there's a lot the bank of japan can do. >> reporter: the boj can take a number of measures. one is to expand the balance sheet. the bank can buy more government bonds and even foreign bonds. another important step is for the boj to have a clear target for price increases. >> reporter: monetary easing alone cannot overcome deflation. >> defeating deflation is possible, unrealistic and not feasible and also destable ieid. >> what's needed to end japan's deflation and rescue japan out of its slump. >> deregulating medical industry, agriculture and maybe try to increase a number of immigrants. that'd be very important. collapse of the japanese markets that probably lead to a significant deposits. when it starts to fall out and banks cannot bjb's, interest will go up. that's how effects are huge. financial system may become really unstable. >> reporter: there's also different views. >> translator: if the boj buys all the bonds issued that's going to raise the problem of fiscal discipline. money is abundant in japan. that's why confidence is not going to disappear. >> reporter: ec

boj governor visited ldp headquarters on tuesday. during their meeting abe urged him to consider setting up policy accord for 2% inflation target after the new administration is established. he declined to elaborate on his discussion with abe. the central bank's policy meeting starts from wednesday. abe repeatedly called for bold monetary easing during his election campaign to help defeat deflation but the boj governor stressed the central bank has been providing the largest amount of market liquidity among advanced countries, implying the boj has already taken sufficient monetary easing. abe told business leaders he plans to pull through on promises and pull japan out of inflation. >> translator: we have to beat deflation, curb the strong yen and grow jobs. we'll do anything to grow the japanese economy. i deeply believe reviving the economy will lead to a stronger japan. >> members of the japan business federation want japanese negotiators to join talks on the transpacific partnership free trade deal. abe said he'll study the issue

>> that's exactly what the boj is struggling to answer. i think it's pumping so much money for such a long time that there is really not much they can do unless the time bought by the ultra easy policy is spent by the government to pursue structural reforms. but there has been very slow progress on this front. so the boj could continue to buy more assets, but the question is will it fill it ter through to broader sectors. that's why the boj is creating new tools to try to encourage banks to put in more to companies. but so far, i don't think there has been much progress from that end. >> what's going to happen after the election? >> the markets have priced in bolder central bank easing already, but after the election, we'll probably have a new government with a prime minister that wants more aggressive easing. but i don't think dramatic boj policy loosening will happen immediately. i think we'll have to wait until the boj gets a new governor for real change to happen. >> might that happen? >> it depends on how much pressure the government

boj says it will discuss raising its inflation target next month. tech stocks fall in europe after ericsson unveils a swedish crown writout related to its loss chip venture. >>> reports say the intercontinental call is in talks to buy euro next. >>> and vows to continue the current government's battle against japanese territorial claims. >>> japan's central bank has decided to extend its asset purchase program to $120 billion. it will review the bank's stance on price stability next month. abe has been putting pressure on the boj to raise its inflation target to 2% as part of efforts to fight deflation. for more on the fallout or the impact here, let's talk to luca from asia pacific. you look like you're in mourning here, but it sounds like the bank of japan has delivered pretty much what the market was looking for the. >> yes. it was delivered in order to be seen as losing independence after the campaign, very aggressive campaign from the ldp party on the bank of japan independence. actually, what -- the only policy they didn't really try, accordin

as fast. >> you mentioned the boj could be in a digital situation. what i'm pondering is when you look at how much qe has taken place in japan compared to, for example, the uk, it's actually a relatively small amount. if japan tries a much larger qe event, surely we go down the route of the uk which in and of itself does not demonstrate a huge increase in inflation and a huge increase in market growth, either. >> arguably, that is one of the problems with the huge task that the boj has ahead of it. people progress in terms of growth, japan has bigger problems, much bigger problems in terms of the demographic in terms of the structural hold back. so there are a lot of sectors at play now. i think one of the names that the boj has is whether this will work or not. but if were looking at it more from a yen perspective, certainly two things are going to drive the yen are going to be the relative price of the boj balance sheets with respect to, perhaps, the fed and the ecb and the other being the jgb. >> and briefly, in summary, what are your favorite str

