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

<p>Global markets are holding at support levels and we reiterate, our neutral but constructive outlook . In today’s report we highlight actionable stocks within countries that are displaying bullish price and relative strength trends, including Japan, Hong Kong, Italy and Norway.</p>

Global markets are holding at support levels and we reiterate, our neutral but constructive outlook . In today’s report we highlight actionable stocks within countries that are displaying bullish price and relative strength trends, including Japan, Hong Kong, Italy and Norway.

Global Equity Strategy: Overweight TOPIX, Hang Seng

Expert on Japan Retail and Consumer Markets, JapanConsuming

Michael Causton

Expert on Japan Retail and Consumer Markets

Real Insight on Japanese Consumer Markets

JapanConsuming

JapanConsuming is a specialist research firm producing intelligence on Japanese retail and consumer markets. Founded in 2000, JapanConsuming has become the leading provider of insights on Japanese retailers and consumer trends to retailers, brands, government agencies and investors. As well as a highly regarded monthly report on the market, JapanConsuming produces in-depth reports on retail sectors, seminars on key trends and telephone consulting to investors on trends and retailers.

JapanConsuming was founded by Michael Causton and Roy Larke. 

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul class=""><li>The drugstore sector is the one Japanese retail sector to show consistent growth over the past decade. </li><li>It is now the leading channel for mass market cosmetics, health and medical supplies, and is fast becoming an important channel for all types of foods, with some chains already selling enough food to qualify as top 20 supermarkets. </li><li>Drugstores already own close to a 40% share in cosmetics. </li><li>With massive consolidation in the sector, leading chains are looking for ways to differentiate their ranges and add value, generating higher returns as a result.</li><li>The sector still has 1000s of small independent stores which will lose share to the big four buying groups over time.</li><li>Plenty of room for expansion still for all the leading chains.</li><li>Their success means significant competition for other retail sectors, especially convenience stores.</li></ul>

The drugstore sector is the one Japanese retail sector to show consistent growth over the past decade. It is now the leading channel for mass market cosmetics, health and medical supplies, and is fast becoming an important channel for all types of foods, with some chains already selling enough food to qualify as top 20 supermarkets. Drugstores already own close to a 40% share in cosmetics. With massive consolidation in the sector, leading chains are looking for ways to differentiate their ranges and add value, generating higher returns as a result.The sector still has 1000s of small independent stores which will lose share to the big four buying groups over time.Plenty of room for expansion still for all the leading chains.Their success means significant competition for other retail sectors, especially convenience stores.

Drugstores in Japan: Still Plenty of Growth Ahead

Fintech, Real-time Big-Data Analytics Provider, Nowcast, Inc.

Ryota Hayashi

Fintech, Real-time Big-Data Analytics Provider

Nowcast, Inc.

We at Nowcast develop "Big-Data Economic Analytics Platforms".  We aim to revolutionize the financial markets by providing "accurate" and "real-time" analytics based on economic indicators and corporate activity data procured worldwide. 

Our Main Services

(1) Real-time Analytics
With our Nikkei CPI Now Index at our core, we provide real time analytics of global economic indicators such as POS Data. By utilizing Big-Data technology, we also provide real-time analytics of micro level data such as corporate earnings. 

(2) Big-Data Application Consulting
We too provide business consultation and conduct joint research on initiatives that strive to use data, such as from the operation capacity of construction machinery to number of passengers on railroad trains, as economic indicators. We provide continuous support to Data Scientists specialized in economics in their proposal stage, product development and up till its business development. 

(3) Monetary Policy Insights
With the proactive involvement of and support from from academicians in macroeconomics & key figures in the financial industry, we produce reports, conduct seminars and meetings that discuss about the forecast of financial markets, provide intellectual suggestions on asset allocation, etc. 

