Japathy (noun); a lack of interest in Japanese equities

Why are investors just not that into Japan?

The 'widow maker' trade was to short Japanese bonds. A generation of investors believed the bond market was irrationally expensive, and they may be right one day, but the 'greater fool' theory is a powerful one.

Instead of wasting too much energy on whether prices across the asset class spectrum are irrationally expensive, we have focused more on where we believe prices are irrationally cheap.  This is not a column about 'value versus growth', a subject matter most of us are beyond debating. This is about investing in solid companies and good themes that trade below or close to their intrinsic value. How one pigeon holes such companies is largely irrelevant.   Take Japan as a case in point. Japan's slow and steady corporate evolution appears to be largely unrecognised or rewarded by the marke...