hamada is a supporter of easing monetary policy and critical of the policies of the boj. back to you, kelly. >> thanks for that. we want to take a quick look at what's on the agenda for asia tomorrow. meanwhile, australia's central bank will release minutes of its previous meeting. and on politics, the chinese delegation led by wang qishan will arrive in washington. >>> still to congress on the show, russia has joined the wto. it did it just four months ago, but complaints with its lack of compliance with the laws are already stacking up. we'll get a view when we come back. >>> wto regulations are valid according to a top trade lawyer. karen spoke to an expert and asked why the u.s. invariably features as the main protagonist. >> i think there's a number of factors going on here. first of all, i think it's absolutely normal for the united states to be the most tiff wto dispute settlement participate. if you look at the figures, i think they have been the most active every single year since the wto was founded. it's a natural by-product of the huge size of the u.s. economy

he's asking the boj to sign a policy accord with the incoming coming to make the target 2%. the rate remains at around 0%. it averaged at the lower 1% range during the bubble era in the late 1980s. some boj officials insist they should study the inflation impact on people's lives if it should double. others agree it might make it difficult to steer monetary measures in strview of economic conditions. the bank of japan plans to exam how its inflation target should be sent and when it shoultd be reached. let's g let's get a check on markets. the nikkei rose to an eight and a half month high. it's trading at 10,098. investors are placing bets on a wide range of stocks as the yen weaks. let's take a look at the dollar yen. that's changing hands at 84.26 to 28. that's after the gdp final estimate came in better than what many analysts had expected. the euro is also higher. that's changing hands at 111. let's take a look at other markets open. south korea's kospi down bay third of a percent. the index is trading higher. a bit of a mixed picture in the asia pacific today. the head

. >> abe may not be completely satisfied with the boj's decision. apparently he thinks the central bank can do more. nhk world's raiko asked the professor at a university for his insight on what the boj might decide in the near future and what the economic challenges are for the incoming administration. >> reporter: they think the bank of japan might act more aggressively, such as setting an inflation target in the upcoming meetings. that's just what the new political leader abe is asking for, but he warns that it might not be a silver bullet to cure the economy when the country has such a huge debt. >> the board is instructing the staff to come up with a new inflation target, to say inflation framework for the policy. so they may change the current framework of the inflation objectives. to say 2%. that's a possibility. at the same time, it may have a side effect. long-term interest rates may rise because people expect the inflation rate tends to be higher in the long run. >> reporter: he thinks that a balanced and well thought out action plan is ne

this comes ahead of the boj policy meeting which begins tomorrow. members are expected to discuss the pros and cons of raising a price target. but a decision will likely come at the board policy meeting in january. the nikkei is recording that abe will offer the former prime minister an important cap net post. he is likely to become the country's next finance minister or foreign minister. when he was japan's prime minister back in 2008. back to you, kelly. >> thanks. we're seeing the nikkei up about 1% today, clearly respond to go all of these developments. straight ahead on the program, the hotel industry is shirking the trend and continuing to expand. we'll find out just how and why when we come back. i always wait until the last minute. can i still ship a gift in time for christmas? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery. >>> welcome back to the program. it's one of the busiest times of the year for the travel industry.

