Remember when Japan's Nikkei index was closing in on the key 40,000 barrier and George Bush was a year into his presidency? We do. The date was December 29, 1989 and the Nikkei index topped the venerable Dow Jones Industrial Average by some 36,000 points (38,957 to 2763 for those tracking the score).

You may not have noticed, but this month the Dow finally caught the Nikkei. Since 1989 the Nikkei has plunged 75 percent compared to the Dow's 253 percent rise. On February 1 the Dow actually closed higher than the Nikkei for the first time in memory.

Since then, the two indices have been trading the lead (the Dow was at 9745 yesterday and the Nikkei at 9847) with the Dow landing on top seven times. Perhaps it is time for a contrarian trade -- buy Japan and sell the US anyone?  

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