Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

Our biggest concerns have stemmed from a handful of large-cap China internet names, which have held back the MSCI EM and Hang Seng indexes. We are also getting a breakout above $93.50-93.75 on the US dollar, a concerning risk-off signal. Still, our list of concerns remains short, and our outlook remains neutral yet constructive overall.

Our biggest concerns have stemmed from a handful of large-cap China internet names, which have held back the MSCI EM and Hang Seng indexes. We are also getting a breakout above $93.50-93.75 on the US dollar, a concerning risk-off signal. Still, our list of concerns remains short, and our outlook remains neutral yet constructive overall.

Global Cyclical Value Sectors Improving -- Buying Financials and Energy Names: ING Groep, Many More

Senior Bank Analyst - Japanese Banks, Windamee Research

J. Brian Waterhouse

Senior Bank Analyst - Japanese Banks

Windamee Research

Japanese Banks

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

Loan data for August 2021 from both the Japanese Bankers Association (JBA) and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) confirm that YoY loan growth for all Japanese commercial banks is now in negative territory, driven by a sharp YoY decline in lending by the major banks over the last four months.  Even on a month-on-month basis, total lending by Japanese banks has been falling for four out of the last five months.  Credit lines that were drawn down in 2020 as Japan went into nationwide COVID-induced lockdown, but were ultimately largely unneeded, are now being repaid.Interest rates remain at rock bottom, a fact that helps minimize funding costs, while the recovery in the stock market has given the banks some valuable ‘breathing space’ to offset rising credit costs with gains on selling some of the investment portfolio.  Nevertheless, margins remain under intense pressure, pushing core earnings down.  The quality of bank profits therefore continues to deteriorate, even though bottom-line profits for 1H FY3/2022 are likely to exceed most banks’ cautious initial earnings guidance.  That said, we expect few banks to opt to raise their full-year guidance significantly, regardless of 1H FY3/2022 results (due out mid-November).The Japanese banking sector in 2021 has outperformed Topix for the first time in several years, aided by a weakening Yen against the US$.  Yet, as we head into the third quarter of FY3/2022, much of the earlier outperformance by the banking sector against Topix has already been given back.“Caveat Emptor!” (May the Buyer Beware) remains our advice to would-be investors in Japanese bank stocks for the remainder of 2021 and beyond.<section class="figure"><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/232/501/original/8300-WR-JBanks-2021-0719-TooLow4Zero-TPNBNKvsTPX+2015-2021.jpg?1632884040" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="232501"></figure></section>

Loan data for August 2021 from both the Japanese Bankers Association (JBA) and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) confirm that YoY loan growth for all Japanese commercial banks is now in negative territory, driven by a sharp YoY decline in lending by the major banks over the last four months.  Even on a month-on-month basis, total lending by Japanese banks has been falling for four out of the last five months.  Credit lines that were drawn down in 2020 as Japan went into nationwide COVID-induced lockdown, but were ultimately largely unneeded, are now being repaid.Interest rates remain at rock bottom, a fact that helps minimize funding costs, while the recovery in the stock market has given the banks some valuable ‘breathing space’ to offset rising credit costs with gains on selling some of the investment portfolio.  Nevertheless, margins remain under intense pressure, pushing core earnings down.  The quality of bank profits therefore continues to deteriorate, even though bottom-line profits for 1H FY3/2022 are likely to exceed most banks’ cautious initial earnings guidance.  That said, we expect few banks to opt to raise their full-year guidance significantly, regardless of 1H FY3/2022 results (due out mid-November).The Japanese banking sector in 2021 has outperformed Topix for the first time in several years, aided by a weakening Yen against the US$.  Yet, as we head into the third quarter of FY3/2022, much of the earlier outperformance by the banking sector against Topix has already been given back.“Caveat Emptor!” (May the Buyer Beware) remains our advice to would-be investors in Japanese bank stocks for the remainder of 2021 and beyond.

Japanese Bank Lending:  Too Low For Zero

Asia Pac ECM and Index Rebal, Shenton Research

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

Asia Pac ECM and Index Rebal

Asia Pac IPO & Placement Research, China Biotech

DZT Research

DZT Research is an independent Asia Pacific equity specialist. Our quantitative research covers index rebalancing flows, alongside exchange data analytics accross Asia Pacific. On the equity capital markets side, we focus on Asia Pacific ECM, especially biotech and TMT. Our lead analyst is frequently cited by international media.

Quantitative Analysis

<ul>
<li>We analyzed the changes in margin trading positions of JPX stocks as of Jul 10th. The aggregated net margin trading position is USD30,748m.</li>
<li>We tabulate league tables for top/bottom net long/short of margin trading by value, net margin buy as multiple of ADT.</li>
<li>We highlight net margin buy/sell changes in SoftBank, Taiyo Yuden, Fast Retailing, Advantest, Kioxia, Tokyo Electron, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Mizuho Financial, Lasertec, Valor.</li>
</ul>


We analyzed the changes in margin trading positions of JPX stocks as of Jul 10th. The aggregated net margin trading position is USD30,748m.
We tabulate league tables for top/bottom net long/short of margin trading by value, net margin buy as multiple of ADT.
We highlight net margin buy/sell changes in SoftBank, Taiyo Yuden, Fast Retailing, Advantest, Kioxia, Tokyo Electron, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Mizuho Financial, Lasertec, Valor.


JPX Margin Trading Weekly (Jul 10th): SoftBank, Taiyo Yuden, Fast Retailing, Advantest, Kioxia

Data for May 2021 from both the Japanese Bankers Association (JBA) and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) confirm that YoY loan growth for Japanese commercial banks continues to fall, led by the major banks where YoY loan growth is now in negative territory.  Loan growth at all banks fell to just +0.5% YoY at the end of May, according to the JBA (April was +2.6% YoY).  We expect that June data (to be released in mid-July) from the JBA and BoJ may reveal overall YoY loan growth is heading for the zero-level.January through mid-March saw an unusually strong rally in bank shares, in line with trends in other global stock markets.  The Topix Banks Index peaked at 162.08 on 19 March 2021  -  just 4 days after the notorious Ides of March ‘turning-point’ that we have often referred to in Smartkarma Insights on Japanese banks’ share price performance  -  and has softened to the 145 level.  The sector’s surprise outperformance of Topix in CY2021 has been undermined by a sub-par June performance and on a longer-term view (as we show at the end of this Insight) and despite this year’s rally the sector remains a disappointing investment against the broader Topix Index.<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/mitsubishi-ufj-financial-group" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:218:1" rel="noopener">Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MUFG) (8306 JP)</a> is the best performer of the major banks so far this year: up +33.6% over the last six months.  That said, this pales in comparison with bank stocks in other markets such as the US and Europe, where economies are recovering from the coronavirus pandemic and there are rising hopes of a mild steepening of the yield curve.  Meanwhile, despite greater concentration on boosting fee income and lowering overheads, many Japan’s banks remain seemingly unable to fully offset the adverse effects of the near-zero interest rate environment on domestic earnings.“Caveat Emptor!” (May the Buyer Beware) remains our advice to would-be investors in Japanese bank stocks for the remainder of 2021 and beyond.<section class="figure"><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/215/895/original/8300-WR-JBanks-2021-0628-ZeroSheFlies-TPNBNKvsTPXin2021.jpg?1624939811" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="215895"></figure></section>

Data for May 2021 from both the Japanese Bankers Association (JBA) and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) confirm that YoY loan growth for Japanese commercial banks continues to fall, led by the major banks where YoY loan growth is now in negative territory.  Loan growth at all banks fell to just +0.5% YoY at the end of May, according to the JBA (April was +2.6% YoY).  We expect that June data (to be released in mid-July) from the JBA and BoJ may reveal overall YoY loan growth is heading for the zero-level.January through mid-March saw an unusually strong rally in bank shares, in line with trends in other global stock markets.  The Topix Banks Index peaked at 162.08 on 19 March 2021  -  just 4 days after the notorious Ides of March ‘turning-point’ that we have often referred to in Smartkarma Insights on Japanese banks’ share price performance  -  and has softened to the 145 level.  The sector’s surprise outperformance of Topix in CY2021 has been undermined by a sub-par June performance and on a longer-term view (as we show at the end of this Insight) and despite this year’s rally the sector remains a disappointing investment against the broader Topix Index.Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MUFG) (8306 JP) is the best performer of the major banks so far this year: up +33.6% over the last six months.  That said, this pales in comparison with bank stocks in other markets such as the US and Europe, where economies are recovering from the coronavirus pandemic and there are rising hopes of a mild steepening of the yield curve.  Meanwhile, despite greater concentration on boosting fee income and lowering overheads, many Japan’s banks remain seemingly unable to fully offset the adverse effects of the near-zero interest rate environment on domestic earnings.“Caveat Emptor!” (May the Buyer Beware) remains our advice to would-be investors in Japanese bank stocks for the remainder of 2021 and beyond.

