Pockets of opportunities in the uncertain China market

One way to make money in financial markets is to bet on unanticipated events, but these days surprises can be hard to come by.

Only a few decades ago, the Federal Reserve used to make its monetary decisions in secret, informing the market weeks later. Nowadays the Fed, like the European Central Bank, telegraphs policy adjustments well in advance. It’s like the “jazz hands” version of monetary policy: try to act noiselessly, so as not to upset those economic actors who may suffer trauma.

Japan occasionally attempts surprises, like the laying on of another gazillion trillion yen in quantitative easing unveiled earlier this year. But after two decades of virtual zero interest rates, and more than three years of Abenomics’ turbocharged quantitative easing (QE), it’s hard for the Bank of Japan to produce any more shock and awe.