Bob Schneider - Seeking Alpha 'Bob Schneider' Tag RSS Syndication from SeekingAlpha.com SeekingAlpha.com http://seekingalpha.com/author/bob-schneider McDonald's, Komori, Fanuc: Three Kaisha Shikiho Stock Picks http://seekingalpha.com/article/38451-mcdonald-s-komori-fanuc-three-kaisha-shikiho-stock-picks?source=feed 38451 Kaisha Shikiho, issued quarterly by Toyo Keizai, is considered by some to be Japan's investment bible. This thick, paperback-size publication covers all of Japan's public companies, over 3,700 in number. It's like Value Line but has a much wider readership -- Toyo Keizai says Shikiho has a 70% share of Japan's investment periodicals market.

Indeed, you will often see the most recent version on the desks of both brokers and small investors. Wahei Takeda, perhaps Japan's largest individual shareholder, is said to read Shikiho as his main information source for investing. In the US, investors know the English-language edition as the Japan Company Handbook, which appears about a month after the Japanese edition (Toyo says the English version includes any subsequent earnings revisions).

Prior to the release of the summer issue today, the publisher ran a number of "preview" articles for subscribers of its online magazine. While of course there's no guarantee that its comments and earnings forecasts will prove accurate, the mere fact that so many investors read them might be worth considering, especially for stocks with large individual ownership.

]]> Fri, 15 Jun 2007 05:57:49 -0400 Bob Schneider Bob Schneider (Nihon Equity Research) submits: The Kaisha Shikiho, issued quarterly by Toyo Keizai, is considered by some to be Japan's investment bible. This thick, paperback-size publication covers all of Japan's public companies, over 3,700 in number. It's like Value Line but has a much wider readership -- Toyo Keizai says Shikiho has a 70% share of Japan's investment periodicals market.

Indeed, you will often see the most recent version on the desks of both brokers and small investors. Wahei Takeda, perhaps Japan's largest individual shareholder, is said to read Shikiho as his main information source for investing. In the US, investors know the English-language edition as the Japan Company Handbook, which appears about a month after the Japanese edition (Toyo says the English version includes any subsequent earnings revisions).

Prior to the release of the summer issue today, the publisher ran a number of "preview" articles for subscribers of its online magazine. While of course there's no guarantee that its comments and earnings forecasts will prove accurate, the mere fact that so many investors read them might be worth considering, especially for stocks with large individual ownership.


Complete Story »]]> FANUF.PK MCD Bob Schneider Can Tokyo Regain Its Luster as a World Financial Center? http://seekingalpha.com/article/37626-can-tokyo-regain-its-luster-as-a-world-financial-center?source=feed 37626 The move prompted analyses in the Economist, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, etc. of Tokyo’s ability to climb back. Among the problems it faces:

(1) Tokyo has the world’s second-largest stock market after NY. But it now has less than 10% of world capitalization, versus a third in 1990. Since then, foreign listings have fallen from 125 to 25, much below foreign listings of 446 in NY, 315 in London, and 150 in Singapore.

]]> Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:28:06 -0400 Bob Schneider Bob Schneider (Nihon Equity Research) submits: Japanese Minister for Financial Services Yuji Yamamoto recently said Japan is considering steps to help Tokyo recapture its position as a world financial center that it enjoyed in the 1980s. The move prompted analyses in the Economist, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, etc. of Tokyo’s ability to climb back. Among the problems it faces:

(1) Tokyo has the world’s second-largest stock market after NY. But it now has less than 10% of world capitalization, versus a third in 1990. Since then, foreign listings have fallen from 125 to 25, much below foreign listings of 446 in NY, 315 in London, and 150 in Singapore.


Complete Story »]]> EWJ Bob Schneider The Impact of Triangular Mergers on Japan M&A http://seekingalpha.com/article/37623-the-impact-of-triangular-mergers-on-japan-m-a?source=feed 37623 A foreign firm with a Japanese subsidiary can now acquire a Japanese company by having it merge with its Japanese sub. Formerly, a foreign firm could use as consideration only shares of the subsidiary, which was impractical because the sub's stock was rarely traded publicly. Now acquirers can use other assets, including shares of the foreign parent.

The new rules are intended to raise foreign direct investment in Japan. According to the EU, the value of cross-border mergers (sales) in Japan was $2,512MM in 2005, versus $429,146MM in the EU and $105,560MM in the US. The value of cross-border mergers in the EU is thus 170 times higher, and in the US 42 times higher, than in Japan. The government wants to raise the proportion of foreign investment in Japan GDP to 5% in 2010 from 2.2% in 2005.

]]> Thu, 07 Jun 2007 05:55:12 -0400 Bob Schneider Bob Schneider (Nihon Equity Research) submits: New rules were introduced in Japan in May that will allow so-called sankaku gappei, or triangular mergers. A foreign firm with a Japanese subsidiary can now acquire a Japanese company by having it merge with its Japanese sub. Formerly, a foreign firm could use as consideration only shares of the subsidiary, which was impractical because the sub's stock was rarely traded publicly. Now acquirers can use other assets, including shares of the foreign parent.

The new rules are intended to raise foreign direct investment in Japan. According to the EU, the value of cross-border mergers (sales) in Japan was $2,512MM in 2005, versus $429,146MM in the EU and $105,560MM in the US. The value of cross-border mergers in the EU is thus 170 times higher, and in the US 42 times higher, than in Japan. The government wants to raise the proportion of foreign investment in Japan GDP to 5% in 2010 from 2.2% in 2005.


Complete Story »]]> EWJ Bob Schneider