Macroeconomics

<ul class="ember-tether-target ember-tether-element-attached-top ember-tether-element-attached-left ember-tether-target-attached-top ember-tether-target-attached-right"><li><strong>"Nikkei CPINow" </strong>is a statistical database produced by Nowcast Inc. that provides real-time economic statistics using so-called “big data” gathered on a real-time basis; making it possible to “nowcast” economic developments, that is, to gauge them almost in real time.</li><li>Nikkei CPINow was launched in January 2016, disseminating the new “CPINow” price indeces, which succeeds and improves upon the Nikkei UTokyo Daily Price Index.</li><li>This December 2016 Review looks into analyzing the current developments in Japan's economy based on The Nikkei CPINow<strong> S index </strong>&amp;<strong> T index.</strong></li></ul>

"Nikkei CPINow" is a statistical database produced by Nowcast Inc. that provides real-time economic statistics using so-called “big data” gathered on a real-time basis; making it possible to “nowcast” economic developments, that is, to gauge them almost in real time.Nikkei CPINow was launched in January 2016, disseminating the new “CPINow” price indeces, which succeeds and improves upon the Nikkei UTokyo Daily Price Index.This December 2016 Review looks into analyzing the current developments in Japan's economy based on The Nikkei CPINow S index &amp; T index.

December 2016 Review of Current Developments in Japan's Economy

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

Travis Lundy

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

Event-Driven

<p>Nearly 21 months after starting talks to merge when a rival had made a bid for <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/cocokara-fine-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15447:1" rel="noopener">Cocokara Fine (3098 JP)</a>, Cocokara and Matsumoto Kiyoshi Holdings (3088 JP) <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/matsumotokiyoshi-holdings-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:2259:1" rel="noopener"></a>announced a merger in February 2021 which undervalued Cocokara, to the chagrin of my earlier ratio guesstimates and activist investors disappointed with how cheaply Matsumoto Kiyoshi acquired control. </p><p>I discussed the merger in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/matsukiyococokara-co-the-merger" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:48652" rel="noopener">MatsukiyoCocokara &amp; Co - The Merger</a> and then <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/matsukiyococokara-merger-and-implied-forward-forecasts" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:48679" rel="noopener">MatsuKiyoCocokara Merger and Implied Forward Forecasts</a> then the activist noise in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/matsukiyo-cocokara-situation-gets-its-activist-noise-started" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:49024" rel="noopener">Matsukiyo-Cocokara Situation Gets Its Activist Noise Started</a>. The activist noise - as expected in this case - came to nothing, but the shares gained, lost ground, and have since regained some ground as the merger date came closer. The two companies merged and became <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/matsumotokiyoshi-holdings-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:2259:1" rel="noopener">Matsumotokiyoshi Holdings Co., Ltd. (3088 JP)</a>.</p><p>I was, at the time, quite bullish on the prospects for the combined entity. And there were interesting events to come, associated with the deal. The stock has done well-ish.</p><section class="figure"><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/234/853/original/Screenshot+2021-10-13+at+6.07.19+PM.png?1634119663" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="234853"></figure></section><p>I think that is not the end of the story. There is more to come.</p><p>More below the fold. </p>

Nearly 21 months after starting talks to merge when a rival had made a bid for Cocokara Fine (3098 JP), Cocokara and Matsumoto Kiyoshi Holdings (3088 JP) announced a merger in February 2021 which undervalued Cocokara, to the chagrin of my earlier ratio guesstimates and activist investors disappointed with how cheaply Matsumoto Kiyoshi acquired control. I discussed the merger in MatsukiyoCocokara &amp; Co - The Merger and then MatsuKiyoCocokara Merger and Implied Forward Forecasts then the activist noise in Matsukiyo-Cocokara Situation Gets Its Activist Noise Started. The activist noise - as expected in this case - came to nothing, but the shares gained, lost ground, and have since regained some ground as the merger date came closer. The two companies merged and became Matsumotokiyoshi Holdings Co., Ltd. (3088 JP).I was, at the time, quite bullish on the prospects for the combined entity. And there were interesting events to come, associated with the deal. The stock has done well-ish.I think that is not the end of the story. There is more to come.More below the fold. 

