Japan Coming Unglued

Monday, stocks fell 1% in Asia, 0.5% in Europe, and 0.6% in the U.S. on low moderate volume. Gold jumped over 3% to reclaim the $1200-per-ounce level while precious metals miners gained over 7% — despite the Swiss referendum result that elected to keep the Swiss franc off of the gold standard. Tuesday, stocks in Asia rose slightly while in Europe and the U.S. they gained 0.5% on low volume. The VXO fell nearly 7% to close at 12.36, while precious metals miners lost about 3% and gold slid back below the $1200-per-ounce level again. Wednesday, stocks fell 0.3% in Asia but rose in Europe and the U.S 0.5% and 0.4% respectively on low moderate volume. Gold advanced to retake the $1200-per-ounce level.

Thursday, stocks rallied 0.7% in Asia. Hope evaporated in Europe though as Draghi offered nothing new to support the QE junkies, and stocks fell 1.4%. In the U.S. stocks edged lower 0.4% on low volume. Friday, while stocks closed unchanged in Asia and rose just slightly in the U.S. on low volume but they shot up 1.8% in Europe. Despite just modest gains for the week, the major stock indices closed at record highs as the Japanese yen continued its dramatic dive.

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