In today’s briefing:
- Ohayo Japan | Bounce Back
- HK Strategy: What Are the Winners if US Hike Rates Instead of Cut?
- Fashion E-Commerce: Physical Stores Grow Faster than Online in Japan
- US Banks – Zions Reporting 195% Higher Time Deposits, Cadence Reporting 926% Higher Net Charge Offs
- The one sector on the cusp of regulatory transformation | Nov 21, 2021
- Hitting the Breaks: Automotive Semiconductors
- Rise of Indian SaaS Industry | Oct 31, 2021
- Furniture/Furnishings Weekly – April 22, 2024
- Josh Wolfe: The ChatGPT of Robotics is Coming
- Weekly Sustainable Investing Surveyor – Week Ended April 19, 2024
![](http://www.smartkarma.com/assets/plugins/a3-lazy-load/assets/images/lazy_placeholder.gif)
Ohayo Japan | Bounce Back
- Stocks surged Monday, bouncing back from last week’s losses, boosted by a tech rebound and eased Middle East tensions
- Japan and Europe will cooperate in recycling EV batteries by establishing a system to share information
- Ricoh has acquired German startup Natif AI, leveraging its artificial intelligence (AI) technology for automatic information extraction from text.
HK Strategy: What Are the Winners if US Hike Rates Instead of Cut?
- With US inflation figures higher than expectations, there is an increase in risk that the Fed’s next move may be a hike. Some HSI constituents are set to benefit.
- Orient Overseas International (316 HK), Budweiser Brewing APAC (1876 HK), and Galaxy Entertainment Group (27 HK) have significant USD net cash position and will be gainers.
- Sunny Optical Technology Group (2382 HK) and Haier Smart Home (6690 HK) have large China operations but they are net long on USD balance and this will make them beneficiaries.
Fashion E-Commerce: Physical Stores Grow Faster than Online in Japan
- After a bumper bonus during Covid, the fashion sector saw calmer spending in the last 18 months as the big return to shops led to more muted growth online.
- The overall EC fashion market grew around 4-7% depending on how you measure it, but online market share actually fell as people went back to shops.
- This in-depth review highlights the key trends in the sector as well as the winners by sales growth among retailers and fashion brands.
US Banks – Zions Reporting 195% Higher Time Deposits, Cadence Reporting 926% Higher Net Charge Offs
- New quarterly data from Zions shows huge growth in time deposits, and also far worse credit metrics in commercial real estate and home equity loans
- Cadence reveals incredibly high growth of net charge offs in the year, but also far worse credit costs and NPLs
- None of this should surprise, and we remind that often banks reveal worsening credit metrics with some lag – it not always immediate, neat, simple
The one sector on the cusp of regulatory transformation | Nov 21, 2021
- Power Industry in India is no stranger to regulations – the industry has battled with regulatory changes since India’s independence in 1947.
- Most of these changes in recent years, have focused on strengthening the sector and making it more efficient. Some of these regulations have worked, while others have failed miserably.
- The Electricity Amendment Bill of 2021, is different. It focuses on the root causes of the problem and devises solutions accordingly, rather than try fixing them with a Band-Aid (as previous regulations did).
Hitting the Breaks: Automotive Semiconductors
- Its a quarter too soon to go dumpster diving in the automotive semiconductor industry. Another round of cuts is likely coming. Consider this my earnings preview.
I have leaned bearish automotive semiconductors for a few months, and I think the call has been mostly correct.
For me, the beginning of my bearishness started when I highlighted that China would try to murder the supply aspect of the market for the foreseeable future
Rise of Indian SaaS Industry | Oct 31, 2021
- The year is 1999, India’s total GDP back then was less than RBI’s Forex Reserves today .
- It had been a few years since economic liberalization of 1991 and internet companies were all the rage in international stock markets.
- Domestically too, in India, a little known Indian software business by the name of Infosys has started to grab headlines .
Furniture/Furnishings Weekly – April 22, 2024
- Our Commercial/Contract Furniture Index was up 0.6% for the week, notably outperforming the three market indexes and the Mass Retailers Index (down between 1.4% and 3.2% for the week).
- Our Residential Manufacturers & Suppliers Index (down 3.5%) and Home Goods Retailers Index (down 2.9%) were more in line with the broader market indexes.
- Home goods retailer Beyond sold the Wamsutta brand/IP to Indo Count Global for $10.3 million as the firm focuses on integrating its purchase of Bed, Bath, and Beyond into its portfolio of online properties.
Josh Wolfe: The ChatGPT of Robotics is Coming
- AI detectors are not very effective, leading to the solution of grading AI-generated essays as regular essays
- Chat GPT essays are currently at a C level, serving as the baseline for comparison
- The use of AI in industrial applications, specifically robotics, is a growing area of interest for investment and development
This content is sourced through publicly available sources and has been machine generated. Information displayed is for general informational purposes only.
Weekly Sustainable Investing Surveyor – Week Ended April 19, 2024
- The WTR Sustainable Index was up down 3.9% W/W versus the S&P 500 Index (down 3.0%), the Russell 2000 Index (down 2.8%), and the Nasdaq Index (down 5.4%).
- Energy Technology (12.0% of the index) was down by 6.6%, while Industrial Climate and Ag Technology (58.1% of the index) was down by 2.2%, ClimateTech Mining was down 5.9%, and Advanced Transportation Solutions (23.4% of index) was down 6.7%.
- Top 10 Performers: FSR, PNPN, VTNR, AMMP, TLO, WML, KNDI, GOEV, BMI, CRGE