Strangely, Standard & Poor's yesterday put Japan on a creditwatch negative because of uncertainty about the amount of spending and borrowing for the reconstruction of the damage caused by the March 11 quake and tsunami and the impact of the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

I say strangely, because the cut in its outlook to negative is well ahead of any outline of how the government will pay for the rebuilding, and if that bill will include some sort of guarantee for the struggling owner of Fukushima, Tokyo Electric Power Co.

The Tokyo market ignored the S&P move and rose 1.4% yesterday, with most of the rise coming after the ratings group announced its downgrade.

And we don't yet have a good idea of the impact on the overall economy, although the Bank of Japan produces its updated forecasts later today.

Tokyo reports say