On Tuesday, Dec. 4, when it seemed that a Bush presidency was a quasi certainty, the market zoomed up. But on Wednesday, Dec. 5, when it seemed the Gore forces were waging a fierce counterattack, the market went down. The WJ in particular has long followed the Japanese markets. NTT DoCoMo wants to move into the American market. SP worries that NTT DoCoMo's vigorous foreign expansion will saddle it with too many financial burdens.
Japan is a financial and technological colossus.
But ever since the bubble burst in 1992, its economy has stagnated. If the WJ believes that Japan is at last moving on the economic front, that's big news. Even bigger is the fact that the revival is going out into the world and not staying in the homeland. The WJ always follows certain basic market indicators other than stocks and bonds, namely currency values, oil, gold and silver prices. If so it could be in reaction to what Europeans see as a long overdue weakness in America.