'Quantamental' Japan Specialist, LightStream Research

Campbell Gunn

'Quantamental' Japan Specialist

Long-Short Analysis on Japan, Asia and the World

LightStream Research

LightStream conducts quantitatively rigorous and data-driven analysis with a focus on Japan and Asia.

We consistently cover the Tech, Consumer and Industrial sectors, and provide ECM and Events coverage more broadly.

We supplement traditional qualitative insights from company relationships with a robust quantitative foundation that examines as much historical data as is available.
We further refine the accuracy of our insights and calls through the use of alternative data to flesh out current trends, and through a valuation framework that emphasises non-superficial peer group selection and a proper attempt to understand the metrics and changes that have driven security valuations in the past.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/129/661/original/2020-04-26_07-20-46.png?1587853286" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="129661"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div>THE WEDGE - Both Japanese equities and the $/¥ exchange rate have traded in a narrow range over the last two weeks. Undeterred, the Bank of Japan intervened through ETF purchases three times last week. In total, since the low of March 16th, the central bank has bought ETFs equivalent to 3.5% of market value, and have supported a 15% 29-day rally. As the markets consolidate in anticipation of the impending 'rendezvous with reality' in the form of quarterly earnings, the resolution of the 'wedge' formations above will be to the downside.<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/129/662/original/2020-04-26_07-39-05.png?1587854366" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="129662"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div>CANARIES - As we noted in Friday's <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/japan-revisions-results-23rd-april-getting-worse-rapidly-obics-tgas-canon-omron" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:38697" rel="noopener">Results Review</a>, interim forecasts are a useful 'canary' and, with some help from <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/fanuc-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:752:1" rel="noopener">Fanuc (6954 JP)</a>, our composite Score is heading lower rapidly. A growing number of companies lacking Fanuc's candour are refusing to make initial full-year or interim forecasts this year leaving the market, and the sell-side, to 'fly blind'. The lack of foresight is resulting in a degree of misplaced optimism, as amply demonstrated by Friday's 7.5% gain in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/omron-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15904:1" rel="noopener">Omron (6645 JP)</a> for 'beating' a six-month-old forecast for a mostly pre-COVID-19 year.     <figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/129/665/original/File%202020-04-26%205%2006%2033.jpeg?1587856452" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="129665"></figure><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/129/666/original/File%202020-04-26%205%2007%2018.jpeg?1587856466" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="129666"></figure>PERSISTENCE - Japan is still 'behind' the world and ahead of the rest of Asia in COVID-19 metrics - Marco Piani's excellent global timeline chart is attached as an Appendix in the DETAIL below. The number of confirmed new cases is persistent at around 300, of which, alarmingly, an increasing number are outside Tokyo, while the rolling 3-day number of deaths is moving more towards Europe than the rest of Asia. The northern island of Hokkaido which saw some of the earliest case clusters in Japan is experiencing a second wave of infections.  Nishimura, the Cabinet minister in charge of the response to COVID-19, is now in quarantine at home after one of his aides tested positive. Sunday has brought some welcome good news - the nationwide daily case count has declined to 140. Nevertheless, with just ten days until the proposed end of the states of emergency, at least one extension is likely, possibly until the end of May. Such a declaration is not yet discounted in the equity market.<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/129/667/original/IMG_1515.jpg?1587857128" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="129667"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • NHK</div>PREVALENCE - Although a lack of widespread testing biases this data, the detected rates of infection by age cohort (descending in the chart above) and sex (male blue/female red) reveal the consequences of Japan's version of social distancing. The highest rates of infection are amongst those that have to commute or come into contact with others, men between the ages of 20 and 50 and childless women in their twenties, many of whom work in hospitals or check-out counters. 