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The story
A Nikkei report has revealed that Norinchukin Bank, which manages around ¥45 trillion in assets, has invested in semiconductor-related ETFs (exchange-traded funds). The move is unusual for the bank, which has traditionally stuck to broad, diversified investment across the whole market — though overseas pension funds are reportedly also buying the dip on AI-related stocks. On 5ch, opinions clashed: some mocked the timing as a “top signal” given AI stocks’ recent sluggishness, while others argued that with the hype already priced out, now is exactly the time to buy. Many posts also dredged up the bank’s past massive losses from subprime-mortgage-backed securities and U.S. Treasury bond investments, voicing unease about this latest move.
Norinchukin Bank, which manages roughly ¥45 trillion, has gone ahead with an investment in a semiconductor stock ETF (exchange-traded fund). It’s an unusual move for a bank that has stuck firmly to broad investment across the whole market. Overseas pension funds are also reportedly buying the dip on AI-related (artificial intelligence) stocks.
AI stocks have been trading sluggishly, but long-term capital that still believes in the growth story is starting to move.
(Continued at the link below)
Source: nikkei.com / Read the original article here
What people said
Rice shortage again, huh…
A picture-perfect shoeshine-boy move
AI's done for a while now
Another massive loss, and they'll paper it over with rice again (i.e., rice price hikes)
Say what you will, AI's supply-demand picture is crystal clear
Since the bad news is already priced in
buying here is the right call
That's what you'd think, huh?
If it already popped, that's a buying opportunity lol
It's still got plenty of room to climb lol
During the Lehman Shock, booked a massive final loss of about ¥570 billion from subprime-mortgage-backed securities and the like
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Scared off complex derivatives, so switched to 'simple' ultra-long-term Western government bonds
Then racked up unrealized losses from rapid rate hikes and ended up booking a massive ¥1.8 trillion loss anyway
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If complex financial products AND government bonds are both no good, it's gotta be stocks!
So now, of all times, they're scooping up AI semiconductor ETFs
Lmao
Is this the 'Gifu Rampage' routine again lol (apparent reference to a comedic wrestling gimmick known for repeat failures)
They did sell off their US Treasuries
If they sold Japanese government bonds now, it'd just mean even bigger losses
Total self-destructive gambler of an incompetent organization
Rice farming itself is basically a gamble to begin with
They're getting played for suckers by the whole world
Farmers need to wake up to the danger, fast
Well, it's probably too late even if they do
Did Norinchukin kill your parents or something…?
That's exactly the kind of thing that blows up badly in a downturn.
It could just as easily be SoftBank, Hitachi, Ajinomoto, Daikin, or other physical-AI names
Apparently it tracks the Nikkei Semiconductor Stock Index
They're holding ¥13 trillion worth of garbage CLOs
Anyone who works in finance should know how scary that is
It's common knowledge among finance people
that AAA-rated CLO tranches have never actually blown up…
This time it's CLOs
That's just insane — pretty much everything except Hikari Tsushin corporate bonds from Fukutsu, Fukuoka
buys subprime mortgage bonds
During the COVID shock
buys ultra-long-term US Treasuries at rock-bottom rates
During the AI bubble
buys AI stocks —
that's Norinchukin
A genuine genius at the flying-leap catch (i.e., always diving in right at the top)
The ones who really get screwed are the farmers
Controlling the rice market is one hell of an advantage
They're probably burning through the national pension savings grandpas and grandmas scraped together like it's nothing
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Norinchukin Bank is a financial institution established under the Norinchukin Bank Act to invest funds pooled from agricultural cooperatives (JA) nationwide, and it has traditionally followed a policy of broad diversification across domestic and overseas stocks and bonds. Against that backdrop, the reported investment in a semiconductor ETF is unusual. The bank has a history of booking massive losses in the past — about ¥570 billion from subprime-mortgage-backed securities, and another huge loss from ultra-long-term U.S. Treasury holdings — and many posters in the thread cited that history to voice concern that the bank might suffer another big loss. Others, however, praised the move as ‘buying the dip at a point where the hype has already faded’ from AI stocks, reflecting a split between those focused on short-term price action and those betting on long-term growth. Note that posts linking the bank’s past losses to rising rice prices are speculation on the part of individual posters and are not mentioned in the original source article.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Flash+) thread「Norinchukin makes its move, buying AI stocks at the bottom — betting on long-term stable growth, “growth over near-term moves”」.
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