Investment Director
Money Morning/The Money Map Report

 KYOTO, Japan - Mention Japan and many people think of Geisha, castles and samurai. Mention investing in Japan and the image of an impenetrable wall comes to mind.

I've been extremely fortunate to have seen all of this firsthand - and not just once, but on a pretty consistent basis for the past two decades, when I've been here as a businessman, a resident, and - most recently - as a husband and a parent. Like anyone who's lived as an expat anywhere for an extended stretch, my powers of observation have tuned into specific aspects of the Japanese culture that I find fascinating.

For instance, since the days of the samurai, rarely has anyone ever questioned anybody's authority directly - let alone openly. To do so was to risk the loss of one's head - literally. But for the first time in several hundred years, that reticence to challenge authority is ebbing, and it could be the change that prospective investors have long been looking for.

Sector timing commodities - Being able to trade different sectors is crucial for making a living in today’s financial markets. One sector that cannot be over looked is the commodity sector.

Timing this sector can be a very profitable venture if executed properly. In the past commodity trading was seen as a high risk investment because of the leverage involved with purchasing futures contracts. A small wrong move in a commodity, and a trader/investor would be holding either a nice gain or a nasty draw down (loss). With the recent creation of ETFs everyone can trade the commodities market and select the level of leverage they are comfortable with. Funds range from 1 to 3 times leverage of the underlying commodity.

(Photo: Reuters) 

A friend of mine mentioned to me that he was surprised that “bankrupt GM” was spending some serious advertising dollars to try to lure customers to its website.

Keith Fitz-Gerald
Investment Director
Money Morning/The Money Map Report

Consumer confidence seems to have fallen off a cliff, and it has investors worried. After all as many "talking heads" on TV like to remind us, these economic dilemmas and times are "unprecedented".

No wonder stocks fell sharply Tuesday after a private research group said consumer confidence unexpectedly plunged in June. It is likely that in the "real world" consumer confidence is in something akin to a "coma" (a.k.a. "comatose")

Investors had been expecting the Conference Board's measure of consumer sentiment to hold steady following big jumps in April and May. Consumer confidence is closely watched because spending from consumers accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.

The latest data on the troubled housing sector provided no help to the market.The number of homeowners at least two months behind or in foreclosure jumped in the first quarter from the previous quarter, a Treasury Department report said Tuesday. And much of the increase came from borrowers who had good credit.

Meanwhile, the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index showed home prices in 20 major cities dropped by 18.1 percent from April 2008. The 10-city index fell 18 percent from the year before.

Documents brought to light by key by congressional investigators hightlight real disagreement between top-level U.S. Federal Reserve officials about how it should address the Bank of America Corp.(NYSE: BAC) acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. are almost certain to fuel the ongoing congressional debate over the central bank’s push to expand its authority over the U.S. financial system.