Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

Travis Lundy

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

Event-Driven

<p>The Nikkei wrote an article last Thursday 18 March 2021 saying the BOJ would change its monetary/quantitative easing policy after having commenced a review in December.</p>
<p>The general idea was a slight curve steepening allowance made "to allow banks to be more profitable" and a change to the way ETF buying was conducted. </p>
<div class="content-highlight">
<p>I published a quick analysis of the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/changes-in-boj-etf-buying-which-stocks-impacted-and-how" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:49331" rel="noopener">Changes In BOJ ETF Buying - Which Stocks Impacted and How?</a> </p>
</div>
<p><strong>On Friday 19 March, the BOJ met and after the MPC Meeting published...</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>The policy statement for this release, <a href="https://www.boj.or.jp/en/announcements/release_2021/k210319a.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>Further Effective and Sustainable Monetary Easing</em></a>
</li>
<li>a <a href="https://www.boj.or.jp/en/announcements/release_2021/k210319c.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Background</a> to the policy change which discussed the work they did called the <em>Assessment for Further Effective and Sustainable Monetary Easing.</em>
</li>
<li>a nifty <a href="https://www.boj.or.jp/en/announcements/release_2021/k210319b.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two-pager powerpoint presentation</a> of the Background</li>
<li>and a document called <a href="https://www.boj.or.jp/en/announcements/release_2021/rel210319c.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>Establishment of "Principal Terms and Conditions of the Interest Scheme to Promote Lending"</em></a> which also contains the change in wording for the QQE</li>
</ul>
<p>This showed there was some subtlety in the methodology, but it also showed some of the restrictions that the BOJ would place on itself in how it decided when and how much ETF buying to do. </p>
<div class="content-highlight">
<p>I looked at the methodology and numbers and proposed a model in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/quantifying-the-boj-change-in-etf-policy-assessing-future-etf-buying-methodology" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:49434" rel="noopener">Quantifying the BOJ Change in ETF Policy: Assessing Future ETF Buying Methodology</a> </p>
</div>
<p>The market reaction on some high-Nikkei weight stocks on Thursday afternoon and particularly Friday afternoon was striking. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/fast-retailing-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:751:1" rel="noopener">Fast Retailing (9983 JP)</a> fell 5.2% in significant volume in the 30 minutes after the announcement.</p>
<p>The balance of ETF buying since the BOJ lifted its buying amount from ¥6 trillion annually to ¥12 trillion in mid-March 2020 in the covid-crash has been as would have been expected. From the 20th of March 2020 through the 19th of March 2021, the BOJ bought ¥5.29trln of regular ETFs of these three indices (and ¥290bn of ETFs to Support Investment in Physical &amp; Human Capital).</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/boj-etf-buying-composition-clarified" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:38898" rel="noopener">BOJ ETF Buying Composition Clarified</a> in April 2020, I noted the mix was at that time likely to be 90.5% TOPIX, 8.9% Nikkei 225, and 0.6% JPX Nikkei 400. By my calculation, reconstructing the purchases every day based on the rules, the purchase amount over the past year has been 90.4% TOPIX, 9.1% Nikkei 225, and 0.6% JPX Nikkei 400. Given that the BOJ owns most of the ETFs outstanding of these three indices, it would have been difficult to see substantial deviation from that rate.</p>
<div class="content-highlight">
<p>The question is whether the change dramatically impacts stocks going forward.</p>
<p>The easy <em>arithmetic</em> answer is.... no. </p>
</div>
<ul>
<li>Assuming the BOJ were to buy the same amount, TOPIX would see a 10.7% increase in allocations to TOPIX ETFs (from 90.4% to 100.0%)</li>
<li>Nikkei 225 and JPX Nikkei 400 ETFs get nothing. But Nikkei 225 stocks are, by definition, also members of TOPIX, and the vast majority of JPX Nikkei 400 stocks are too. </li>
</ul>
<p>But there is some subtlety here too.</p>
<p>What it really means, however, is that traders and investors cannot count on incremental BOJ demand over the next year to be a material part of remaining Real World Float. This is more a problem of expected support being withdrawn.</p>
<p>Analysis on this below the fold. </p>

The Nikkei wrote an article last Thursday 18 March 2021 saying the BOJ would change its monetary/quantitative easing policy after having commenced a review in December.
The general idea was a slight curve steepening allowance made "to allow banks to be more profitable" and a change to the way ETF buying was conducted. 

I published a quick analysis of the Changes In BOJ ETF Buying - Which Stocks Impacted and How? 

On Friday 19 March, the BOJ met and after the MPC Meeting published...

The policy statement for this release, Further Effective and Sustainable Monetary Easing

a Background to the policy change which discussed the work they did called the Assessment for Further Effective and Sustainable Monetary Easing.

a nifty two-pager powerpoint presentation of the Background
and a document called Establishment of "Principal Terms and Conditions of the Interest Scheme to Promote Lending" which also contains the change in wording for the QQE

This showed there was some subtlety in the methodology, but it also showed some of the restrictions that the BOJ would place on itself in how it decided when and how much ETF buying to do. 

