One of the reasons Japan and the yen are in such trouble is years of booking losing trades.
Japan is manipulating oil futures officially since March.
Overall they “Under the scheme, Japan would tap its $1.4-trillion foreign exchange reserves and build short positions in the oil futures market by selling futures contracts to push down prices.”
Japan is literally… https://t.co/JhmJBXW6T9 pic.twitter.com/xojO9Y5rez
— Data Driven Stocks (@stockdatamarket) August 15, 2026
The Japan government under PM Takaichi (a pawn of the geriatric oligarchs in the LD Party that has ruled Japan since the end of WWII when the CIA combined the Liberal Party with the Democratic Party) has sour relations with Russia, a country that could and actually would like to have good trade relations with Japan. Japan needs their oil via the North Sea Route through the Arctic but the J Gov are trapped within the Epstein Class ideology or just too thick skulled to improve relations.
This info comes from one of our great geo-politics commentators Alexander Mercouris. Go to: “The Duran”, “Demand Destruction: The Real Energy Crisis Hitting Europe and Japan”; Aug 16, 2026. The whole show (not long) is must-hear but specifically on Japan listen from 16:35 mark up to 23:05 is really insightful and fascinating…. and infuriating!
I’m sorry, the comment about Japan, PM Takaichi and the Duran’s report was posted by Rex Mc Innes. I forgot to sign in as I have early onset Empire Collapse Fatigue. Thank you.
How on Earth does any sane policy hope the price of oil will go down (shorting a commodity hoping in will go down in price in the future) in realistic terms given the current (obviously, duhh) situation of destroyed refineries around the world and the wars in Iran and Ukraine or other causes? 10 percent of all types of oil refining capacity has been lost since 2024 and of diesel about 6 percent but much diesel is produced in the countries that have been hit hard in the current wars. As I understand it refineries do not just rebuild themselves and it is hard to do when there is a FOREVER WAR going on all around you. Apparently the US is selling a lot of oil to Japan and supposedly the US produces a lot of fresh oil daily so though not infinite amount you can’t only look at the SPR situation in isolation (although that is very strange that they would let that get so depleted, BIG BRAINS at work). And so it goes…