in japan's, the tankan pure say might have put more pressure on the boj to raise rates next week. sharp shares gained nearly 8% today and it has chalked up a more than 50% rise on short covering. >> the aussie market ended flat around its 17-month high. the index sensex is higher by .5%. back to you. >> thank you for that. were seeing the dow poised to open higher. similar gains to the nasdaq and s&p 500, which have been rallying this weeks, but not by great leaps and bounds. the cnbc ftse 300 is lower by 0.2%. european bourses are mixed. we are seeing the mib and the ibex in italy gaining on the day. still adding about .1%. the xetra dax is higher by .3%. the ftse is fractionally lower. we can look at some of the top stocks moving today. alcatel lucent in focus. 10% now for alcatel lucent, which has completed a round of fund-raising. akzonobel is looking to increase its pain division. shares in that company higher by 6 of%. fiat, down nearly 4% this morning. a quick check of the bond curve and we're seeing for the motor part an attitude that is consistent with spain and italy ral

the yen is falling on expectation that the boj will initiate further monetary easing. the euro is trading at around a 17-month high against the yep. 114- .58. let's take a look at australia. the benchmark index is there is trading higher, 4,685. looks like a positive start to the asia-pacific so far this friday. we'll see where trading takes us. here's a look at some other markets. >>> myanmar's president spoke the nation on wednesday in a speech broadcast state run television and radio stations. he described his country as falling far short of the international standards for good governance and urged government workers to do more. >> the president also said reforms are needed from the grassroots level up to the level of the central government. he called for the cooperation of bureaucrats as well as the general public to achieve a government free of corruption. he has been president since march of 2011. he has since been promoting a package of democratization and economic reforms. his efforts won the agreements of western countries to ease economic sanctions imposed du

. >> last week boj policymakers decided to decide whether to set the 2% target in january. the bank's current goal is 1%. meanwhile the keidanren chairman is stepping up efforts to lift the nation's sagging economy. he said the landslide election victory signals the party's hope to regain a strong japan. >> translator: i think a wide variety of policies including monetary policy should be implemented to get the economy back on track. they will together help trigger economic growth again. >> he also expressed his support for abe's plan to restore the council on economic and fiscal policy. the panel was closed under the noda administration. >>> an afghan police woman has shot and killed an american civilian adviser in afghanistan. the incident is the latest in a string of attacks in the country by local soldiers and police. our correspondent in bangkok has the examples. >>> the attack occurred in kabul on monday. the police woman was immediately detained following the incident. the motive behind the shooting is not clear. a female officer of the local police force approached

now, a bit of background, the boj decided last week to extend its asset purchase program by 10 trillion yen, but many investors think the bank needs to do more, still. let's go to ramin mellegard who is at the tokyo stock exchange to get a check on how all of this is affecting tokyo markets. ramin, good morning. >> good morning to you. markets really keeping a close eye on the weaker yen here, and if it's going to weaken further, in fact, and really that's been leading to the gains in stocks that we've been seeing. i also need to keep an eye on the developments of the u.s. fiscal cliff and whether that's going to be resolved or not in the coming days. let's have a look at the opening levels for december 25. 10,000. we're back above that level today, 10r,097. for the nikkei, 10,098. with large volume, i may add coming from both domestic and foreign importers. also sectors who may benefit from the more expansive monetary policy measures that may be forthcoming such as banks and real estate sectors, too, so we'll follow those as well today. however, we should expect to see in trading a lot

at the open following a recent rally, but many are sidelines ahead of the election on sunday and the boj policy meeting next week. in other markets in the asia-pacific the kospi is is trading lower. below that 2,000 line, 1,989 at the moment. in australia the benchmark index is trading flat, 4,585. we'll see where china related markets take us when they open over the next hour. >>> finance ministers from the 17 you're yo zone nations have agreed to give an additional loan of nearly $45 billion to greece. they say the debt reduction plan is on its way. the loan will be granted as early as next week. at a meeting last month, the euro zone nation ministers agreed in principle on aid for greece after the government carried out austerity and other measures as preconditions for additional loans. at that time they suspended the final decision on loans. they said they needed to determine if greece's bond buy-back program would be effective. at thursday's meeting they endorsed the buy back plan of the depreciated bonds. they will repurchase bonds from the private sector at a third of their face v

