Wall Street Journal (April 8)
“Japan knows the Ukraine stakes.” In contrast, U.S. critics, especially Republican members of Congress are wavering on Ukraine aid, suggesting “the war in Europe is a distraction from more serious threats in Asia.” Tokyo realizes “a Russian victory may encourage Chinese imperialism.” Hopefully, during his visit next week, Prime Minister Kishida “can disabuse” Republicans of their errant notion. His government’s foreign policy “reflects the seriousness of the current geopolitical moment. Japan recognizes that the threat to the well-being of free nations is global.”
Tags: Aid, Asia, China, Congress, Critics, Europe, Free nations, Japan, Kishida, Republican, Russia, Stakes, Threats, U.S., Ukraine, War, Wavering, Well-being
BBC (December 19)
“Once a poster boy for Japan’s dominance in electronics—known as Japan Inc—the company has delisted, ending a 74-year history with Tokyo’s stock exchange.” The reasons for “such a spectacular fall from grace” are numerous and the challenge for Japan Investment Corp (JIC), which led a group of investors in purchasing the remnants for $14 billion, is immense. While JIC has successfully revived other failing businesses, “Toshiba is a much bigger company and the stakes are high.”
Tags: $14 billion, Challenge, Delisted, Dominance, Electronics, Failing businesses, Fall, Japan Inc., JIC Investors, Revived, Stakes, Toshiba, TSE
Fortune (April 11)
“Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is visiting Japan for the first time in more than a decade, and his thoughts are on his large—and growing—investments in the East Asian nation.” So far, it appears that “Buffett is looking to increase those stakes again.”
Tags: Billionaire, Buffett, Increase, Investments, Investor, Japan, Stakes
Institutional Investor (August 16)
“With everybody worried about a cash crunch, the private equity secondaries market is expected to hit a new record. Investors are expected to sell stakes in private equity funds worth $153 billion in 2023, according to the latest PE secondaries report from Lazard’s private capital advisory team.”
Tags: $153 billion, 2023, Cash crunch, Funds, Investors, Lazard, Private equity, Record, Secondaries market, Sell, Stakes
Australian Financial Review (February 4)
“Mr Buffett shocked the world in 2020 when Berkshire Hathaway announced that it bought stakes in five of Japan’s biggest trading companies, which at the time were grappling with declining profits as the COVID-19 pandemic reduced demand for fuel and raw materials.” Now, his “surprise bet” is clearly “paying off as the companies expect a record-breaking rebound in profits.”
Tags: 2020, Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett, COVID-19, Demand, Fuel, Grappling, Japan, Pandemic, Profits, Raw materials, Shocked, Stakes, Trading companies
Claims Journal (October 26)
The “COP26 climate talks in Glasgow starting next Sunday may be the world’s best last chance to cap global warming at the 1.5-2 degrees Celsius upper limit set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement. The stakes for the planet are huge – among them the impact on economic livelihoods the world over and the future stability of the global financial system.”
Tags: 1.5-2 degrees, Cap, Climate, COP26, Economic livelihoods, Financial system, Glasgow, Global warming, Last chance, Paris Agreement, Planet, Stability, Stakes
CNN (December 7)
“With days left to reach a trade deal with the European Union, the stakes have never been higher.” Boris Johnson “will have to decide whether sticking to his guns on national sovereignty… makes real-world sense given the economic price the United Kingdom will pay if negotiations fail.” In a no-deal exit “UK companies, already reeling from the pandemic, would lose tariff-free, quota-free access to a market of 450 million consumers that is currently the destination for 43% of British exports.”
Tags: Access, Consumers, EU, Johnson, Market, Negotiations, No-deal, Pandemic, Quotas, Sovereignty, Stakes, Tariffs, Trade, UK
Wall Street Journal (September 1)
“Five venerable Japanese companies were sitting in the bargain bin in plain sight. It took a 90-year-old Warren Buffett to scoop them up.” His company Berkshire Hathaway bought “stakes in Japanese trading companies shunned by others, seeing low valuation and healthy dividends.” The stakes of about 5%, are in trading companies that “resemble none other than Berkshire Hathaway itself,” with “holdings in energy, mining and consumer goods, sometimes owning companies outright and other times taking smaller stakes.”
Tags: Bargain bin, Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett, Consumer goods, Dividends, Energy, Japan, Mining, Shunned, Stakes, Trading companies, Valuation
Bloomberg (November 6)
With the U.S. “hobbled by Trump,” China clearly has the “upper hand” in the upcoming negotiations. The stakes are potentially “huge, including the threat of nuclear conflict in North Korea,” as Trump sits down with China’s President Xi. The situation reminds many of 1961, when JFK was outmaneuvered by Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna. “Today’s two superpowers are coming from different directions. President Xi, consolidating his hold, probably is the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong.” Meanwhile, the American president heads a new administration “beset by chaos.”000
Tags: 1961, Chaos, China, Hobbled, JFK, Khrushchev, Mao, Negotiations, North Korea, Nuclear conflict, Stakes, Superpowers, Threat, Trump, U.S., Vienna, Xi