MatsuKiyoCocokara Merged - Interesting Implications Indeed

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One, Periscope Analytics

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Quantitative Analysis

<div><p>The Asia Short Interest weekly looks at moves in market wide short interest and highlights movements in stock specific short interest across Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan using the last available data published by the relevant authorities.</p></div><div><p>Hong Kong saw shorts rise on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26:1" rel="noopener">Tencent (700 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-merchants-bank-co-ltd-3388a037-4214-4997-b45d-520518cfdb57" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:10987:1" rel="noopener">China Merchants Bank H (3968 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ping-an-insurance-grp-co-of-china-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12880:1" rel="noopener">Ping An Insurance (H) (2318 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/meituan-dianping" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26970:1" rel="noopener">Meituan (3690 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sunny-optical-tech" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13363:1" rel="noopener">Sunny Optical (2382 HK)</a> while there was short covering on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/weimob-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27394:1" rel="noopener">Weimob Inc. (2013 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/xiaomi-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:24409:1" rel="noopener">Xiaomi Corp (1810 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/jd-com-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29043:1" rel="noopener">JD.com Inc. (9618 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nongfu-spring" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28955:1" rel="noopener">Nongfu Spring (9633 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/wuxi-apptec-co-ltd-bf4a1265-beef-48b6-b82d-29308426030f" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27795:1" rel="noopener">WuXi AppTec Co. Ltd. (2359 HK)</a>. Shorts increased in the Communication Services, Consumer Discretionary, Financials and Health Care sectors.</p></div><div><p>In Japan, stocks increased on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/shimano-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3777:1" rel="noopener">Shimano Inc (7309 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/harmonic-drive-systems-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:10238:1" rel="noopener">Harmonic Drive Systems (6324 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/cocokara-fine-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15447:1" rel="noopener">Cocokara Fine (3098 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nippon-steel-corporation" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:961:1" rel="noopener">Nippon Steel Corporation (5401 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/casio-computer-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18338:1" rel="noopener">Casio Computer (6952 JP)</a> while there was short covering on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/pharma-foods-international" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:10530:1" rel="noopener">Pharma Foods International (2929 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sumco-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:379:1" rel="noopener">SUMCO Corp (3436 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/base-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28353:1" rel="noopener">BASE Inc (4477 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/showa-denko-k-k" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1496:1" rel="noopener">Showa Denko K.K. (4004 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kobe-steel-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:209:1" rel="noopener">Kobe Steel Ltd (5406 JP)</a>. Shorts increased in the Consumer Discretionary, Industrials and Consumer Staples sectors while decreasing in the Health Care and Information Technology sectors.</p></div><div><p>In Korea, shorts increased on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hmm-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13494:1" rel="noopener">HMM Co., Ltd. (011200 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lg-display-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7145:1" rel="noopener">LG Display (034220 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sk-innovation-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1268:1" rel="noopener">SK Innovation (096770 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kakao-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15002:1" rel="noopener">Kakao Corp (035720 KS)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/pan-ocean-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5279:1" rel="noopener">Pan Ocean (028670 KS)</a> while shorts were covered on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/doosan-heavy-industries-construction" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7389:1" rel="noopener">Doosan Heavy Industries &amp; Construction (034020 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/doosan-infracore-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3982:1" rel="noopener">Doosan Infracore (042670 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/gs-retail-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3867:1" rel="noopener">GS Retail (007070 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ncsoft-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5169:1" rel="noopener">NCSOFT Corp (036570 KS)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/samsung-biologics-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22932:1" rel="noopener">Samsung Biologics Co., (207940 KS)</a>. </p></div><div><p>In Taiwan, shorts increased on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/united-microelectronics-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6450:1" rel="noopener">United Microelectronics Corp (2303 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/novatek-microelectronics-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:10904:1" rel="noopener">Novatek Microelectronics Corp (3034 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/quanta-computer-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:2754:1" rel="noopener">Quanta Computer (2382 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/winbond-electronics-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:9177:1" rel="noopener">Winbond Electronics (2344 TT)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sitronix-technology-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5684:1" rel="noopener">Sitronix Technology (8016 TT)</a> while shorts covered on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/yang-ming-marine-transport" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8502:1" rel="noopener">Yang Ming Marine Transport (2609 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/taiwan-semiconductor-manufacturing-company" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:11230:1" rel="noopener">TSMC (2330 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/silergy-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13998:1" rel="noopener">Silergy Corp (6415 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/yageo-corporation" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13212:1" rel="noopener">Yageo Corporation (2327 TT)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/chunghwa-telecom-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:9181:1" rel="noopener">Chunghwa Telecom (2412 TT)</a>.</p></div>

