• Wed. Dec 11th, 2024

Japan Subculture Research Center

A guide to the Japanese underworld, Japanese pop-culture, yakuza and everything dark under the sun.

Why Abe & Adult Diapers Make Shorting Japanese Yen A Sweet-Smelling Deal! (Op-Ed)

As many of you know, the lower hours elections were held in Japan today and the LDP and New Komeito Alliance scored a clear victory. It means the likely return of Shinzo Abe aka Mr. Bond, Japan Bond, to his starring role as prime minister of the country. Financial blogger and twitterdachi, Finansakrobat has a piece on the economic repercussions worth reading (while at your desk or in the bathroom.)  Reprinted with his kind permission.

WHY ADULT DIAPERS MAKES SHORTING JAPANESE YEN THE TRADE OF THE CENTURY

by finansakrobat


The core to Japan and its future problems is embedded in its demographics.

In many developed countries, the average age of its population is rising. But nowhere is this happening as quick as in Japan. This was succinctly exemplified last May, when the Japanese diaper producer Unicharm said that soon they will be selling more adult diapers than regular diapers:

 

At Unicharm, said Takahara, who is also president, the adult diapers business is becoming increasingly important to the company.

“Domestic sales of diapers for the elderly are growing by double digits,” Takahara told reporters last month. “It’s an extremely important business in terms of both sales and profit margin.”

This story was largely ignored in May, but as hedge funds and banks started honing their sights on Japan this fall, the story resurfaced. It was Morgan Stanley that made many people, myself included, aware of the large demographic shift, in a presentation with the lovely title: “Shorting Japan is the trade of the decade. But which decade?”.

Other than a less than optimal demographic, there are three things you need to know about Japan’s economy; they have the worst looking balance sheet of any country (including Greece and Ireland), the country has been in deep financial trouble for a whole generation and somehow the economy has failed to blow up .

 

As I am writing this, Shinzo Abe has just won reelection. He first served only one year and is making his comeback on two issues: boosting the economy and nuclear energy.

 

When Abe left the position as prime minister,  due to “Crippling Diarrhea“, he was known as the worst prime minister since 1994 for Japanese bonds. Based on this, and the fact that he publically said he wants to make sure the Yen weakens, it could be a blessing for the Japanese export sector.

 

That’s probably the reason why the smartest investors in the world are betting heavly against Japan. Both the bonds and the Yen. But that could be great news for Japanese exporters.

Albeit Abe is walking a tight rope, since even a 2 percentage point increase in interest rates, could be enough to crush the Japanese economy. In theory.

The final thing you have to consider, is the way Japanese debt is structured. On the face of it, the country has a debt 195% of their GBP. Meaning the economy is almost half as small as the debt. But who are these creditors? 3 out of every 4 Yen owed, is to Japanese banks, individuals and institutions. That means that Japan has control over its creditors, which gives them significant leverage. (In contrast we can look at Greece, which has almost all of its creditors abroad and no control over its own currency).

Secondly if Abe manages to do what he has pledged to do, to destroy the value of the Yen through “unlimited easing”, the Japanese export sector could be in line for the biggest boost in history. If the value of the Yen drops 20%, that money hits Japanese companies straight on the bottom line. Instant profit.

Now finally we have to consider that investors have been betting against the Yen about once a year for the last four years. Massive losses have built up so far.

But this time, it could be different.

subcultureist

Managing editors of the blog.

4 thoughts on “Why Abe & Adult Diapers Make Shorting Japanese Yen A Sweet-Smelling Deal! (Op-Ed)”
  1. Many smart money managers have shorted the bond market in Japan for the last decade trying to time the collapse. And each time they have lost big time. The same analysis that was proposed in this article was used as the reason for the trade and the trades constantly lost money as the bond market remain resilient each time.
    Famous phrases such as “We are right but just early” or “It is different this time” which makes me want to take the opposite side of such trades.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *