Active Investing in Japan

* Nikkei 225 Stock Average: +12.45 (+0.1%) to 18,053.38
* Nikkei 225 futures Osaka: +40 (+0.2%) to 18,080
* TOPIX 1st Section: +1.22 (+0.1%) to 1,779.72; Advancers 899 x decliners 702 (unchanged 131), new highs 90 x new lows 32; 19/33 sectors posted gains
* JASDAQ: -0.08 (-0.1%) to 81.13

The following excerpt arrived in my daily Asia alerts email from The Wall Street Journal:

JOURNAL’S FUTURE: Amid the news that the Bancroft family may soon sell The Wall Street Journal’s parent company, Dow Jones & Co., to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. or some other bidder, our editorial writers say it’s important to note that capitalism is dynamic — and those of us who extol the virtues of Joseph Schumpeter’s “creative destruction” for others can’t complain when it sweeps through our own industry. That’s what is happening as the Internet breaks up long-time media business models, and they write that Dow Jones is hardly immune.

New Zealand’s central bank hiked a quarter-point to 8%, a record, and the NZ$ rose to a 22-year high. NZ’s benchmark rate is second-highest among countries with the best crediting ratings, behind only Iceland. [Source: FT / FT Alphaville]

There’s been a slight strengthening of the yen in recent trading that is unlikely to persist. Current rate gaps are too advantageous for there to be any serious unwinding. Expect this situation to last at least through summer.

Below are two pieces from Wed.’s FT Alphaville’s The 6am Cut I’d like to share:

(1) “Overworked, understaffed, banks fear errors” — In short, executives at the world’s top i-banks admit their staff are under pressure from the record volume of M&A activity. [By the way, I read on a WSJ Deal newsletter / blog that disappointing results from Lazard and Greenhill are not worrisome since (according to both firms) they expect a busy second-half from backlog.] What is worrisome, as the FT Alphaville team reports, “… overworked staff around the world are in danger of making costly mistakes,” according to senior i-bank executives. Hey, I’ve got fresh legs, put me in!

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