The Asia Short Interest weekly looks at moves in market wide short interest and highlights movements in stock specific short interest across Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan using the last available data published by the relevant authorities.Hong Kong saw shorts rise on Tencent (700 HK), China Merchants Bank H (3968 HK), Ping An Insurance (H) (2318 HK), Meituan (3690 HK) and Sunny Optical (2382 HK) while there was short covering on Weimob Inc. (2013 HK), Xiaomi Corp (1810 HK), JD.com Inc. (9618 HK), Nongfu Spring (9633 HK) and WuXi AppTec Co. Ltd. (2359 HK). Shorts increased in the Communication Services, Consumer Discretionary, Financials and Health Care sectors.In Japan, stocks increased on Shimano Inc (7309 JP), Harmonic Drive Systems (6324 JP), Cocokara Fine (3098 JP), Nippon Steel Corporation (5401 JP) and Casio Computer (6952 JP) while there was short covering on Pharma Foods International (2929 JP), SUMCO Corp (3436 JP), BASE Inc (4477 JP), Showa Denko K.K. (4004 JP) and Kobe Steel Ltd (5406 JP). Shorts increased in the Consumer Discretionary, Industrials and Consumer Staples sectors while decreasing in the Health Care and Information Technology sectors.In Korea, shorts increased on HMM Co., Ltd. (011200 KS), LG Display (034220 KS), SK Innovation (096770 KS), Kakao Corp (035720 KS) and Pan Ocean (028670 KS) while shorts were covered on Doosan Heavy Industries &amp; Construction (034020 KS), Doosan Infracore (042670 KS), GS Retail (007070 KS), NCSOFT Corp (036570 KS) and Samsung Biologics Co., (207940 KS). In Taiwan, shorts increased on United Microelectronics Corp (2303 TT), Novatek Microelectronics Corp (3034 TT), Quanta Computer (2382 TT), Winbond Electronics (2344 TT) and Sitronix Technology (8016 TT) while shorts covered on Yang Ming Marine Transport (2609 TT), TSMC (2330 TT), Silergy Corp (6415 TT), Yageo Corporation (2327 TT) and Chunghwa Telecom (2412 TT).

Asia Shorts: Tencent, CMB, Ping An, Weimob, WuXi, Shimano, Cocokara, HMM, Kakao, Doosan, Yang Ming

Japan

cocokara fine Inc. is a holding company established through a merger of SEIJO Corporation and Segami Medics. The Company operates drug chain stores which sell medicines, health food, cosmetics, nursery items and daily necessity goods.

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Cocokara Fine (3098 JP)

Global Equity Strategy: Overweight TOPIX, Hang Seng

Global markets are holding at support levels and we reiterate, our neutral but constructive outlook . In today’s report we highlight actionable...

Vermilion Research

Drugstores in Japan: Still Plenty of Growth Ahead

The drugstore sector is the one Japanese retail sector to show consistent growth over the past decade. It is now the leading channel for mass...

Michael Causton

December 2016 Review of Current Developments in Japan's Economy

"Nikkei CPINow" is a statistical database produced by Nowcast Inc. that provides real-time economic statistics using so-called “big data”...

Nowcast, Inc.

MatsuKiyoCocokara Merged - Interesting Implications Indeed

MatsuKiyo and Cocokara have merged and NEWCO MatsuKiyoCocokara is now a lowish Real World Float stock which is about to see that float squeezed...

Travis Lundy

Asia Shorts: Tencent, CMB, Ping An, Weimob, WuXi, Shimano, Cocokara, HMM, Kakao, Doosan, Yang Ming

The Insight looks at large short interest movements across HK, Japan, Korea and Taiwan stocks and highlights large increases/decreases in shorts to...

Brian Freitas

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