this is more related to the expected aggressive monetary easing by the boj, but even the u.s. markets, the s&p 500 at a two-month high. >> i'm curious, we never really know how the fiscal cliff conversation plays out overseas. is it something that moves the needle in the markets in europe and asia? >> absolutely it does. given that, you know, in terms of european risk, everything pretty much done and dusted. we don't have much more european event risk until the end of the year, this is what we're focusing on. every morning when we get to work, we are watching the overnight comments from mr. obama and mr. boehner. that's why european markets have been trading higher the last two trading days because there is optimism that we will see a deal before the end of the year. >>> as always, why are you awake at this hour? shoot us an e-mail at waytooearly@msnbc. we'll read the best responses later in the show. >>> still ahead on "way too early," it only took 24 turnovers and 15 weeks, but jets coach rex ryan benching mark sanchez, but that doesn't mean tim tebow will start next sunday.

all eyes and pressure is on the boj governor. they began their policy meeting today. expectations are very high for some very aggressive monetary stimulus tomorrow. so if traders don't get what they want, we could see some disappointing action in this market. already way in overbought territory. moving to the greater chinese markets, a volatile session once again. the shanghai caught changing directions a number of times throughout the session. ending just on the flat line at 21.62. the property plays were dragging this index down. they've been some of the best performers year to date. however, we've been getting more rhetoric from policymakers saying that the curbs and restrictions that have been in place for more than two years now are going to be there to stay. this is following some signs of a revival in that market. of course, as you guys know, the government has its eye and wants to cool home prices and really deflate that bubble. the hang seng managed its first winning session so far this week. up .6%, bringing it close to a 17-month high. and oil plays were bi

the second thing i remain a big bear on the yen and i think boj meeting, we could see inflation tart rate of 2%, commitment to longer jgbs that will weaken the end. you put that together it's a good buy at current levels. >> always good to talk to you. talk to you soon. umbrellas, paul richard. trades like these every day, every friday on cnbc's money in motion. up next pops and drops in trading. two stocks on fire. is the good run about to end? our trader tell you whether to hold them or fold them when we come back ♪ . >>> welcome back to halftime report, i'm mary thompson with market flash. aig higher 4 1/2% treasury news selling 16% steak in property casualty. over 234 million shares average price of $32.50. this means the government will net a profit of $22.7 billion on that aig bill that guarantees loans and treasury investments. back to you. >> mary, thanks. paper is growing. >> if it stabilizes i'll buy more. two negative data opponents i was rating to come out. one was the hurricane damage, when he know what that is or the maximum will be, and the treasury overhang. full gu

the boj will step it up. >> it your bullish call for the market next year based on monetary policy or the fundamentals of the economy. >> monetary policy. continued monetary expansion. >> you know, you make a great point. monetary expansion is not a great reason. it's not a firm foundation for stock prices going up, and at some point we could be in big trouble with this. what i would say it's too early to fight it because, first of all, not only is the fed not pulling away from this, they are stepping it up. >> yeah. >> and other central banks are going to step it up. we counted something like 11 trillion expansion in central bank balance sheets since this started. >> any risks to this? any downsize risks of the huge expansion of the balance sheet? >> it's obvious. >> when you think about it, monetary policy is a growth strategy. fiscal policy is more austerity. talking about raising taxes and cutting spending. doesn't that work at odds with what the fed is doing? >> you could do an energy policy. that's fiscal policy and create jobs. there are other things. >> the fed feels they are

. >> what's your feeling about hitting $90 by the time the boj meeting in a couple of weeks? >> i would be a very, very fast move. i mean, we have to consider the other side of the dollar yen trade, which is the dollar, so, it really depends on what happens, you know, with the fiscal cliff, as well. whether, if we don't fall off the fiscal cliff, that are propel more dollar yen upside and if we do, i think yen will strengthen at least against the dollars because both are considered safe haven currencies. i think the target of 90 on the yen is probably more realistic on a four to five-month basis. >> okay, amelia, good to see you. >> good to see you. >> aimee amelia bourdeau. >>> coming up, we head to the twitter-verse. plus, the luxury retailer which may break away from the pack and deliver some big proteat this times. >>> and hunger, hollywood style. the vice chairman of lionsgate talks to us about movie success. more "fast" right after this. mine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed dow

