Japanese Nikkei Stock Market Plummets Like Stone through Still Water, loses 25% of value

The Nikkei lost 25% of its value over the past week. This is the worst crash here in 59 years, which is creepy, when you consider that 59 years takes you far past the crash that led to the bubble burst that ended Japan's golden age in the 80's, and all the way to the 1940's, not too long after two atomic bombs were dropped on this country, its capital city was burned to rubble, and the Japanese empire officially fell, leading to a decade of extreme poverty here that left many survivors of that period short from malnutrition.

Shares for companies like Toyota and Sony are selling under the net value of their assets, which means that the market is treating them as if they'd be better off just selling everything right now and going out of business than if they pressed on. A little extreme, don't you think?

Recall the Great Depression of the 30's. Men that picked up stock in General Electric and other survivors during those times made millions. I know how counter-intuitive it sounds when everyone is panicking and fleeing the market, but this strikes me as a great time to buy. Even if the next great depression does happen world wide this coming year, eventually, eventually, life will go on. Its important to remember that before the panic, people knew Toyota was positioned to become the biggest car maker in the world over the next few years, what with General Motors tanking. And Toyota's commitment to good mileage and electric cars puts them in a great position in this changing world. The shares may well plummet further as the world goes to hell. But what about 10 years from now? What about 20, or 30? What about 40 or 50? As you approach retirement in the far future and look back at the past on the investments you could have, would have and should have made, I suspect a lot of people will be kicking themselves for not snapping up stock during the great crash of '08.


(Big PS- No-one here knows a thing about it. The panic seems to be fueled by foreign investors, the same crowd freaking out back Wall Street and elsewhere. Bizarrely, most people I talk to here don't know a thing about this yet.

As far as the big picture goes- the government, the economy, the stock market- I learn a lot more outside of this country and through foreign news sources than I do actually living in it. Its like living on HAL in the movie 2001. On BBC World you can see that in Parliament, people are -sometimes literally, screaming with limbs flailing- freaking out. Then you turn on national TV, and they're barbecuing fish and marveling at the chef's roasting technique, or taking a tour of a park in Hokkaido. And a calm, pleasantly monotone voice seems to emit from the television, saying "Remain calm! All is well!")