Japanese Accelerated Perf Fund Share Discussion Threads

[briarberry] 29/7/2009 12:29

July 29 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's retail sales fell for a 10th month in June, extending the longest losing streak since 2003 as job losses and wage cuts forced households to trim spending.

Sales slid 3 percent from a year earlier, the Trade Ministry said today in Tokyo. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News predicted a 2.5 percent drop

[briarberry] 28/7/2009 09:25

Canon profit misses widely - Japanese cameras-to-copiers electronics giant reports an 86% drop in quarterly profit, well below analysts' expectations.

Hitachi hit with large loss, confirms buyouts

[briarberry] 23/7/2009 16:10

July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's exports fell in June at the slowest pace this year as demand picked up worldwide, helping the trade surplus widen for the first time in 20 months and setting the stage for an economic recovery.

Shipments abroad declined 35.7 percent from a year earlier, after dropping 40.9 percent in May, the Finance Ministry said today in Tokyo. The surplus widened to 508 billion yen ($5.4 billion).

[briarberry] 01/7/2009 12:31

July 1 (Bloomberg) -- Sentiment among Japan's largest manufacturers rose less than estimated in June, signaling the economy may be slow to recover from its deepest postwar recession.

An index of confidence among large makers of electronics, cars and other products climbed to minus 48 from a record minus 58 in March, the Bank of Japan's Tankan survey showed today in Tokyo. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News predicted minus 43. A negative number means pessimists still outnumber optimists.

[briarberry] 29/6/2009 13:35

Does anyone know if this is for real, or is it just inventory rebuild ? I guess we'll see something like this in the UK when our car plants reopen ???



Japanese industrial output increased 5.9% in May compared with the month before, the third consecutive monthly climb, according to official data.

...

Despite the recent rise, industrial output in May was about 30% lower than it was in the same month last year.

And the growth predictions for the next two months would still put output at more than 20% lower year-on-year.

...

However, according to separate data from Japan's Automobile Manufacturers Association, auto production in May was still down 41.4% from a year ago at 542,282 vehicles.

[jackpipe] 13/6/2009 02:35

Doesn't make sense to me. If I want to move even less than $10k around from my US accounts, I have to give copious ID, and a reason ("personal" is not acceptable) to the US govt. Over $10k and the requirements are even more onerous. You can't just "not declare" $500m govt bonds and hope no-one notices.

[tackro] 12/6/2009 16:38

Slightly off topic, but I can't understand why this isn't a big news story.

[knowing] 10/6/2009 11:08

Nikkei through 10K

[briarberry] 20/5/2009 12:19

Japan's economy during the first three months of 2009 shrank at its quickest pace since records began, as exports slumped, officials figures have shown.

Output in the world's second largest economy contracted by 4% during the period, or by 15.2% on an annual basis.

Japan's economy, which depends heavily on exports, has been hit hard by the global downturn.

[briarberry] 19/5/2009 12:46

Big banks...


TOKYO (AP) -- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. sank into losses for the fiscal year ended March 31, battered by write-downs on securities amid a market plunge, but Japan's top bank said Tuesday it expects to return to profit this fiscal year.

Last week, Japan's two other megabanks, Mizuho Financial Group Inc., and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., said they tumbled into steep annual losses, hit by bad loans and plunging share prices set off by the global financial crisis. They are also expecting to turn a profit this fiscal year.

Tokyo-based Mitsubishi UFJ reported a group net loss of 256.95 billion yen ($2.6 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, a reversal from 636.62 billion yen profit in the previous year. It was the group's first red ink since its launch in 2005, from the merger of Japanese banks.

[briarberry] 15/5/2009 16:02

Panasonic Lost Y378bn In FY08, Outlook Also Grim

TOKYO (NQN)--Panasonic Corp. (6752) said Friday that it posted a group net loss of 378.9 billion yen in the year ended March, and that it expects 195 billion yen in red ink for fiscal 2009.

Panasonic booked a profit of 281.8 billion yen in fiscal 2007.

Fiscal 2008's poor performance was largely due to slumping demand and the stronger yen. Sales slid 14% to 7,765.5 billion yen; the company expect the total to fall 10% to 7 trillion yen this fiscal year.

[briarberry] 15/5/2009 00:53

Sony posts $1.3b loss

Japanese electronics giant Sony has announced an annual loss of $1.3 billion - its first net loss in 14 years.

Sony has forecast it will remain in the red until March next year.

[briarberry] 13/5/2009 13:13

May 13 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's corporate bankruptcies rose for an 11th month in April as companies struggled to obtain funds, indicating unemployment may increase.

Bankruptcies climbed 9.4 percent from a year earlier to 1,329 cases, Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd. said in Tokyo today.

[briarberry] 12/5/2009 21:16

Corporate losses

Electronics maker Hitachi has reported a record annual loss for a Japanese manufacturer, after demand for its products fell. The Japanese technology and industrial conglomerate announced a net loss of 787.3bn yen ($8.1bn; £5.3bn).

Japan Airlines reported an annual loss of 63.2bn yen after international passenger numbers fell. It had made a profit of 16.9bn yen the previous year.

Carmaker Nissan reported a net loss of 233.7bn yen for the year to 31 March, although the loss was not as bad as the company had predicted earlier this year.