10% of all COVID-19 cases in Japan are medical staff or patients who were infected nosocomially.  Testing is still a major bottleneck due to excessive fax-centric bureaucracy and reliance on only non-private institutions. Only 6,000 tests are being carried out every day, two-thirds of total capacity, and the results take one week to obtain. PLEASE DIE AT HOME - A number of those infected with COVID-19 who have been told to 'stay home' as the hospitals are full are now dying in situ or on the street. Some local governments are being forced to change tack. All newly-confirmed patients that cannot be accommodated in hospitals are to be moved to hotels with medical staff in attendance. However, there is now a severe shortage of such personnel. Hospitals in Tokyo are still turning away suspected COVID-19 patients. Aichi prefecture has resorted to offering 'subsidies' of up to ¥4 million to hospitals for accepting new patients.ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR - Japan is not immune to anti-social behaviour at the worst of times. Cars with license plates from other prefectures have been vandalised when parked or tailgated or verbally-abused on the road. Child care facilities are turning away children of hospital staff for fear they may already be asymptomatic carriers, prompting many medical workers to quit their jobs. Some companies are requiring employees who are working from home to be monitored by video during working hours to ensure they are at their desks and not helping out with the housework.<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/129/670/original/title_1.jpg?1587859428" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="129670"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Sharp</div>ABE-'NO-MASKS'AND THE SHARP LOTTERY - The government has had to recall the small washable cloth masks that PM Abe planned to distribute two of per household due to mould, stains and insects being found in up to one-third of early batches. The roll-out of these much-criticised 'Abe masks' will be further delayed. Meanwhile, demand for <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sharp-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:391:1" rel="noopener">Sharp (6753 JP)</a>'s newly-manufactured higher quality single-use masks so overwhelmed the company's website, that Sharp has decided to hold a lottery as a way of rationing demand.<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/129/725/original/2020-04-26_15-42-04.png?1587883347" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="129725"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source ♦ Japan Analytics</div>In the DETAIL below, we shall review the results, revisions and initial forecast announcements made on Friday by larger-cap companies.  The positive/neutral/negative balance for Friday's 28 results announcements was 13:1:14, and the net change in Results Score was -1. For the 47 revisions/forecasts, the split was 21:2:24 but the net change in Revision Score totalled -170. Of the eighteen companies declaring full-year results, only half made interim or annual forecasts for the current year. As we shall see below the 'worst' forecasts were from <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/fanuc-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:752:1" rel="noopener">Fanuc (6954 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/amano-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8135:1" rel="noopener">Amano (6436 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ana-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5308:1" rel="noopener">ANA (9202 JP)</a>, and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/denso-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18703:1" rel="noopener">Denso (6902 JP)</a> (see chart above). Large=caps with improved Revisions Scores were <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/mochida-pharmaceutical-co" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3655:1" rel="noopener">Mochida Pharmaceutical (4534 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/okinawa-cellular-telephone" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6517:1" rel="noopener">Okinawa Cellular Telephone (9436 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/acom-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8897:1" rel="noopener">Acom (8572 JP)</a>. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/shionogi-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:19535:1" rel="noopener">Shionogi (4507 JP)</a> and two other companies raised dividends; none cut their payouts.

Source • Japan AnalyticsTHE WEDGE - Both Japanese equities and the $/¥ exchange rate have traded in a narrow range over the last two weeks. Undeterred, the Bank of Japan intervened through ETF purchases three times last week. In total, since the low of March 16th, the central bank has bought ETFs equivalent to 3.5% of market value, and have supported a 15% 29-day rally. As the markets consolidate in anticipation of the impending 'rendezvous with reality' in the form of quarterly earnings, the resolution of the 'wedge' formations above will be to the downside.Source • Japan AnalyticsCANARIES - As we noted in Friday's Results Review, interim forecasts are a useful 'canary' and, with some help from Fanuc (6954 JP), our composite Score is heading lower rapidly. A growing number of companies lacking Fanuc's candour are refusing to make initial full-year or interim forecasts this year leaving the market, and the sell-side, to 'fly blind'. The lack of foresight is resulting in a degree of misplaced optimism, as amply demonstrated by Friday's 7.5% gain in Omron (6645 JP) for 'beating' a six-month-old forecast for a mostly pre-COVID-19 year.     PERSISTENCE - Japan is still 'behind' the world and ahead of the rest of Asia in COVID-19 metrics - Marco Piani's excellent global timeline chart is attached as an Appendix in the DETAIL below. The number of confirmed new cases is persistent at around 300, of which, alarmingly, an increasing number are outside Tokyo, while the rolling 3-day number of deaths is moving more towards Europe than the rest of Asia. The northern island of Hokkaido which saw some of the earliest case clusters in Japan is experiencing a second wave of infections.  Nishimura, the Cabinet minister in charge of the response to COVID-19, is now in quarantine at home after one of his aides tested positive. Sunday has brought some welcome good news - the nationwide daily case count has declined to 140. Nevertheless, with just ten days until the proposed end of the states of emergency, at least one extension is likely, possibly until the end of May. Such a declaration is not yet discounted in the equity market.Source • NHKPREVALENCE - Although a lack of widespread testing biases this data, the detected rates of infection by age cohort (descending in the chart above) and sex (male blue/female red) reveal the consequences of Japan's version of social distancing. The highest rates of infection are amongst those that have to commute or come into contact with others, men between the ages of 20 and 50 and childless women in their twenties, many of whom work in hospitals or check-out counters. 10% of all COVID-19 cases in Japan are medical staff or patients who were infected nosocomially.  Testing is still a major bottleneck due to excessive fax-centric bureaucracy and reliance on only non-private institutions. Only 6,000 tests are being carried out every day, two-thirds of total capacity, and the results take one week to obtain. PLEASE DIE AT HOME - A number of those infected with COVID-19 who have been told to 'stay home' as the hospitals are full are now dying in situ or on the street. Some local governments are being forced to change tack. All newly-confirmed patients that cannot be accommodated in hospitals are to be moved to hotels with medical staff in attendance. However, there is now a severe shortage of such personnel. Hospitals in Tokyo are still turning away suspected COVID-19 patients. Aichi prefecture has resorted to offering 'subsidies' of up to ¥4 million to hospitals for accepting new patients.ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR - Japan is not immune to anti-social behaviour at the worst of times. Cars with license plates from other prefectures have been vandalised when parked or tailgated or verbally-abused on the road. Child care facilities are turning away children of hospital staff for fear they may already be asymptomatic carriers, prompting many medical workers to quit their jobs. Some companies are requiring employees who are working from home to be monitored by video during working hours to ensure they are at their desks and not helping out with the housework.Source • SharpABE-'NO-MASKS'AND THE SHARP LOTTERY - The government has had to recall the small washable cloth masks that PM Abe planned to distribute two of per household due to mould, stains and insects being found in up to one-third of early batches. The roll-out of these much-criticised 'Abe masks' will be further delayed. Meanwhile, demand for Sharp (6753 JP)'s newly-manufactured higher quality single-use masks so overwhelmed the company's website, that Sharp has decided to hold a lottery as a way of rationing demand.Source ♦ Japan AnalyticsIn the DETAIL below, we shall review the results, revisions and initial forecast announcements made on Friday by larger-cap companies.  The positive/neutral/negative balance for Friday's 28 results announcements was 13:1:14, and the net change in Results Score was -1. For the 47 revisions/forecasts, the split was 21:2:24 but the net change in Revision Score totalled -170. Of the eighteen companies declaring full-year results, only half made interim or annual forecasts for the current year. As we shall see below the 'worst' forecasts were from Fanuc (6954 JP), Amano (6436 JP), ANA (9202 JP), and Denso (6902 JP) (see chart above). Large=caps with improved Revisions Scores were Mochida Pharmaceutical (4534 JP), Okinawa Cellular Telephone (9436 JP) and Acom (8572 JP). Shionogi (4507 JP) and two other companies raised dividends; none cut their payouts.

🇯🇵 JAPAN MARKET (& COVID-19) UPDATE 26th April - Thin End of the Wedge

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

Travis Lundy

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

Quantitative Analysis

The GPIF is the world's largest pension fund at what was $1.6 trillion-plus at the end of December 2019. The management of the GPIF has made remarkable strides in recent years, moving towards market targets for returns of all assets (no more FILP bonds), creating a win-win profitability structure for active managers on multi-year mandates (up to five to seven years it seems), and demanding accountability on stewardship policies and efforts. In March 2010, the GPIF lowered its domestic bond portfolio bogey from 67% to 60% (which was good because it was already there),  and raised its domestic equity, foreign bond, and foreign equity allocation mix midpoints to 12%/11%/12% from 11%/8%/9%. Short Term Assets were set at 5%. In June 2013, they realized they needed to be more aggressive, and so the GPIF spent more than a year studying the problem, having experts in, looking at allocation mixes and trying to be more professional about assessing their liability profile and curve, and decided in October 2014 to implement a much different mix, moving domestic bonds to 35% ±10%, domestic equities to 25% ±9%, foreign bonds to 15% ±4%, and foreign equities to 25% ±8%. There was no bogey for Short Term Assets, but that was assumed to be wrapped up in the domestic bonds portion as a concept.That meant buying equities, and they did.They had already been buying and by the time they announced the new policy in October 2014 officially, they had already gone through the old limits on domestic equities and were at 18.2% (the old upper limit was 18.0%). It took them until March 2015 to get to 22%, and by June they were at 23.4%. Basically, they then let it ride, with some small changes here and there. The big changes were constant reductions in the domestic bond allocation. However in FY15 (year to March 2016) there was an episode of equity buying. That is probably something those interested in flows should study now. The GPIF is currently said to be in the process of conducting an Investment Policy Review. The lead-up to this has seen a number of changes which hint at what could come.<ol>
<li>
The GPIF has become very ESG-focussed. Some of that is the G portion where they talk about being long-term investors, and they have made it mandatory for their investment managers to have a stewardship policy and report on how they execute that policy. They are also looking very much at the longer-term, and CIO Mizuno has blasted short-sellers and any number of other market participants for being short-term (I had issues with a bunch of the comments reported in the FT so got a <a href="https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2020/01/14/1579000419000/The-GPIF-and-the-complexity-of-stewardship/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter to Alphaville</a> published - Thanks Jamie!).</li>
<li>The GPIF has started looking at real estate.</li>
<li>
The GPIF has decided that foreign credit which is yen-hedged can be put into the domestic bonds allocation bucket. This means a higher allocation to foreign issuer risk than the old limit.</li>
<li>
The GPIF has stopped lending stocks. This reduces fee income to passive portfolios (foreign equity, as domestic equity lending has never been done, or at least not in many, many years) but it means more pressure on company management.</li>
<li>
The GPIF has changed the way contracts work for active managers. The base concept, according to interviews and articles, is that the active manager gets the same very low management fee on AUM as a passive manager does, but the active manager shares in the upside over the life of the contract, which will be "one market cycle" (i.e. five years, or seven years, or whatever they settle on with the GPIF). This should, ceteris paribus, lead to further outperformance. </li>
</ol>All of these things would, in my mind, point to a higher domestic equity allocation, a higher foreign bond allocation, and a shift to more active management and less passive management in domestic equities (last year the split was 90% passive 10% active). But there are shorter-term factors investors should be looking at. More discussion below.

The GPIF is the world's largest pension fund at what was $1.6 trillion-plus at the end of December 2019. The management of the GPIF has made remarkable strides in recent years, moving towards market targets for returns of all assets (no more FILP bonds), creating a win-win profitability structure for active managers on multi-year mandates (up to five to seven years it seems), and demanding accountability on stewardship policies and efforts. In March 2010, the GPIF lowered its domestic bond portfolio bogey from 67% to 60% (which was good because it was already there),  and raised its domestic equity, foreign bond, and foreign equity allocation mix midpoints to 12%/11%/12% from 11%/8%/9%. Short Term Assets were set at 5%. In June 2013, they realized they needed to be more aggressive, and so the GPIF spent more than a year studying the problem, having experts in, looking at allocation mixes and trying to be more professional about assessing their liability profile and curve, and decided in October 2014 to implement a much different mix, moving domestic bonds to 35% ±10%, domestic equities to 25% ±9%, foreign bonds to 15% ±4%, and foreign equities to 25% ±8%. There was no bogey for Short Term Assets, but that was assumed to be wrapped up in the domestic bonds portion as a concept.That meant buying equities, and they did.They had already been buying and by the time they announced the new policy in October 2014 officially, they had already gone through the old limits on domestic equities and were at 18.2% (the old upper limit was 18.0%). It took them until March 2015 to get to 22%, and by June they were at 23.4%. Basically, they then let it ride, with some small changes here and there. The big changes were constant reductions in the domestic bond allocation. However in FY15 (year to March 2016) there was an episode of equity buying. That is probably something those interested in flows should study now. The GPIF is currently said to be in the process of conducting an Investment Policy Review. The lead-up to this has seen a number of changes which hint at what could come.

The GPIF has become very ESG-focussed. Some of that is the G portion where they talk about being long-term investors, and they have made it mandatory for their investment managers to have a stewardship policy and report on how they execute that policy. They are also looking very much at the longer-term, and CIO Mizuno has blasted short-sellers and any number of other market participants for being short-term (I had issues with a bunch of the comments reported in the FT so got a letter to Alphaville published - Thanks Jamie!).
The GPIF has started looking at real estate.

The GPIF has decided that foreign credit which is yen-hedged can be put into the domestic bonds allocation bucket. This means a higher allocation to foreign issuer risk than the old limit.

The GPIF has stopped lending stocks. This reduces fee income to passive portfolios (foreign equity, as domestic equity lending has never been done, or at least not in many, many years) but it means more pressure on company management.

The GPIF has changed the way contracts work for active managers. The base concept, according to interviews and articles, is that the active manager gets the same very low management fee on AUM as a passive manager does, but the active manager shares in the upside over the life of the contract, which will be "one market cycle" (i.e. five years, or seven years, or whatever they settle on with the GPIF). This should, ceteris paribus, lead to further outperformance. 
All of these things would, in my mind, point to a higher domestic equity allocation, a higher foreign bond allocation, and a shift to more active management and less passive management in domestic equities (last year the split was 90% passive 10% active). But there are shorter-term factors investors should be looking at. More discussion below.

Japan/Asia Long-Short, LightStream Research

Mio Kato

Japan/Asia Long-Short

Event-Driven

On Thursday we highlighted a number of stock pairs that had seen extreme levels of relative performance dislocations, speculating that this was due to relative value unwinds that were being rushed for completion prior to the long weekend. This morning the skews are reversing and with Nikkei now outperforming Topix (+02.7% vs. -0.87% at the time of this writing) we believe this opportunity is being realised quickly. Our thoughts on next steps below.

On Thursday we highlighted a number of stock pairs that had seen extreme levels of relative performance dislocations, speculating that this was due to relative value unwinds that were being rushed for completion prior to the long weekend. This morning the skews are reversing and with Nikkei now outperforming Topix (+02.7% vs. -0.87% at the time of this writing) we believe this opportunity is being realised quickly. Our thoughts on next steps below.

Japan Long Weekend Portfolio Blowout Theme Is Working Quickly

We previously highlighted the strong skew between names which have a heavy weighting in Topix vs. those which have a heavy weighting in the Nikkei. Given extreme looking skews even in individual names it does not seem unreasonable that some relative value fund(s) are exiting positions aggressively prior to what could be a key long weekend for Japan with potentially heavy volatility on Monday. We examine some striking performance discrepancies below.

We previously highlighted the strong skew between names which have a heavy weighting in Topix vs. those which have a heavy weighting in the Nikkei. Given extreme looking skews even in individual names it does not seem unreasonable that some relative value fund(s) are exiting positions aggressively prior to what could be a key long weekend for Japan with potentially heavy volatility on Monday. We examine some striking performance discrepancies below.

What Is Getting Blown Out of Portfolios Before the Long Weekend in Japan?

After the worst week in US equity markets in a long time, with sharply rising equity volatility causing risk parity funds and their ilk to shed what looked like $100bn+ of delta, and S&amp;P500 ETFs to see $20bn+ redeemed (amid fears of the possible uncontrollable spread of COVID-19 coronavirus), there were strong rumours of imminent coordinated central bank action over the weekend to prove that governments around the world were willing to act quickly to counter fears of economic weakness.We didn't get that. We got suggestions from Italy they would produce a stimulus package. German lawmakers tussled over whether or not stimulus was appropriate. EU officials high and low suggested that for the moment EU-level spending was inappropriate, some US politicians got upset that coronavirus test kits for the uninsured cost $3000+ (they don't), other politicians suggested $3000 was fine because the free market determined the price, and a president suggested the entire coronavirus thing was simultaneously a terrible blow to China and "fake news" - a hoax by the "deep state" and Democrats to try to injure his presidency (whatever else will be remembered by history in the decades to come, there will be memes).One central bank on Monday, however, did its thing.The BOJ governor issued an inter-meeting statement for the first time in many years. It was a simple statement, which said very little. <figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/121/375/original/Screenshot%202020-03-04%20at%2010.08.27%20PM.png?1583330921" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="121375"></figure>Given an ongoing program of ETF buying and JGB YCC/QQE, it was not clear what this meant, however, by day-end, it WAS clear.<div class="content-highlight">The BOJ had symbolically stepped in to buy ¥100.2bn of ETFs - its largest one-day purchase program in many years. </div>That leaves us with a "What Next" question. Discussion ensues below.

After the worst week in US equity markets in a long time, with sharply rising equity volatility causing risk parity funds and their ilk to shed what looked like $100bn+ of delta, and S&amp;P500 ETFs to see $20bn+ redeemed (amid fears of the possible uncontrollable spread of COVID-19 coronavirus), there were strong rumours of imminent coordinated central bank action over the weekend to prove that governments around the world were willing to act quickly to counter fears of economic weakness.We didn't get that. We got suggestions from Italy they would produce a stimulus package. German lawmakers tussled over whether or not stimulus was appropriate. EU officials high and low suggested that for the moment EU-level spending was inappropriate, some US politicians got upset that coronavirus test kits for the uninsured cost $3000+ (they don't), other politicians suggested $3000 was fine because the free market determined the price, and a president suggested the entire coronavirus thing was simultaneously a terrible blow to China and "fake news" - a hoax by the "deep state" and Democrats to try to injure his presidency (whatever else will be remembered by history in the decades to come, there will be memes).One central bank on Monday, however, did its thing.The BOJ governor issued an inter-meeting statement for the first time in many years. It was a simple statement, which said very little. Given an ongoing program of ETF buying and JGB YCC/QQE, it was not clear what this meant, however, by day-end, it WAS clear.The BOJ had symbolically stepped in to buy ¥100.2bn of ETFs - its largest one-day purchase program in many years. That leaves us with a "What Next" question. Discussion ensues below.

Japan

DENSO CORPORATION manufactures electronic parts for automobiles.  The Company's products include automobile air conditioners, air bags, ignition systems, generators, power steering systems, and spark plugs with iridium electrode. The Company also produces communication equipment for mobile navigation system.

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Denso Corp (6902 JP)

🇯🇵 JAPAN MARKET (& COVID-19) UPDATE 26th April - Thin End of the Wedge

THE WEDGE - Both Japanese equities and the $/¥ exchange rate have traded in a narrow range over the last two weeks. Undeterred, the Bank of Japan...

Campbell Gunn

JAPAN DELTA IV - Is The GPIF In Buying?

The GPIF is the world's largest pension fund at what was $1.6 trillion-plus at the end of December 2019. The management of the GPIF has made...

Travis Lundy

Japan Long Weekend Portfolio Blowout Theme Is Working Quickly

On Thursday we highlighted a number of stock pairs that had seen extreme levels of relative performance dislocations, speculating that this was due...

Mio Kato

What Is Getting Blown Out of Portfolios Before the Long Weekend in Japan?

We previously highlighted the strong skew between names which have a heavy weighting in Topix vs. those which have a heavy weighting in the Nikkei....

Mio Kato

Coronavirus QE, the BOJ, and ETF Buying

After the worst week in US equity markets in a long time, with sharply rising equity volatility causing risk parity funds and their ilk to shed...

Travis Lundy

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