at 85 and target of 90 and looks like the boj is starting to come on board and more accommodating. as long as that mean keeps going in the marketplace we seem to be going higher in that trade overnight over the holiday and looks to be strong for the time being definitely. having said this, dhee thing is still fiscal cliff. the interesting thing, citibank came out with it's basically an asymmetrical bet. the marketplace is complacent and thinks the deal will get done. if it does, the euro and yen goes higher. if it doesn't, positive news, 1% up, negative news, as much as 2-3% down on a shock we don't get anything done. >> what does the fiscal cliff do to what you're watching? >> nothing. i will push back against boris. i think the market knows better. i think the market knows no deal will get done. i think the president coming back from hawaii to show he can't be in hawaii over the holidays while this is hanging over our heads. i don't think anything gets done and i don't think the market cares. >> where do you see evidence e the -- >> we have been sitting at this forever. brent cru

how much is the boj willing to put up with? >> looking a at potential strike in the nation's port on the east and southern coast, the first since '77 that could cost retailers and importers billions. businesses now asking its white house to get involved. >>> you can now get the nokia lumia for free, depending on the service provider contract you sign s that standard practice or a sign the company's flagship phone suspect selling well? >>> we will start off with news about the fiscal cliff. congress returning to capitol hill today to try to get a deal done on the cliff before the deadline on december 31st. senate majority leader harry reid is working to see if the scaled backpackage the president laid out last week can get through congress before monday. meantime, treasury secretary timothy geithner says the government will hit the debt ceiling on monday and he is launching an emergency plan to avert a crisis. amm eamon javers is live. what do we know? >> the president is coming back early, a couple days earlier than his vacatio

>> the market is aware of that and the opposition party if they do win, they could pressure the boj to try to do more in qe and that would tend to weaken the yen. so the yen is a carry trade back into play over the last one month and shorts have increased significantly over the last one month. so i think that as well as the better macro story in asia has led to quite a few carry trades against the yen and the yuan being one where it has outperformed the yen significantly over the past two, three months. >> south korea sort of dumping a lot of the currency in november, trying to slow the rally. are they going to be anymore successful than they have been? >> it's a mixture of that as well as attempts to reduce speculative lays on the forward so they have for example reduce d the cap on swaps outstanding. but i think players are a mixture of real players and if you do believe that the global economy is on a better footing next year, then certainly exports would start to look better and that would feed into stronger trades which will support the korea yuan. i think there is still asian ass

this as markets digest the news out of the boj and gauge whether they'll be successful in boosting inflation ultimately. the euro/dollar, 1.3221. so for trading in asia, just how japan, china and the rest have been affected by fiscal cliff news, diedra morris is join onning us with plenty more. hi. >> hey, kelly. it was a bit of a rude awaking. a lot of these indexes were on their way to gains and then we had the fiscal cliff setback. we had news that john boehner's plan b failed. this all turned red and this is where we ended. the nikkei 225 coming back from that huge rally that we have seen over the last five weeks shedding 1%. the exporters hurt here because the dollar/yen was lower. it has regained some ground in the last few hours or so. the kospi shedding about 1%. blame politicians in the u.s. and blame heavyweight samsung. this accounts for some 20% of market value on the kospi index. down 4%. that hurt the broader markets. this is, of course, because eu regulators are poised to excuse samsung of breaking competition rules and filing competition patent lawsuits against samsung. great