I looked at the methodology and numbers and proposed a model in Quantifying the BOJ Change in ETF Policy: Assessing Future ETF Buying Methodology 

The market reaction on some high-Nikkei weight stocks on Thursday afternoon and particularly Friday afternoon was striking. Fast Retailing (9983 JP) fell 5.2% in significant volume in the 30 minutes after the announcement.
The balance of ETF buying since the BOJ lifted its buying amount from ¥6 trillion annually to ¥12 trillion in mid-March 2020 in the covid-crash has been as would have been expected. From the 20th of March 2020 through the 19th of March 2021, the BOJ bought ¥5.29trln of regular ETFs of these three indices (and ¥290bn of ETFs to Support Investment in Physical &amp; Human Capital).
In BOJ ETF Buying Composition Clarified in April 2020, I noted the mix was at that time likely to be 90.5% TOPIX, 8.9% Nikkei 225, and 0.6% JPX Nikkei 400. By my calculation, reconstructing the purchases every day based on the rules, the purchase amount over the past year has been 90.4% TOPIX, 9.1% Nikkei 225, and 0.6% JPX Nikkei 400. Given that the BOJ owns most of the ETFs outstanding of these three indices, it would have been difficult to see substantial deviation from that rate.

The question is whether the change dramatically impacts stocks going forward.
The easy arithmetic answer is.... no. 


Assuming the BOJ were to buy the same amount, TOPIX would see a 10.7% increase in allocations to TOPIX ETFs (from 90.4% to 100.0%)
Nikkei 225 and JPX Nikkei 400 ETFs get nothing. But Nikkei 225 stocks are, by definition, also members of TOPIX, and the vast majority of JPX Nikkei 400 stocks are too. 

But there is some subtlety here too.
What it really means, however, is that traders and investors cannot count on incremental BOJ demand over the next year to be a material part of remaining Real World Float. This is more a problem of expected support being withdrawn.
Analysis on this below the fold. 

Quantifying BOJ Change in ETF Policy: Affecting Single Stocks

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>Major global indexes (MSCI ACWI, ACWI ex-US, EM, and EAFE) continue to trend higher and are devoid of bearish inflections. Additionally, the US dollar (DXY) is likely headed lower, something we view as a positive risk-on signal for global equities. As a result, we remain bullish and we continue to recommend adding exposure on pullbacks.</p>

Major global indexes (MSCI ACWI, ACWI ex-US, EM, and EAFE) continue to trend higher and are devoid of bearish inflections. Additionally, the US dollar (DXY) is likely headed lower, something we view as a positive risk-on signal for global equities. As a result, we remain bullish and we continue to recommend adding exposure on pullbacks.

Japan Breaking Out; EM Remains Leadership

'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)

<div><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>• BEST &amp; WORST •</strong></p></div><div>
<p>Our best and worst pair from Wednesday's 54 results and 32 forecasts/revisions announcements is <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/fanuc-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:752:1" rel="noopener">Fanuc (6954 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/shin-etsu-chemical-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:4481:1" rel="noopener">Shin Etsu Chemical (4063 JP)</a>.  A second pairing would be the OverBought <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nomura-research-institute-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18129:1" rel="noopener">Nomura Research Institute (4307 JP),</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/cyberagent-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8197:1" rel="noopener">CyberAgent (4751 JP)</a>. </p>
<section class="figure"><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/184/949/original/2021-01-28_05-41-00.png?1611780073" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="184949"></figure></section><section class="figure"><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/184/950/original/2021-01-28_05-41-43.png?1611780117" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="184950"></figure></section><section class="figure"><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/184/951/original/2021-01-28_05-43-57.png?1611780262" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="184951"></figure></section><section class="figure"><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/184/952/original/2021-01-28_05-44-48.png?1611780302" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="184952"></figure></section>
</div><div class="content-caption">  Source for all charts &amp; tables: Japan Analytics</div>

• BEST &amp; WORST •
Our best and worst pair from Wednesday's 54 results and 32 forecasts/revisions announcements is Fanuc (6954 JP) and Shin Etsu Chemical (4063 JP).  A second pairing would be the OverBought Nomura Research Institute (4307 JP), and CyberAgent (4751 JP). 

  Source for all charts &amp; tables: Japan Analytics

🇯🇵 JAPAN • Results & Revisions ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​01/​​​​​​​​​​​27 Fanuc, Shin-Etsu....

Japan/Asia Long-Short, LightStream Research

Mio Kato

Japan/Asia Long-Short

Equity Bottom-Up

<p>Fanuc’s 3Q results were strong with revenue of ¥145bn (consensus ¥128bn) and OP of ¥32.9bn (consensus ¥22.0bn) and the company revised up guidance to ¥105.8bn in OP (20.5% above consensus). These are excellent results and new guidance is above our projection of ¥93.3bn. There are some positives here to be sure, but we are unconvinced that this changes the potential peak earnings in this next cycle which we expect to be about ¥185bn over the next fiscal year.</p>

Fanuc’s 3Q results were strong with revenue of ¥145bn (consensus ¥128bn) and OP of ¥32.9bn (consensus ¥22.0bn) and the company revised up guidance to ¥105.8bn in OP (20.5% above consensus). These are excellent results and new guidance is above our projection of ¥93.3bn. There are some positives here to be sure, but we are unconvinced that this changes the potential peak earnings in this next cycle which we expect to be about ¥185bn over the next fiscal year.

