Japanese Market

IT IS TIME to rethink Japanese stocks, says James Clunie, head of global securities at Aberdeen Capital Management. "Japan's stock market hit a 16-year low in March, but a projected cut in short-term interest rates should stop deflation and stimulate growth. "Put about 20 percent of your foreign stock portfolio in Japan. Attractive blue chips: Canon Inc., Nippon Telephone & Telegraph Co. and Sumitomo Bank Ltd." "Over the long term, the Fed cannot stop this bear market. The meltdown must end with selling exhaustion, and this we have not seen.

The Orioles have agreed to terms with Japanese lefty starter Tsuyoshi Wada, which reopens their pipeline to Japan, according to an industry source. He will sign a two-year, $8.15 million deal with a 2014 option worth $5 million, the source said. It is the Orioles' first foray into the Japanese market since signing Koji Uehara before the 2009 season. Wada may not end up as the only pitcher from Japan's Nippon Baseball League on the roster. The club is also seriously interested in Taiwanese lefty Chen Wei-Yin, who pitched for the Chunichi Dragons.

LOS ANGELES -- If you ask the average Japanese whether the United States or Japan makes better cars, he may think you're joking.Japanese autos, after all, consistently beat the rest of the pack in customer satisfaction surveys. It's the same with Japanese televisions, stereos and a host of other products.But when the subject turns to furniture -- well, that's a different story.Many Japanese love the solid construction and satiny finishes of fine American wood furniture and the rich fabric and workmanship of quality American upholstered items.

With the psyche of American investors scarred by international trauma, it may come as a surprise that some of the best opportunities to make money in mutual funds this year have been abroad. Russia, for example, doesn't seem as risky as it once was. It's loaded with profitable nickel, natural gas and oil, and its citizens are becoming hooked on cell phones. As 10 Eastern European nations prepare to enter the European Union next month, the entire region is gaining economic clout. Japan, once left for the economic scrap heap, is gradually getting its act together.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton and Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa set their sights on a new partnership in world economic leadership yesterday but failed to bridge their differences over making the Japanese market more open to U.S. goods."

TOKYO -- In the Bush administration's most ambitiou attempt to lead U.S. exporters to success here, Secretary of Commerce Robert S. Mosbacher last week escorted executives of 20 U.S. companies to show them the kind of commitment it takes to "compete more effectively in Japan."The companies were selected from 128 candidates after passing strict tests of "their commitment to the Japanese market," Mr. Mosbacher said.The three-day mission was supposed to give the CEOs chances to meet with everyone from Japan's powerful Minister of International Trade and Industry to companies that might be potential customers.

WASHINGTON -- A trade confrontation that had been looming for years was unexpectedly defused yesterday when American officials announced that Japan had met a target for imports of computer chips.Imports accounted for 20.2 percent of the Japanese semiconductor market in the fourth quarter of last year, exceeding the 20 percent target set in a 1991 trade agreement, said Donald H. Phillips, the assistant U.S. trade representative for industry.The U.S. semiconductor industry, which accounts for 85 percent of Japan's computer chip imports, has fought for seven years for the 20 percent overall foreign share, enlisting the aid of the Reagan, Bush and Clinton administrations.

W. B. Doner hired by HopkinsThe Johns Hopkins Health System and School of Medicine has chosen W. B. Doner & Co. as their national advertising agency, Doner announced yesterday. The size of the account was not disclosed. The Baltimore-based agency, with billings of more than $450 million a year, said it would develop a strategy and campaign to market Hopkins to physicians, employers and managed-care organizations.Penetration of Japanese market upU.S. and other foreign computer chip manufacturers captured a record 21.9 percent of the Japanese market during the April-June quarter, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said yesterday, surpassing the level set in a controversial U.S.-Japan microchip trade pact.

Tokyo - America's small band of surviving computer-chip makers feel they are getting their foot in the door here at last, after more than a decade of one of the most acrimonious of all the scores of Japan-U.S. trade disputes.But the five-year government agreement that got them that far expires in July, and they want it extended so they can finish making their sales pitches.Japanese and U.S. government delegations began talks last month on an extension. The United States hopes that by July the agreement will have been extended at least through the end of next year.

HERE is a Japanese view of the U.S.-Japan trade imbalance from an editorial in Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo:". . . In the American car market, Ford's Taurus has taken over the position of the best-selling car from Honda's Accord."The American cars, whose producer took a page out of the book on Japanese-style business management, became competitive with Japanese cars in terms of both quality and price and the market share of Japanese cars has been steadily declining."On top of that, the yen has become stronger since the beginning of the year.

