Unfortunately, this is the problem with establishing a fixed number on a metric for a fixed time. What if Abe decides to go even more looney than he has a month before the number (for example, GDP) is reported? Should we make the bet payable in cats?
If cats are the payment, then we need to make a bet that assures you win, because my wife (who is severely allergic) will divorce me if I get a delivery of cats.
When Central Banks become the largest shareholder of the stock market - more of that "unmitigated success". Mandate on price stability? So 1970s. Unemployment? So Greenspan. Go full retard and print money to buy stawks! Any bets as to whether the Fed is doing this? BOJ a Nikkei buyer to support economy The Bank of Japan is on track to becoming the largest shareholder on the Nikkei stock exchange as the central bank takes the bold move of increasing its purchases of riskier assets to help support its fragile economy. According to Japanese press reports, the Bank of Japan bought ¥123.6 billion ($1.28 billion) worth of exchange traded funds (ETFs) in August, bolstering its equities portfolio to an estimated $72 billion. The central bank has stayed away from the market in September due to share market rally. The Nikkei fell 5.39 per cent from July 31 to August 8 of this year, but since that date has surged nearly 9.5 per cent. The subsequent rally of the Nikkei could help to make Japanese investors – who have been large buyers of Australian assets – feel wealthier at a time when the yen is weakening. The Yen also edged lower overnight after Japanese media reported that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe voiced concern about the economic impact of the lower currency. The Yen had fallen 5.7 per cent by July 31, as the US dollar and American economy strengthened. The purchases, which involved six days of straight buying, are significant because rarely does a central bank buy stocks and ETFs, as they are considered a higher risk than other asset classes such as cash and bonds, which typically pay lower returns. It is in stark contrast to the actions of the US Federal Reserve, which for the past two years has been buying government bonds and mortgage backed securities to support financial markets. The Bank of Japan is under pressure to stablise the country’s financial system and prop up the economy. Downgraded assessment Last week, the Japanese government downgraded its overall assessment of the economy in September, saying private consumption appeared to be “pausing” after a sales-tax increase in April, according to the Wall Street Journal. Japanese companies have also been feel the pressure of a weaker yen, By making the purchases the central bank is able to send a message to the market that it is prepared to do what it takes to provide further stimulus and support national pension funds – where the retirement savings of an aging population lie. Bank of Japan now accounts for 1.5 per cent of the entire market value of all Japanese shares. It also means the BOJ may surpass Nippon Life Insurance, the largest private-sector stock holder with some ¥7 trillion in holdings, and emerge as the second-biggest shareholder behind the Government Pension Investment Fund – the national pension fund with ¥21 trillion. Nikkei’s Asian Review reported that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) tends to make ¥10 billion to ¥20 billion worth of purchases when stock prices fall. Most the latest purchases were made after share prices had fallen. According to BoJ data, and as reported by the Asian Review, the market value of individual stocks and ETFs as of March 31 came to ¥6.15 trillion and given the August purchases, the total for the year is now estimated at ¥7 trillion. The BoJ started outright purchases of shareholdings from banks in 2002 and it also began buying ETFs in 2010.
Not artificially prop the market up. Let market forces function unimpeded. Let the system clear itself. Pretty much the opposite of what they're doing.
Well, they've been doing this sorta thing for 20 years now, basically... Would you say that it's been a successful strategy?
Are you answering your own question? The fact that they feel it is necessary to do extraordinary things like this for 20 years (way outside central bank charters) kinda shows that they need to be doing something else.