🇯🇵 Japan's big problem

Japan's inflation could transform the country's businesses | Smartphones made a resurgence | [Finimize](   TOGETHER WITH   Hi {NAME}, here's what you need to know for November 25th in 2:52 minutes.   🤩 Forget about Glastonbury: our Modern Investor Summit lineup is really something to behold. Check out the [12 expert-studded sessions here](, and [register for your free ticket]( to make sure you get the lowdown on investing strategies and predictions for next year. Today's big stories - Japanese inflation flew past the Bank of Japan’s target for the 19th month in a row - UBS reveals a portfolio playbook made for 2024 – [Read Now]( - Global smartphone sales finally started rising, just in the nick of time for semiconductor firms Acting Koi [Acting Koi] What’s going on here? Japanese prices kept climbing in [October](, proving that inflation’s more bold than the country may have expected. What does this mean? The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has spent the last two decades wrestling with economy-crushing deflation – that’s falling prices. That might be why it’s a little rusty when it comes to handling the opposite foe. October’s core inflation – stripping out volatile fresh food costs – was 2.9% higher than the same time last year, landing above target for the 19th month in a row. And if you take changeable energy prices out of the equation, prices were up 4%. Now the pressure’s mounting on the BoJ to ramp up the interest rates that the country’s famously kept squashed. Why should I care? Zooming out: Inspiration meets perspiration. Just because stuff like toilet paper's cheaper, your total student loan hasn’t changed – even if interest rates influence the monthly payments. That’s why Japanese companies don’t have much debt on their books: while prices were falling, the underlying burden only looked bigger in proportion, in theory taking more sales to pay off. But now that prices are on the up, firms may be more tempted to borrow cash. And because that tends to incentivize firms to work harder and more efficiently to keep up with payments, investors could see revitalized companies and stocks across the country. The bigger picture: Japan could be a pricey trip. The BoJ’s loyalty to low interest rates has weighed on the country’s currency, letting the yen slide lower all year. That’s making it more expensive to import stuff from abroad – something Japan has made a major habit of doing. If the BoJ does end up bringing rates up a little, that could strengthen the yen. So if you’re padding out your wallet before an Asian vacation of a lifetime, you’ll want to get to the currency exchange desk stat. You might also like: [Banks aren’t keen to lend, and businesses don’t want to borrow](. Copy to share story: [( 🙋 [Ask a question](mailto:questions@finimize.com?body=Ask us a question: Where are you writing from? Let us know and we'll mention it when we reply.&noapp=true&subject=Acting Koi&utm_campaign=daily-global-25-11-2023&utm_source=email) Analyst Take UBS Reveals Its Outlook For 2024 And The Assets You’ll Want To Own [UBS Reveals Its Outlook For 2024 And The Assets You’ll Want To Own]( By Theodora Lee Joseph, CFA, Analyst When you’ve got some idea of where the economy might be headed, deciding which [assets to put in your portfolio]( becomes a much easier lift. So it makes sense, then, that UBS lays out its economic forecast first, before revealing [its favorite]( asset class, sectors, and currencies for 2024. Here’s what the big Swiss bank has to say about the year to come, and what you might do about the cash you’ve been [hanging onto](. That’s today’s Insight: [your 2024 portfolio playbook, according to UBS](. [Read or listen to the Insight here]( SPONSORED BY IG Make sure you have a broker that wins when you do When you [buy or sell assets](, you’ll typically go through some sort of broker. And those brokers are making money somewhere along the way – trading is their job, after all. Thing is, a lot of folk don’t know [how their brokers are making money](. That’s important because it can affect your returns. And some brokers actually make a profit when their clients lose. [IG’s]( laid out the nuts of bolts of it so that you can [make smarter, more informed investment decisions](. That might mean [choosing a broker that wins when you do, like IG](. [Check out IG’s guide today](, and you’ll be telling your stockbroker from your trading broker in no time. DisclaimerYour capital is at risk. 68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. [Find Out More]( When you support our sponsors, you support us. Thanks for that. Wake-Up Call [Wake-Up Call] What’s going on here? Smartphone sales [rose]( to the occasion, after staying on snooze for the last two years. What does this mean? The smartphone market has been fairly flat for the last two years, potentially because folk are happy with their already advanced gadgets or have flocked to old-school Nokia bricks to unplug a little. But it looks like snazzy new Apple and Huawei models have made an impression: smartphone sales were 5% higher this October than last, according to research firm Counterpoint. Mind you, that could just be some forward-thinking holiday shoppers, so don’t count on those sort of numbers sticking around for long. Why should I care? For markets: Apple has a loyal fanbase. iPhone shipments have barely budged for the past seven years, so any major changes in the segment’s revenue will be down to the gizmos’ ever-increasing prices. Investors seem happy enough with that, though, banking on more price hikes – and ideally cost cuts – to upgrade Apple’s smartphone profitability. And anyway, Apple has its services division and other products like Vision Pro to keep investors entertained. Zooming out: Let’s help each other out. The semiconductor industry has been lying low recently too, besides Nvidia, of course. Chipmakers ramped up their factory production to get through the supply chain bottlenecks that built up during the pandemic, but now that demand’s dried up, there’s a glut of unsold chips lying around. But if this turnaround in the smartphone industry holds up, there could be a revived appetite for chipmakers’ wares. You might also like: [WeWork, Uber, and the risk of the buzzy startup](. Copy to share story: [( 🙋 [Ask a question](mailto:questions@finimize.com?body=Ask us a question: Where are you writing from? Let us know and we'll mention it when we reply.&noapp=true&subject=Wake-Up Call&utm_campaign=daily-global-25-11-2023&utm_source=email) Despite this economic downturn, [retail investors are optimistic](. Yup, 84% of the hardy bunch we surveyed are planning to invest more or the same as last quarter, with [67% predicting that global stock markets will be higher a year](. If you want the rest of the scoop on how retail investors are trading, you can [grab the full report here](. [Read The Report]( 💬 Quote of the day "A bee is never as busy as it seems, it's just that it can't buzz any slower." – Kin Hubbard (an American cartoonist) [Tweet this]( SPONSORED BY PROSPERO.AI Hedge funds don’t have all the power anymore Hedge funds are known for a lot of things, but inclusivity isn’t usually one of them. That’s something [Prospero.Ai]( is on a mission to change, with the help of artificial intelligence. The platform’s designed to [make hedge fund-level market insights available to all](, so that you can make [more informed investment decisions]( (no gatekeeping here). Prospero.Ai’s app and newsletters equip you with the [tools you need to improve your financial future]( – like access to real-time data, expert guidance, and a community of like-minded investors. It’s 2023, after all: investment excellence should be within reach, not least with the rise of AI. [Check out Prospero.Ai today and level-up your portfolio](. [Find Out More]( When you support our sponsors, you support us. Thanks for that. 🎯 On Our Radar 1. AI might not be all that. Tech workers think the whole shebang is [overhyped](. 2. The metaverse could change everything. Prepare yourself for a [new investing landscape](.* 3. Napoleon can't be trusted. Here's what's [true and false]( in the film. 4. ESG investing isn’t just a feelgood theory. Here’s how you could [put principles into practice](.* 5. Virginity rocks. 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