and also aggressive monetary policy by the boj might include other asset purchase programs. so actually, you know, both currency market and the stock market will be closely watching the outcome of the election and the policy going forward. >> we'll leave it there. thank you very much today. >>> european finance ministers due to meet in a last-ditch paem attempt to agree on union supervisor. the timetable for implementing reforms are seen as main sticking points. germany's reluctance to hand over supervision of all of its banks to the ecb. france wants the central bank to have ultimate responsibility. that's not to mention demands from the u.k., sweden, and the netherlands which makes us have stuart richardson, still with us, whether the banking union thing's going to happen. if so, when? >> i think the move toward some sort of banking union is in progress here. it has been -- european, a work in progress. so it would appear that sweden was coming out of thing yesterday, the dave before -- day before, they're not backing the full union. germany wants limited banking union. >>

the boj wraps up a two-day meeting with a policy announcement tomorrow. >>> the world bank in the meantime is raising its 2013 economic growth forecast for china and for developing east asia. the organization says that the region remains resilient despite the lackluster performance of the global economy. the world bank sees china expanding by 8.4% next year. it's expecting that it will be fueled by fiscal stimulus and the faster implementation of large investment projects. today's forecast is higher than an earlier one that was sited in a world bank report in october. 8.4%, not bad both if you can get it. >>> speaking of china, the united states is moving forward with plans to slap steep anti-dumping duties on wind turbine towers that are imported from china at prices that are deemed unfairly low. the news from the commerce department comes as u.s. officials welcomed a high-level chinese delegation for trade and economic talks. the u.s. trade panel has final approval over the duties and is expected to vote on the case in late january. >>> in corporate news, ubs hit with a $1.5 million fine

when the prime minister this week, well, he basically put the gun to the head of the boj and said i want a 2% inflation target. right now they have a 1% inflation target. he wants to double it and basically create as much money as they need to get to that level. just like the fed. is it 2? is it 2 1/2? 3? the bank of england has a 2% target, too. but they've been over that for years and there's always an excuse. but as we know, and as mervin keen the head of the bank of england warned earlier this month, 2013 is going to be the year of potential currency battles all over. and the japanese have fired a big shot here because as we were looking at it, if you look at the euro -- put it the other way. the yen has depreciated over the last two months, almost 18% against the euro. that is going to become a big story because -- >> let me interrupt you. here's why it's a big story. what was one of the most successful year over year appreciations of any developed country's equity markets? >> germany. >> bingo. i think of their own currency it's up like 30%. let's keep going. >> okay. so germany ha

abe has threatened to rewrite the boj's mandate to include a 2% inflation target. the question of the central bank independence are huge and certainly deserve to be raised and considered here in light of all the discussion. but, again, .9% on the nikkei. we can show you quickly what's happening with the yen. it is at two-year lows to the dollar. you should also consider why currently wars are returning in 2013. it will be the bank of japan taking on everyone trying to weaken its currently. it could mean a lot more balance sheet expansion and a lot weaker currencies to come. >> kelly, for homework, i'm looking at annoying orange. you google annoying orange. there's 126,341,474 hits and you would make that 677. but 126 million. andrew hadn't. >> i hadn't heard of it, either. but i did google it. >> i refuse to give them that last ex either. whatever the annoying orange is, i don't think i'm going to like it. >> it's funny. it's an orange but it's a guy eeps lips. i figured i could speak to you. >> i'm not very good with pop culture in general. maybe we could talk abo

boj has more, ecb mass more. swiss national bank, way more. so i mean, there are no limits that we're approaching. so i wouldn't be shocked if a year from now we're here and we're talking about 4 trillion unemployment to a number that's even bigger. >> let's check on, you know, the markets which are like that boat. even after all this, we've got nothing. we're just trying to tread water and we're indicated down about 9 points on the dow. after it was all said and done yesterday, we're supposed to open higher. >> yes. >> i don't know what you said later on in your conference. did you do it? >> ray dalio made comments latter in the day. >> de? >> about corporate bonts bonds and he thinks this whole thing at some point is going to implode. >> steve galio was there. >> yeah. it was a pretty interesting day. but i think his comments moved some people, too. >> did we broadcast ray dalion? >> i don't know if we broadcast him live. we should grab some clips and play them on squawk. >> dino, did you have something? >> i think you're on track in terms o