Markets were closed in Japan Monday for a national holiday. The big news for the moment is the election of Yasuo Fukuda to replace Shinzo Abe as prime minister. Below is an abstract from FT Alphaville’s 6am Cut. There were only two choices, so no chance of a real surprise, thus the market […]

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Below are two stock charts, of Starbucks Japan [?????????????????] (JP: 2717) versus McDonald’s Japan Hldg [????????????????] (JP: 2702) over the calendar year and one-year period. Starbucks had a nice run up over the past 52-weeks, but is in negative territory when looking at a year-to-date chart. McDonald’s has been mostly range bound, seemingly not moving […]

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McDonald’s McCafe opened in Tokyo on August 29. Here’s two YouTube videos for those interested in watching. Weekend is just about here! Have fun everyone!

See also: ????????????? This one is by a customer, who concludes the portions at McCafe are too small.

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Edward George Seidensticker passed away at the age of 86 on August 26 in Tokyo. It is important for all of us with a connection to Japan to not forget the meaningful work of Seidensticker. The New York Times has a pretty detailed obituary of Seidensticker. He is best known for his translation of Murasaki […]

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The latest Forbes magazine (Sept. 3, 2007, or read online at: “So Long, Warren“) discusses something very interesting: several solid mutual funds, which have been longtime devotees of Warren Buffett, are selling shares, with one fund liquidating its entire position.
Sequoia Fund (SEQUX) sold $650m since the beg. of 2005, lowering its BRK.A weighting to 26%, […]

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How about a little luck of the Irish? The near-term is clouded with pessimism, but clearly there’s some great value and there will be buyers. A summary of Friday’s plunge will be published later. In the meantime, enjoy!

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but it looks like nobody is buying it. And why should they?
The Wall Street Journal reports:
As part of a summerlong campaign, the Hall of Fame pitcher has his picture in the meat aisles at major grocery stores under the slogan “Beef makes you strong!” Mr. Ryan threw out a ceremonial first pitch during a baseball […]

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We recently joined PayPerPost as both a “blogger” and “advertiser.” We haven’t had an opportunity to participate on the advertising front, but would like to discuss our experience so far on the blogging side.
We initially heard about PayPerPost through our reading of other blogs and from articles carried in magazines for entreprenuers and business.
We joined […]

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As expected, the LDP lost its majority in the upper house. Late reports from NHK show the LDP + Komeito losing 44 x 59 against the DPJ, with only three seats left. (See coverage by Reuters) PM Shinzo Abe says he’s staying despite the “severe” situation.
Japanese stocks are likely to be mostly range bound with […]

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Recent USAA market commentary on emerging markets highlights the outperformance of BRICs [Brazil, Russia, India and China] equities in the four-year period of 2003 - 2006. Take a look at the numbers, plus we’ve crunched the four-year average annual return for the Nikkei 225 as well.
BRICs: 49.9%
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (inc. BRICs): 38.2%
MSCI EAFE […]

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