Daily Brief Financials: Jafco Co Ltd, Nikkei 225, First Pacific Co and more

• Jafco Co Ltd (8595 JP) was the target of activist Murakami-san in August 2022. They threatened a poison pill. Murakami-san sold, then bought to 19.5%. They negotiated. He won.
• His result excluded others. The market did not take it well. Murakami-san rejected taking a 1% hit to original terms (vs reference NAV). JAFCO went back to the drawing board. 
• Then submitted to greenmail at a higher price. The first buyback was agreed at ¥2,500 vs ¥2,651 NAV. The new one? ¥2,730-2,840 vs ¥2,513 NAV. Inexplicable – Spectacularly Bad Governance.

• Nikkei was touted as our top short bet in Asia and has panned out nicely. 27k sell resistance for a test on sub 26k to probe for a bull reversal.
• USD/JPY sell an uptick near 134. PT at sub 131 and 129.50. Jury still out as to the policy impact on global rates/equities. We are trading a lot like 2018.
• Taiwan and Nifty short targets are reiterated. SPX and NDX levels are in line but price action remains poor to bearish.

Lucror Analytics Morning Views comprise our fundamental credit analysis, opinions and trade recommendations on high yield issuers in the region, based on key company-specific developments in the past 24 hours. Our Morning Views include a section with a brief market commentary, key market indicators and a macroeconomic and corporate event calendar.

• First Pacific Co