Ever more, ever higher: deposits in Japan keep flooding into the banks as each month passes, reaching an all-time high at the end of April 2021 of ¥859.952 trillion (US$7.88 trillion), according to data provided by the Japanese Bankers Association (JBA).  It was the 175th continuous month of increase, according to the JBA, although the rate of increase on both a MoM (+0.6%) and YoY (+8.2%) basis did not set a new record, reflecting a barely perceptible slowdown in the inflow.According to the Bank of Japan (BoJ), average deposit balances in April 2021 rose +1.5% MoM, or by ¥15.772 trillion (US$144.7 billion), to ¥1,083.032 trillion (US$9.936 trillion); this was also an all-time high level.  On a YoY basis, according to the BoJ data, average deposit balances rose by a remarkable +8.4%, or by ¥83.991 trillion (US$770.56 billion), so well short of last month’s record +8.7% YoY growth rate.What to do with all that cash?  Despite the bankers’ best efforts to lend out those funds to help support an economic recovery, the rate of inflow far surpasses the rate of outflow.  So much so that major banks’ loan to deposit (LDR) ratios have now fallen to historic lows of 48.8%, with lending margins remaining under constant downward pressure.  Japanese banks’ investments in Japanese government bonds (JGBs) are currently at their highest level in 5 years, according to Bank of Japan data, even though yields are minimal at best, and negative-yielding in many cases.<section class="figure"><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/210/232/original/8300-WR-JBanks-2021-0531-Evermore-JBAData-LDR-MajorvsReg-2017-2021.jpg?1622461040" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="210232"></figure></section>“Caveat Emptor!”  (May the Buyer Beware) remains our advice to would-be investors in Japanese bank stocks for the remainder of 2021 and beyond.

Ever more, ever higher: deposits in Japan keep flooding into the banks as each month passes, reaching an all-time high at the end of April 2021 of ¥859.952 trillion (US$7.88 trillion), according to data provided by the Japanese Bankers Association (JBA).  It was the 175th continuous month of increase, according to the JBA, although the rate of increase on both a MoM (+0.6%) and YoY (+8.2%) basis did not set a new record, reflecting a barely perceptible slowdown in the inflow.According to the Bank of Japan (BoJ), average deposit balances in April 2021 rose +1.5% MoM, or by ¥15.772 trillion (US$144.7 billion), to ¥1,083.032 trillion (US$9.936 trillion); this was also an all-time high level.  On a YoY basis, according to the BoJ data, average deposit balances rose by a remarkable +8.4%, or by ¥83.991 trillion (US$770.56 billion), so well short of last month’s record +8.7% YoY growth rate.What to do with all that cash?  Despite the bankers’ best efforts to lend out those funds to help support an economic recovery, the rate of inflow far surpasses the rate of outflow.  So much so that major banks’ loan to deposit (LDR) ratios have now fallen to historic lows of 48.8%, with lending margins remaining under constant downward pressure.  Japanese banks’ investments in Japanese government bonds (JGBs) are currently at their highest level in 5 years, according to Bank of Japan data, even though yields are minimal at best, and negative-yielding in many cases.“Caveat Emptor!”  (May the Buyer Beware) remains our advice to would-be investors in Japanese bank stocks for the remainder of 2021 and beyond.

Japanese Bank Deposits:  In the Land of Evermore

Japan

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG) is a holding company established through the merger of Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group and UFJ Holdings. As a financial group, the Company provides a variety of financial and investment services including commercial banking, trust banking, international finance, and assets management services.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MUFG) (8306 JP)

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Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MUFG) (8306 JP)

Global Cyclical Value Sectors Improving -- Buying Financials and Energy Names: ING Groep, Many More

Continued rising rates is likely to support value Sectors moving forward (especially Financials and Energy), and it also typically indicates...

Vermilion Research

Japanese Bank Lending: Too Low For Zero

Data for August 2021 from both the JBA and the BoJ confirm that YoY loan growth for all Japanese commercial banks has turned negative, driven by a...

J. Brian Waterhouse

JPX Margin Trading Weekly (Jul 10th): SoftBank, Taiyo Yuden, Fast Retailing, Advantest, Kioxia

We analyzed JPX margin trading positions report for the past week and highlighted SoftBank (9984 JP), Taiyo Yuden (6976 JP), Fast Retailing (9983...

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

Japanese Bank Lending: Zero She Flies

The sector’s surprise outperformance of Topix in CY2021 has been undermined by a sub-par June performance. Zero growth beckons. Caveat Emptor...

J. Brian Waterhouse

Japanese Bank Deposits: In the Land of Evermore

Ever more, ever higher: deposits in Japan keep flooding into the banks. Despite the bankers’ best efforts to lend out those funds, the rate of...

J. Brian Waterhouse

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52-week Range

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