IT IS TIME to rethink Japanese stocks, says James Clunie, head of global securities at Aberdeen Capital Management. "Japan's stock market hit a 16-year low in March, but a projected cut in short-term interest rates should stop deflation and stimulate growth. "Put about 20 percent of your foreign stock portfolio in Japan. Attractive blue chips: Canon Inc., Nippon Telephone & Telegraph Co. and Sumitomo Bank Ltd." "Over the long term, the Fed cannot stop this bear market. The meltdown must end with selling exhaustion, and this we have not seen.

The collapse of Barings Bros. & Co., the London merchant bank that helped finance some of Maryland's biggest public works more than 150 years ago, will have little effect on the state it helped build or the financial companies that now do business in Maryland.The news yesterday that Barings PLC, the parent company, was ruined by $1 billion in losing bets made by one derivatives trader in its Singapore office sent ripples through stock and currency markets around the world.But other than unsettled markets, companies in Maryland reported few aftershocks.

W. B. Doner hired by HopkinsThe Johns Hopkins Health System and School of Medicine has chosen W. B. Doner & Co. as their national advertising agency, Doner announced yesterday. The size of the account was not disclosed. The Baltimore-based agency, with billings of more than $450 million a year, said it would develop a strategy and campaign to market Hopkins to physicians, employers and managed-care organizations.Penetration of Japanese market upU.S. and other foreign computer chip manufacturers captured a record 21.9 percent of the Japanese market during the April-June quarter, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said yesterday, surpassing the level set in a controversial U.S.-Japan microchip trade pact.

TOKYO -- Having failed to achieve any breakthrough in trade talks with Japanese leaders, Secretary of State Warren M. Christopher unveiled yet another tactic yesterday to open the Japanese market -- an appeal to guilt and honor.Mr. Christopher told reporters that he had told the Japanese they had to comply with a so-called framework commitment they made last summer to open their markets and reduce their $60 billion surplus with the United States."My presentation was straightforward and candid.

TOKYO -- American car manufacturers unveiled their latest efforts to breach the Japanese market yesterday at the biannual Tokyo Market show, and their timing couldn't have been better.The sharp increase in the yen has lowered the dollar-based costs of U.S. manufacturers just as the companies themselves are getting a boost from American trade negotiators who spent the day in Tokyo hammering away at alleged unfairness in the Japanese market.All that is missing is the cars. A recent report by the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association criticized U.S. manufacturers for failing to produce high-quality, low-cost vehicles with the smaller engine size and right-hand drive that Japanese drivers prefer.

HERE is a Japanese view of the U.S.-Japan trade imbalance from an editorial in Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo:". . . In the American car market, Ford's Taurus has taken over the position of the best-selling car from Honda's Accord."The American cars, whose producer took a page out of the book on Japanese-style business management, became competitive with Japanese cars in terms of both quality and price and the market share of Japanese cars has been steadily declining."On top of that, the yen has become stronger since the beginning of the year.

The collapse of Barings Bros. & Co., the London merchant bank that helped finance some of Maryland's biggest public works more than 150 years ago, will have little effect on the state it helped build or the financial companies that now do business in Maryland.The news yesterday that Barings PLC, the parent company, was ruined by $1 billion in losing bets made by one derivatives trader in its Singapore office sent ripples through stock and currency markets around the world.But other than unsettled markets, companies in Maryland reported few aftershocks.

TOKYO -- American car manufacturers unveiled their latest efforts to breach the Japanese market yesterday at the biannual Tokyo Market show, and their timing couldn't have been better.The sharp increase in the yen has lowered the dollar-based costs of U.S. manufacturers just as the companies themselves are getting a boost from American trade negotiators who spent the day in Tokyo hammering away at alleged unfairness in the Japanese market.All that is missing is the cars. A recent report by the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association criticized U.S. manufacturers for failing to produce high-quality, low-cost vehicles with the smaller engine size and right-hand drive that Japanese drivers prefer.

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton and Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa set their sights on a new partnership in world economic leadership yesterday but failed to bridge their differences over making the Japanese market more open to U.S. goods."

WASHINGTON -- A trade confrontation that had been looming for years was unexpectedly defused yesterday when American officials announced that Japan had met a target for imports of computer chips.Imports accounted for 20.2 percent of the Japanese semiconductor market in the fourth quarter of last year, exceeding the 20 percent target set in a 1991 trade agreement, said Donald H. Phillips, the assistant U.S. trade representative for industry.The U.S. semiconductor industry, which accounts for 85 percent of Japan's computer chip imports, has fought for seven years for the 20 percent overall foreign share, enlisting the aid of the Reagan, Bush and Clinton administrations.