*Stocks were mixed in Asian trade. The Nikkei had its worst decline in two years, it was down more than six percent as the affects of the earthquake, tsunami and the precarious situation involving the nuclear reactors in the vicinity of the stricken area took its toll on the markets. The latest reports say that after an explosion a the Fukushima #2 plant that nuclear fuel rods have become exposed and there is some chance of a meltdown, but other reports say that a Chernobyl type event is unlikely. Australia was down 0.4%, but the Hang Seng rose that much and Shanghai was up a slight fraction. European markets are mixed, but the Dax is currently off by about 0.9% and the Footsie is off a fraction. US stock futures are down about three quarters of a %.*The Bank of Japan doubled the size of their asset buying fund to Y10 trillion and said they plan to buy more of the country’s bonds. They pledged to provide all of the liquidity that is necessary to meet demand. They also left their target rate steady at 0.10%.
*Greek bond spreads are tightening sharply to the Bund and other peripheral are also a bit better on the day as the EU promised more help for Greece and also that they will expand the EFSF rescue package.
*The Fed is scheduled to buy Treasuries today that are due to mature between 5/15/18 and 2/15/21; the results of the operation will be announced just after 10:00am CST.
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