In today’s briefing:
- Nidec (6594) | Q2 Profits up 8%
- Ohayo Japan | Nasdaq Snaps Losing Streak; More FDI for Japan’s Chip Sector
- Four Things to Know About Tightened U.S. Rules Over Chip Exports to China
- US Large Banks – Weekly Balance Sheets: Decelerating Loans, Rising Cash, Big Time Deposits +109% YoY
- Escalation of Israel-Hamas War – Here’s How Investors Should Position Themselves in Dramatic Changes
- The Highlights – Cannabis News for the Week Ending October 20, 2023
- Furniture/Furnishings Weekly – Weak Signals for Office Furniture
- Weekly Sustainable Investing Surveyor – Week Ended October 20, 2023
Nidec (6594) | Q2 Profits up 8%
- Nidec released its financial results for the second quarter of 2023. Sales were up 0.7% and OP up 7.6% yoy
- We view the results as neutral for the share price
- The thesis for Nidec remains intact – the structural shift from oil to electricity is a key driver across all segments
Ohayo Japan | Nasdaq Snaps Losing Streak; More FDI for Japan’s Chip Sector
- Overseas: SPX -0.2% , Nasdaq +0.3%; Tech stocks moved higher after bond yields retreated from highs. Several big tech companies to report this week
- Today: NKY Futs +0.1% v cash. JPY 149.7/$; Nidec’s results were OK, but not great – ADR down -5%
- JapanX: Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor’s investment in Japan, supported by government subsidies, aims to revive Japan’s semiconductor industry and diversify the global supply chain
Four Things to Know About Tightened U.S. Rules Over Chip Exports to China
- The U.S. on Tuesday announced an updated set of export controls over more cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor and chip manufacturing equipment, a move aimed at closing loopholes in existing rules and further blocking China’s access to American technology.
- The controls focus on three main areas: adjusting the parameters that identify a restricted chip, expanding the list of controlled semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and adding more Chinese firms to the “entity list”, the U.S. blacklist of restricted organizations, according to a press release by the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS).
- The BIS said the updated rules are intended to maintain the effectiveness of the controls and prevent workaround efforts based on loopholes in the rules introduced last October.
US Large Banks – Weekly Balance Sheets: Decelerating Loans, Rising Cash, Big Time Deposits +109% YoY
- Weekly balance sheets give a view of underlying credit conditions in the US and they are not positive. Lending growth continues to decelerate and could reach negative growth soon.
- Cash balances are rising and this suggests that US large banks are not comfortable with risk and also seeing less opportunities. Cash/loans ratio rising fastest in most recent week.
- Large time deposits cost the most, and their growth rate is now 109% YoY in the most recent week, rising more than loans in each of the past 3 weeks.
Escalation of Israel-Hamas War – Here’s How Investors Should Position Themselves in Dramatic Changes
- The Israel-Hamas war could be presented “in a new way” or in a way that people cannot understand,which could get out-of-control since the US cannot stand idly by this time.
- The timing of the Israel-Hamas war coincided with the turning point of Sino-US game as well as the turning point of global economic downturn – Global depression may erupt next year.
- Crisis is a danger for the weak, but an opportunity for the strong and a gift for the prepared.We listed key points to help investors understand the logic/prepare in advance.
The Highlights – Cannabis News for the Week Ending October 20, 2023
- Global equities continued their decline this week, with the MSCI World Index falling 2.51% and the S&P dropping 2.39%.
- The small-cap Russell 2000 lost 2.25%, while the NASDAQ was hit hardest at -3.16% over the last five sessions.
- Concerns around higher interest rates and geopolitical tension led to the losses.
Furniture/Furnishings Weekly – Weak Signals for Office Furniture
- The office furniture group fell 6% last week, breaking a streak of outperformance, as indicators pointed to weakness.
- The office furniture group is up ~21% in 2023 and 32% over the past 12 months.
- The Architectural Billings Index (ABI), a diffusion index and key leading indicator of non-residential construction activity (9-12 months), fell to 44.8 in September from 48.1 in August (AIA).
Weekly Sustainable Investing Surveyor – Week Ended October 20, 2023
- The WTR Sustainable Index fell by 5.7% W/W versus the S&P 500 Index (down 2.4%), the Russell 2000 Index (down 2.3%), and the Nasdaq Index (down 2.9%).
- Energy Technology (13.5% of the index) was down by 7.9%, while Industrial Climate and Ag Technology (49.5% of the index) was down 3.4%, ClimateTech Mining was down 5.2%, and Advanced Transportation Solutions was down 8.6%.
- Top 10 Performers: NXH, NMG, WWR, NGPHF, ELBM, VIHD, MGPHF, GRB, TGEN, VGAS
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