Japanese Exporters Look Poised to Profit from Weak Yen [View article]
Hi John,
Thanks for your comment and question. Toyota's ordinary shares (JP: 7203) are down about 4% ytd, compared to approx. -8% for its ADRs. The difference equals almost exactly the 4% weakening of the yen against the dollar ytd.
So why is Toyota down in its home market despite sustained growth and even surpassing GM by some measures? This is quite simply, in no particular order, due to (1) its run-up, almost doubling in the past two-years, (2) channeling of investment funds to overseas investments offering higher yields, (3) propensity to take profits quickly and frequently, (4) concern about the U.S. real estate market (inc. sub-prime) and slowing of overall U.S. economy, (5) higher gasoline prices hurting sales of higher margin autos, or at least boosting sales of lower margin autos in U.S.; weak domestic market w/ real growth only in the mini/sub-compact car (low margin) and luxury segments (high-margin, low volume), (6) uncertainty of FOMC policy, a rate hike would increase consumers' borrowing costs, (7) tough competition in BRIC economies, where Toyota has been somewhat of a late entrant, (8) high/rising commodity and materials costs mean imports and component costs are higher, possibly exacerbated by the weak yen, ....
There's a lot weighing the stock down, but it's not exactly tanking by any means. Obviously ADR holders are suffering more due to the negative forex impact.
Japanese Stocks in the "House of Pain" (EWJ, ITF, VPL) [View article]
Mike please see this post (click here) I just published that hopefully explains everything and let's you see the light. The key is the exchange rate and the underlying index (MSCI Japan).
Japanese Co's Lead List of Firms Receiving Patents in U.S. (CAJ, MC, HIT, IBM, HPQ, INTC, MU) [View article]
I found out from researching the Japanese business press that Sony (SNE) held the number 10 spot in 2004 and subsequently fell out of the top 10 in 2005. IBM has been first for the past thirteen-years. Samsung has moved up from number nine in 2003, to number six in 2004 and number five in '05.
DVD Format Battle Development: Toshiba to License HD-DVD Technology to China (HPQ, MC, SNE, DELL, DIS, NWS, LGF, NIPNY, SANYY, MSFT, INTC) [View article]
Update: Warner Bros. is the second major studio to announce its support of both next -generation DVD formats. It made the announcement yesterday following Paramount Pictures' decision earlier this month to release films in both HD-DVD and Blu-ray disc format. That means NBC Universal is the only studio that will release films solely on HD-DVD format. Warner Bros. is said to have made the decision to support both formats because it doesn't see an end to the format war. (Source: AP) * Warner Bros. is owned by Time Warner Inc. (ticker: TWX), Paramount Pictures is owned by Viacom (ticker: VIA-B), and NBC Universal is owned by GE (ticker: GE).
Japanese Exporters Look Poised to Profit from Weak Yen [View article]
Thanks for your comment and question. Toyota's ordinary shares (JP: 7203) are down about 4% ytd, compared to approx. -8% for its ADRs. The difference equals almost exactly the 4% weakening of the yen against the dollar ytd.
So why is Toyota down in its home market despite sustained growth and even surpassing GM by some measures? This is quite simply, in no particular order, due to (1) its run-up, almost doubling in the past two-years, (2) channeling of investment funds to overseas investments offering higher yields, (3) propensity to take profits quickly and frequently, (4) concern about the U.S. real estate market (inc. sub-prime) and slowing of overall U.S. economy, (5) higher gasoline prices hurting sales of higher margin autos, or at least boosting sales of lower margin autos in U.S.; weak domestic market w/ real growth only in the mini/sub-compact car (low margin) and luxury segments (high-margin, low volume), (6) uncertainty of FOMC policy, a rate hike would increase consumers' borrowing costs, (7) tough competition in BRIC economies, where Toyota has been somewhat of a late entrant, (8) high/rising commodity and materials costs mean imports and component costs are higher, possibly exacerbated by the weak yen, ....
There's a lot weighing the stock down, but it's not exactly tanking by any means. Obviously ADR holders are suffering more due to the negative forex impact.
Matsushita to Sell Super-Sized 103" Plasma TV (MC) [View article]
Japanese Stocks in the "House of Pain" (EWJ, ITF, VPL) [View article]
Japanese Co's Lead List of Firms Receiving Patents in U.S. (CAJ, MC, HIT, IBM, HPQ, INTC, MU) [View article]
Tokyo Stock Exchange Suffers 3rd Worst Day This Year, ADRs to Watch (SANYY, TMIC) & Many Decliners [View article]
DVD Format Battle Development: Toshiba to License HD-DVD Technology to China (HPQ, MC, SNE, DELL, DIS, NWS, LGF, NIPNY, SANYY, MSFT, INTC) [View article]