Japanese stocks have done very well in 2012 and of course the weakening yen has increasingly more to do with the rally; deservedly so for the people of Japan. Otherwise, and unless Japanese stocks continue to do well, they could become neglected once again. Not necessarily a bad thing for value investors, and regardless of [...]
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RSS feed for this sectionNintendo bottoming: worries over games proven overdone again
I have followed up on my original bullish take on Nintendo (NTDOY.PK) (JP: 7974) from June. In my latest, carried as an exclusive on Seeking Alpha, I explain why I remain bullish on Nintendo and among other things include mention of recent Japanese analyst actions. *Click “Read Full Story” below for hyperlink to Seeking Alpha.*
Explaining Nintendo’s 10% Jump
Shares of Nintendo (NTDOY.PK) (7974) jumped 9.8% overnight in Japan, while the broader market (the Nikkei 225) was up a far more modest 1.4%, and as the yen remained stubbornly (relatively) strong at Y76.65 against the US$. What explains this big move? The Japanese business press is at a loss for the most part. The [...]
The ongoing JGB battle
No doubt David Einhorn (Greenlight Capital) is an astute investor. Recently he declared his bearish view on JGBs, which subsequently has generated heavy interest among financial and political circles. Hats off to Gwen Robinson of FT Alphaville for solid ongoing coverage of the latest JGB tale (see JGBs and the ‘end’ of the short-squeeze fest). [...]
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Japanese individual investors saying no thank you to JGBs
The Mainichi Shimbun (original in Japanese) reported early Thursday that Japanese Government Bonds’ (JGBs) popularity is rapidly falling among individual investors. Beginning in 2003, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has sold two types of JGBs (a fixed-rate 5-year and a variable-rate 10-year) four times a year to individual investors. However, as interest rates have been [...]
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Domestic and overseas factors a plenty for Japan
More often than not, it is overseas factors that have the largest influence on trading in Japan. However, from time to time there is enough commotion domestically that also warrants the attention of investors. Unfortunately, the cacophony coming out of the government these days is more concerning than usual (e.g. Japan Post management/reform, debt moratorium, [...]
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Relief for Japanese exporters?
This brief post was inspired by a Bloomberg story on Asian currency strength — a good read, by the way. My thoughts: an even stronger Korean won would bring some relief to Japanese exporters. However, it’s not clear just how much (for instance, consider the volume of autos sold by JP vs SK) with such [...]
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Shanghai selloff overshadows DPJ, Nikkei
The DPJ’s rise (and the LDP’s fall) is no longer debate material, but a welcome reality. As expected, the yen exhibited strength, and looks poised to test ¥92. The Nikkei meanwhile was quite volatile, gapping up, hitting a new ytd high at 10,767, tumbling into the start of the afternoon session to a low of [...]
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Strong yen the new norm as Japan poised to reform?
Interesting developments in the Nikkei ahead of the parliamentary election at the end of this month, which at this point looks as if it will finally bring an end to LDP rule. A foreign exchange rate of $1/¥94 would have been practically inconceivable prior to the “Lehman shock” (as the Japanese refer to the genesis [...]
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What a run on the dollar could mean for Japan, the yen
In 1996, in The Future of Capitalism, Lester Thurow observed the following: When a run against the dollar starts, there are enormous amounts of money that can, and will, move into appreciating currencies. Sixty percent of official reserves and 50 percent of private reserves are currently held in dollars. Those funds will certainly move, but [...]
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