Mazda announced an annual loss of 52.1bn yen, down from a 65.2bn yen profit a year earlier.

And Yamaha Motors reported a net loss of 15.8bn yen for the January to March quarter, compared with a profit of 22.2bn yen for the same period in 2008.

[briarberry] 22/4/2009 11:20

TOKYO (AP) -- The severe slump in Japan's exports eased slightly in March, offering a small sign that overseas demand may be headed toward recovery, even as the nation recorded its first annual trade deficit in 28 years.

Exports in March plunged by almost 46 percent from a year earlier, the finance ministry said Wednesday, but the decline wasn't as bad as February when exports slumped by about half. Moreover, month-on-month data show that exports managed a 2 percent rise -- the first uptick in nearly a year.

[briarberry] 08/4/2009 10:01

Exports, how bad can this get ? Where's the bottom ? Only an extra 4% down this month...


In November the value of exports fell by 27% year on year. The picture only worsened in December with a year-on-year fall of 35%.

The trade deficit increased in January to the widest in two decades as exports slumped by 46 percent,

In February as the global recession caused exports to plunge an unprecedented 50.4 percent.

[briarberry] 08/4/2009 09:47

exports plunge an unprecedented 50.4 percent y-o-y...


April 8 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's current-account surplus narrowed in February as the global recession caused exports to plunge an unprecedented 50.4 percent.

The surplus shrank 55.6 percent to 1.117 trillion yen ($11 billion) from a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance said in Tokyo today. Japan had a 172.8 billion yen deficit in January, its first in 13 years.

The return to a surplus was because of a record drop in imports, suggesting demand at home is also weakening as companies from Nissan Motor Corp. to Panasonic Corp. cut output and fire workers. Confidence at large manufacturers fell to a record low in March and executives signaled more spending and job cuts, the Bank of Japan's Tankan survey showed last week.

[briarberry] 05/3/2009 21:58

The decline in gross domestic product was steeper than the annualized 12.7 percent reported...


March 5 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese companies cut spending last quarter at the fastest pace in a decade as exports crashed and earnings at manufacturers from Toyota Motor Corp. to Sharp Corp. evaporated.

Capital spending excluding software fell 18.1 percent in the three months ended Dec. 31 from a year earlier, a seventh quarterly decline, the Ministry of Finance said today in Tokyo. Profits tumbled 64.1 percent, the most since 1974.

The plunge in investment, along with a drop in inventories, probably means last quarter's decline in gross domestic product was steeper than the annualized 12.7 percent reported last month. Economists predict an even worse contraction in the current three months as an unprecedented slump in exports and production prompts companies to fire thousands of workers.

[briarberry] 26/2/2009 18:30

Exports down 46 percent...

The trade deficit increased in January to the widest in two decades as exports slumped by 46 percent, the Finance Ministry said yesterday in Tokyo. A Cabinet Office report showed last week that the world's second-largest economy shrank in the fourth quarter by the most since the 1974 oil shock.



Imports exceeded exports by 952.6bn yen ($9.9bn; £6.8bn). It is the largest gap since records began in 1980.

Demand for Japanese cars in particular dropped by 69%.




(In November the value of exports fell by 27% year on year. The picture only worsened in December with a year-on-year fall of 35%.)

[energyi] 16/2/2009 06:14

Japan's economy shrinks most since 1974

Japan's economy shrank at an annual pace of 12.7pc last quarter, the most since the 1974 oil shock, as recessions in the US and Europe triggered a record drop in exports

Gross domestic product fell for a third straight quarter in the three months ended December 31, the Cabinet Office said in Tokyo on Monday. The median estimate of 26 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for an 11.6pc contraction.

Exports plunged an unprecedented 13.9pc from the third quarter as demand for Corolla cars and Bravia televisions collapsed amid a slump that the Group of Seven nations said will persist for most of 2009. Toyota Motor Corp., Sony Corp. and Hitachi Ltd. - all of which forecast losses - are firing thousands of workers, heightening the risk a decline in household spending will prolong the recession.

"The economy is in terrible shape and the scary part is that we're likely to see a similar drop this quarter," said Seiji Adachi, a senior economist at Deutsche Securities Inc. in Tokyo. "All we can do is wait for overseas demand to pick up."

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.2pc at the lunch break in Tokyo, extending the year's losses to 12pc. The yen rose to 91.62 per dollar from 91.76 on speculation Japan will refrain from taking measures to weaken the currency. The yen's 18pc gain over the past year has compounded exporters' woes by eroding the value of their overseas sales.

The world's second-largest economy shrank 3.3pc from the third quarter, the report showed. That compared with the US's 1pc contraction and the euro-zone's 1.5pc decline, which was the sharpest in at least 13 years
. . .
"There's no doubt that the economy is in its worst state in the postwar period," Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Kaoru Yosano said in Tokyo. "The Japanese economy, which is heavily dependent on exports of autos, electronics and capital goods, has been severely hit by the global slowdown."

G-7 finance chiefs meeting in Rome at the weekend vowed to tackle a "severe" economic downturn.

Japan has been in a recession since November 2007, according to a government panel that dates the economic cycle. The September 15 bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. worsened a credit crisis that erased more than $14 trillion from global equity markets and paralyzed world trade.


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