Japan’s economy and ETFs have a new battle to fight: deflation. In fact, for the first time since 2006, the country’s Cabinet Office acknowledged that it was contending with the dreaded D-word.

Consumer prices and deflationary pressures have been facing Japan for months, but this summer the pace began to quicken. On Nov. 20, Japan’s Cabinet Office issued a monthly report that for the first time since 2006 acknowledged that the country was suffering from deflation, reports The Economist.

Global Defense Technology & Systems (GTEC), a provider of IT and engineering services to US defense and intelligence agencies, is expected to price its IPO this week.

Business Overview (from prospectus)

Archipelago Learning (ARCL), which runs a subscription-based online education platform for students K-12, is expected to price its IPO this week.

Business Overview (from prospectus)

7 Days Group (SVN), the third largest economy hotel chain in China, is expected to price its IPO this week. The company hopes its mix of high quality accomodations and proprietary techonology like its eCommerce platform will win over investors.

Business Overview (from prospectus)

Cloud Peak Energy (CLD), a carve-out of Rio Tinto (RTP) and the third largest coal producer in the U.S., is expected to go public this week. Reuters reports that "analysts cautioned that demand for the offering could be tepid. The IPO is priced at a premium compared with competitors."

Business Overview (from prospectus)

HealthPort (HPRT), a provider of outsourced medical records release services to hospitals and clinics, is expected to go public this week. Tom Taulli at Blogging Stocks reports that "HealthPort is the largest ROI [release of information] provider, with a market share of 20%. And it's a healthy market."

Business Overview (from prospectus)

Fortinet (FTNT), a provider of network security appliances to enterprises and service providers, expects to float its IPO this week. Jim Cramer thinks that the IPO is priced “much lower than what I think this stock is worth based on the fundamentals".

Business Overview (from prospectus)

Rue21 (RUE), a specialty teen apparel retailer with 500 stores in 43 states, is expected to go public this week. According to Renaissance Capital:

After emerging from bankruptcy in 2002 with a new management team, the firm has doubled its store base in the last three years and has averaged 8% same-store sales growth over the last five quarters.

Dollar General (DG), a KKR-backed small-box discount retailer with 8,700 stores in 35 states, is expected to float its IPO at the end of the week. The company is apparently booming despite, or because of, the economic crisis. According to the Wall Street Journal: "Through the worst of the economic downturn through 2008 and 2009, Dollar General did nothing but grow: Its sales, same store sales, total number of stores, and profits all rose."

Business Overview (from prospectus)

STR Holdings (STRI), a provider of solar module encapsulants and quality assurance services for consumer products, is planning to float its IPO this week. The company originally filed for this IPO back in August of 2008.

Business Overview (from prospectus)

PlainsCapital Bank Holding Company (PCB), the 9th largest bank in Texas which provides banking, mortgage and advisory services, plans to price its IPO this week. It will be the first U.S. bank to go public in two years.

Business Overview (from prospectus)

Hyatt Hotels (H), a global upscale hotel operator and developer owned by the Pritzker family, is expected to go public this week. Family squabbles and corporate governance issues cloud an eagerly anticipated IPO.

Business Overview (from prospectus)

Duoyuan Printing (DYP), a leading manufacturer of offset printing equipment in China, is expected to price their IPO this week.

Business Overview (from prospectus)

Ancestry.com (ACOM), a subscription-based online community for researching family histories, is expected to go public this week. According to the New York Times: "The genealogy Web site hopes investors will provide $100 million in an initial public offering, valuing the whole thing at $572 million. That seems too high for Ancestry to cement a happy legacy with investors."

[Update: ACOM on Thursday priced midrange at $13.50.]

Addus HomeCare (ADUS), a provider of home-based personal care, skilled nursing and rehabilitative therapies, priced their IPO at $10 per share, below range. Shares were trading around $8.90 at today's close.

Business Overview (from prospectus)

The Vitamin Shoppe (VSI) raised $155 million in its IPO yesterday, almost $50 milliion more than it had planned on in its prospectus. It was the first retail IPO since 2007. According to Bloomberg:

The listing is Vitamin Shoppe’s second foray into the IPO market, after the initial share sale of its online unit, VitaminShoppe.com, in October 1999 lost more than 90 percent for investors in less than two years as dot-com stocks collapsed.

Dole Foods' (DOLE) IPO was off to a sluggish start after it started trading Friday. After pricing at $12.50 on Thursday, it sank to $12.19 on Friday. According to the Wall Street Journal,

Dole's poor performance could be attributed to multiple factors: its recent decline in revenue and profits, multiple business risks or the fact that its majority owner sold a $300 million convertible-debt deal just as the initial public offering priced.

ZST Digital Networks (ZSTN), a supplier of digital and optical network equipment to cable system operators in China, is expected to go public this week.

Business Overview (from prospectus)

The RailAmerica (RA) IPO priced at $15 on Monday, below its estimated range of $16-$18. The stock continued to disappoint yesterday when it closed at $13.75. According to The Wall Street Journal, "the deal's performance could make it harder for a growing pipeline of other private-equity-backed companies to negotiate the recovering IPO markets..."

Fortress Investment Group LLC (FIG), continues to own a majority stake in RailAmerica and increased the amount of shares it sold in the IPO by one million, for a total of 11.5 million shares. The IPO closes October 16. The company is an owner/operator of short line freight railroads in North America.

China Real Estate Information (CRIC), a spin-off of E-House China's (EJ) real estate information and consulting business. is expected to go public this week. According to the Wall Street Journal, "China Real Estate is in the process of acquiring the online real-estate business of Sina Corp. After that deal is completed, the company will begin generating online-advertising revenue." The deal size could reach $225.9 million.

Business Overview (from prospectus)