.

Billionaires Shifting Into Gold

Today's Talking Points - Hedge fund of George Soros decreased its US stock investments from $8.8 billion to $5.1 billion between March and June 2010. Now its biggest position is in gold - 13% of portfolio. Tough economic numbers: housing starts level down 12.4% to lowest ever recorded and unemployment numbers holding high.

Gold 15000 $ per ounce ! - Last huge bubble ! Max Keiser

George Soros said that GOLD IS THE LAST HUGE BUBBLE
Ask delivery for your paper gold certificates today !

Soros is behind the attacks on Gold Price says Bob Chapman

George Soros Warns Gold is now the ultimate bubble

Mr George Soros, arguably the most famous hedge fund manager in history, warned that with interest rates low around the world, policymakers were risking generating new bubbles which could cause crashes in the future. In comments delivered on the fringe of the World Economic Forum, Mr Soros said: "When interest rates are low we have conditions for asset bubbles to develop, and they are developing at the moment. The ultimate asset bubble is gold."