Legendary investor Warren Buffett was on a trip to Tokyo, the capital of Japan, two months earlier in mid-April 2023, and the titans of the country's giant energy and commodity conglomerates were there to make their presentations.
As usual, over glasses of Coca-Cola KO - one of Buffett's most famous investments, they walked into Warren Buffett's suite at the luxury Four Seasons hotel and individually told the 92-year-old American investor the same thing: Japanese trading houses are cheap and should accelerate their move beyond commodities.
The support of the Oracle of Omaha is an important vote of confidence in the big five Japanese trading houses - Mitsubishi Corporations 8058 , Mitsui 8031 , Sumitomo 8053 , Itochu 8001 and Marubeni 8002
It's also a broad endorsement of Japan, that is considered to have outlived its heyday 30-35 years ago, as well as considered less relevant than Asian counterparts such as China and India.
But there's one big question: Is Buffett betting on phasing out fossil fuels, the trading house products themselves, or a combination of the two? Or something else, like impact of the weak yen!?
Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B reported in August 2020 that it had acquired about 5% of the shares of five trading houses, that sent their stocks up and raised their total investment value above $6 billion. When the Covid-19 pandemic dampened demand for goods, it pushed down the value of company stocks, four of which traded below book value.
“They were selling, I thought, at a ridiculous price,” - Buffett said to CNBC in March 2023.
Three years after the Covid-19 pandemic (that is now hardly remembered) Warren Buffett's bets on Japan have nearly tripled to over $17 billion. But even this Growth does not stop Buffett. Staying in Tokyo this spring, Buffett confirmed intentions to buy more shares, and participate in more big deals.
In addition, Berkshire recently unveiled plans to issue its own yen-denominated bonds, which help hedge against the depreciation of the yen against the US dollar as well as depreciation of Japanese stocks in dollar terms.
The technical main chart is dedicated to futures on the TOPIX index TOPIX widely known, along with the Nikkei 225 index TSE:NKY . The TOPIX index is an important stock market index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) in Japan, tracking all the local companies of the TSE Prime-market division.
Buffett's mission to Japan marked, as it easy to find in the technical picture of TOPIX ( TOPIX ) - a significant moment, as a result of the breakdown of the key long-term resistance, with the prospect of further more than doubling the index TOPIX and its market value.
Note
July 17, 2023
June ADV (Average Daily Volume) for Nikkei NKY and TOPIX TOPIX futures surpassed 57K contracts
As Japan's equity market experienced a multi-decade high in Q2, more market participants are using liquid Japan Index futures at CME Group to access new opportunities and manage exposure.
June trading highlights, as it provided by CME Group:
ADV increased 56% vs. May. Yen Nikkei futures ADV exceeded 45K contracts and USD Nikkei futures ADV reached 12K contracts. Average open interest (OI) surpassed 79K contracts, the highest since Dec. 2019 (+26% vs. Q1). 75% of trades occurred outside of Tokyo cash hours and 54% of volume was traded before the U.S. market open, offering liquidity around the clock. 97K+ unique accounts are trading Nikkei 225 futures at CME Group, with 3K+ new accounts added in 2023.
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Jan 11, 2024
👉 Japan Stock Index TOPIX ended 2023 on a positive note, adding more than 25 percent at the end of the year, that is, the maximum growth over the last 10 calendar years. 👉 Early in 2024 TOPIX continued its growth path, as technology companies stocks are rallying. TOPIX comes closer to the 2,500 yen mark - point that not been seen for more than 30 years - since the first half of 1990.
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Feb 15, 2024
Whatsa Japan Doing... 😄
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Feb 22, 2024
Today, first time over the past 34 years, Japanese stock index Nikkei225 hit 39'000 yen mark - new ATH.
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June 30, 2024
👉 Japan Stock Index (TOPIX) ended June quarter 2024 on a positive note, rose 8th consecutive quarter in a row, almost to the highest levels over the past 35 years.
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