Trading Japan is easy in theory. Printing money to create inflation is good for banks, good for real assets such as property, and great for exporters as the yen collapses.
In practice it is trickier. Bets on banks, exporters and real estate worked perfectly from the December election of Shinzo Abe until just after the first leg of Abe-nomics – massive money printing – came from the Bank of Japan at the start of April. Bank and property shares more than doubled, with the real estate sector up a quarter in two days after the BoJ said that it would double the monetary base.
Since then reality has refused to follow theory. Real estate shares are down 7 per cent and banks have made only half the 8 per cent gain of the wider index. Exporters, such as the motor industry, have lagged behind.