Japan officially ran its first annual trade deficit since 1980 last year, according to finance ministry data. The country's merchandise trade shortfall came in at a provisional JPY2.49trn in 2011 - a remarkable turnaround from the JPY6.63trn surplus clocked in the previous calendar year - and the key question for investors going forward is whether the trend of trade deficits is... 2012-01-25

Our outlook for Western Balkan equities remains firmly negative despite Croatia's CROBEX, Serbia's BELEX15 and Bulgaria's SOFIX equity indices all having experienced short-term bounces as we had expected. These three economies are highly exposed to the macroeconomic headwinds prevailing from Western Europe - we expect the eurozone bloc to contract on aggregate by 0.3% in real terms... 2012-01-24

Having held a positive short-term view on markets throughout January, we are now turning cautious. Following strong gains since the start of the year, many markets look overextended and ripe for consolidation. We are neutral and would have to see a break above key levels of resistance before resuming a bullish short-term stance. Looking further ahead, we do not rule out a resumption... 2012-01-23

Despite high volatility in recent weeks, the Costa Rican colón has rallied over the last few months, strengthening 2.3% from its October 2011 low of CRC521.25/US$, and we believe the unit has potential for further upside in the short term. In line with this view, we have revised up our average and end of period forecasts for 2012 slightly from CRC525.00/US$ and CRC533.00/US$ to... 2012-01-24

BMI View: The Ugandan shilling is testing long-term resistance on the back of tight monetary policy and consequent lack of domestic liquidity, and the next several days of trading will be crucial for our view on local debt. The recent rally has already had positive implications for our position on the 91-day T-Bill, which has posted more than 6% in gains since initiation less... 2012-01-24