Fanuc – Great Results but FA Segment Continues to Worry Us

<p>We spoke to Yaskawa this afternoon to get further colour on regional trends within its businesses. In our last note we said:</p><blockquote><ul><li>We would also note that margins for the motion control segment have also started outperforming our model again. <ul>
<li>The previous peak in China resulted in very strong outperformance compared to our earnings model and given that the current nascent recovery is also very China-focused, it stands to reason that we could see outperformance again.</li>
<li>Due to these positive moves at the underlying OPM level, we believe our thinking that OP could exceed ¥30bn for the fiscal year is not unrealistic. Consensus at ¥24.4bn is too low here.</li>
</ul>
</li></ul></blockquote><p>Consensus has belatedly moved up to ¥28.1bn for estimates made after 3Q earnings, following the typical pattern of being just slightly above guidance which has now moved up to ¥27.2bn from ¥24.2bn. We stick with our previous estimate and expect OP to come in slightly above ¥30bn for the year. This should be both a positive surprise and nowhere close to being enough to justify current prices. The question then is how to trade this.</p>

We spoke to Yaskawa this afternoon to get further colour on regional trends within its businesses. In our last note we said:We would also note that margins for the motion control segment have also started outperforming our model again. 
The previous peak in China resulted in very strong outperformance compared to our earnings model and given that the current nascent recovery is also very China-focused, it stands to reason that we could see outperformance again.
Due to these positive moves at the underlying OPM level, we believe our thinking that OP could exceed ¥30bn for the fiscal year is not unrealistic. Consensus at ¥24.4bn is too low here.

Consensus has belatedly moved up to ¥28.1bn for estimates made after 3Q earnings, following the typical pattern of being just slightly above guidance which has now moved up to ¥27.2bn from ¥24.2bn. We stick with our previous estimate and expect OP to come in slightly above ¥30bn for the year. This should be both a positive surprise and nowhere close to being enough to justify current prices. The question then is how to trade this.

Yaskawa – Overvalued, But Is It Time to Long Yaskawa, Short Fanuc Again?

Japan

FANUC CORPORATION manufactures factory automation (FA) systems and equipments, and robots. The Company's products include computerized numerically-controlled (CNC) equipment, servo motors, laser systems, industrial robots, wire-cut electric discharge machines, and CNC drill.  Fanuc participates in a joint venture with General Electric in the FA field.

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Fanuc Corp Unsp Adr (FANUY US)

Quantifying BOJ Change in ETF Policy: Affecting Single Stocks

BOJ Policy Changes are dramatic in price and volatility space. Vol goes up near space, down far space, skew flattens. Fast Retailing and others are...

Travis Lundy

Japan Breaking Out; EM Remains Leadership

Major global indexes continue to trend higher and are devoid of bearish inflections. As a result, we remain bullish and we continue to recommend...

Vermilion Research

🇯🇵 JAPAN • Results & Revisions 01/27 Fanuc, Shin-Etsu....

Our best and worst pair from Wednesday's 54 results and 32 forecasts/revisions announcements is Fanuc (6954 JP) and Shin Etsu Chemical (4063 JP).

Campbell Gunn

Fanuc – Great Results but FA Segment Continues to Worry Us

While Fanuc's results were extremely strong and we expect continued growth over the next few quarters, valuations are highly stretched and the next...

Mio Kato

Yaskawa – Overvalued, But Is It Time to Long Yaskawa, Short Fanuc Again?

We expect the strength of Chinese demand to support Yaskawa's earnings growth and believe that this regional skew will favour Yaskawa over more US...

Mio Kato

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52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

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Dividend (Yield)

Quantifying BOJ Change in ETF Policy: Affecting Single Stocks

BOJ Policy Changes are dramatic in price and volatility space. Vol goes up near space, down far space, skew flattens. Fast Retailing and others are...

Travis Lundy

Japan Breaking Out; EM Remains Leadership

Major global indexes continue to trend higher and are devoid of bearish inflections. As a result, we remain bullish and we continue to recommend...

Vermilion Research

🇯🇵 JAPAN • Results & Revisions ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​01/​​​​​​​​​​​27 Fanuc, Shin-Etsu....

Our best and worst pair from Wednesday's 54 results and 32 forecasts/revisions announcements is Fanuc (6954 JP) and Shin Etsu Chemical (4063 JP).

Campbell Gunn

Fanuc – Great Results but FA Segment Continues to Worry Us

While Fanuc's results were extremely strong and we expect continued growth over the next few quarters, valuations are highly stretched and the next...

Mio Kato

Yaskawa – Overvalued, But Is It Time to Long Yaskawa, Short Fanuc Again?

We expect the strength of Chinese demand to support Yaskawa's earnings growth and believe that this regional skew will favour Yaskawa over more US...

Mio Kato

🇯🇵 JAPAN • Results & Revisions 01/27 Fanuc, Shin-Etsu....