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ASIA'S OPTIMISM MISPLACED AS OIL HEADS FOR $200

William Pesek

April 18 (Bloomberg) -- There's that word again: ``contained.''

It's popping up in more and more media reports about the state of the credit crisis. Asian sockts rose for a third day yesterday after better-than-expected profits at U.S. banks boosted optimism that the worst is over.

News from JPMorgan Chase & Co., the third largest U.S. bank, and Wells Fargo & Co., the biggest West coast bank, managed to buoy shares of Asian banking powerhouses like Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. The crisis, it seems, has been contained.

The decoupling story has come full circle. A year ago, Asia had outgrown the West. Then, as Asian shares fell, those arguing the region could stand alone became very quiet. Now the talk is that even with the U.S. teetering on recession, Asia's rapid growth will allow its markets to rise. Call it Decoupling Theory 2.0.

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