Japan’s Economic Stimulus Gets Its Second Wind

TOKYO — Investors raced back into the Japanese stock market Monday after upbeat data helped dispel some recent doubts cast on the government’s aggressive pro-growth policies.

The Nikkei 225 stock index jumped 636.67 points, or 4.9 percent, to 13,514.20, the biggest single-day gain in point terms in almost five years. The broader Topix index rose 55.02 points, or 5.2 percent, to 1,111.97.

Earlier, gross domestic product data showed Japan’s economy expanded at a rate of 1.0 percent between January and March, above a preliminary estimate of 0.9 percent, thanks to an upward revision in corporate capital spending and stronger household spending. That new clip came to 4.1 percent in annualized terms, up from 3.5 percent.

Bank lending, which had stubbornly refused to grow despite years of easy money amid companies’ weariness over growth prospects, rose a robust 1.8 percent in May from the same month last year. That uptick came as a victory for the Bank of Japan, which has embarked on a bold program to pump the economy with cheap money to get businesses to borrow and invest.

Data released Monday also showed Japan’s current account surplus doubled to ¥750 billion, or nearly $7.6 billion, far above market forecasts of slightly above ¥300 billion, as a weakened yen pushed up returns on overseas investments. Last year, Japan’s current-account surplus shrunk to record levels as a strong yen hurt exporters, and an energy shortfall led to a jump in the costs of importing fuel. But a welcome drop in the yen — another consequence of the central bank’s loose monetary policies — has eased some of the pressure on balance of trade.

The fresh data came as relief for investors who had become increasingly jittery over Japan’s recovery amid signs of an economic slowdown in China, a major trading partner, and speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve might soon start to scale back its stimulus. Mediocre U.S. jobs numbers released Friday, however, appeared to have eased concerns of a major rollback by the Fed.

The latest numbers also provide welcome encouragement for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his push to reinvigorate Japan’s deflationary economy with a combination of economic reforms and heavy monetary and fiscal stimulus. The so-called Abenomics initially garnered a euphoric reception by the markets, and shares surged by 80 percent. But a sudden end to the stock market rally put the spotlight on skeptics who questioned Mr. Abe’s growth plans and voiced concerns over harmful side effects.

An economic growth plan described by Mr. Abe last week underwhelmed many investors and economists who had hoped for a stronger commitment for structural reforms — for example, to overhaul a rigid, two-tier labor market. Meanwhile, the yen crept higher from its recent declines against the dollar, crossing over the psychologically important level of ¥100 to the dollar last week for the first time since early May.

Foremost in investors’ minds has been the specter of too fast a rise in long-term interest rates, which could pressure government finances by increasing the costs of servicing Japan’s sky-high public debt. Yields on benchmark 10-year government bonds, however, have stabilized following a jump in early May, helping to alleviate those concerns. The Bank of Japan could announce steps to lessen volatility in bond markets at the end of a two-day policy meeting that ends Tuesday. Economists, meanwhile, point out that a rise is inevitable as inflation takes hold in Japan.

Now, as investors take more measured stock of opportunities and risks in Japan, its stock market is likely to see a more tempered rise, said Nicholas Smith, Japan strategist at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets. With the rise Monday, the Nikkei is still down 15 percent from a peak in mid-May, but up 30 percent since the start of the year.

“Growth from here is likely to be a lot less rapid — almost certainly a good thing for the longevity of the bull run,” Mr. Smith said in a note to clients.

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Take our last second TV spots whatever?

By Mike Suszek 5/12/2013 22:30.

This video is created for our last second TV spot Sony. Is PS3 going to 6/14.
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Scheme 'not for second homeowners'

22/03/13

By Gavin Cordon

Wealthy householders will not be able to use government-backed mortgage guarantees to buy second homes, a Government minister confirmed on Thursday.

After a morning of apparent confusion in Whitehall, Housing Minister Mark Prisk insisted existing homeowners seeking to access Chancellor George Osborne's Help to Buy scheme would have to provide a legal undertaking they had sold their existing property.

Earlier Mr Osborne had repeatedly ducked questions on whether the scheme set out in Wednesday's Budget could be used by purchasers looking for a second home.

"Let's be clear, that is not the case," Mr Prisk told BBC Radio 4's The World at One.

"You would first have to divest your existing property prior to being able to proceed with any Help to Buy sale. This is about family homes. It is not about second homes.

"We do have details in there about making sure there is a legal declaration through a solicitor before someone can take on a purchase that they have got rid of their exiting property. That's all in there."

Earlier, Mr Osborne appeared unaware of the details of the scheme - one of the key planks of the Budget - saying only that the intention behind the scheme was clear.

"The intention of the scheme is absolutely clear, which is that it is for people who want to get their first home or have a home and want to move to a bigger home, because perhaps they have got a bigger family," he said.

"We are working with the industry to get a scheme that works."

The Chancellor also faced warnings that the £12 billion initiative risked creating a new housing market bubble.

Former Bank of England economist Erik Britton, of Fathom Consulting, said ministers were in danger of repeating the mistakes which led to the financial crash of 2008.

"The whole economy is in rehab. For 10 years ahead of the recession we were bingeing on debt, on cheap credit. We became addicted to it, specifically credit that's secured on housing," he told The World at One.

"Now, post the recession, I thought this Government was saying 'Understand that this is going to be a painful process of coming off that addiction'.

"Yesterday the Chancellor essentially said 'Hang on a minute, it's too painful, people aren't going to vote for this, so let's just go back on for a couple of years before the election'.

"I think it's nuts. I think it's the opposite of the right solution.

"What I fear will happen is that house prices will go up from an already overvalued position and households will take on even more debt from a position where they are vastly over-extended already.

"We will be back on the addiction to cheap credit which was the whole problem that pushed us into the crisis that we are already in."

Conservative MP Kwasi Kwarteng said that the Government should have concentrated on increasing the supply of homes.

"My worry with this is that having a system where you are giving mortgages without increasing the supply will lead to asset price inflation, because obviously if the amount of supply remains the same and you are making credit easier, the tendency would be for the prices to go up," he said.

"I think we could have announced something bolder that actually increased the supply of homes."

Mr Osborne, however, appeared to dismiss the suggestion that the property market remained overvalued.

"If we were in a housing boom then this is not the kind of intervention you would take," he said. "But actually our housing market is not properly functioning at the moment."

While he accepted that the country needed more homes, he rejected that the shortage could be met through increasing the supply of social housing.

"I do not think the solution to our housing situation is simply to build many, many more social homes," he said.

The Chancellor stressed that the Government had simplified planning rules so that homes could be built in "sensible places".

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Buy your second home A 5% deposit.

Can move even if you can only scrape together a 5 per cent deposit, you purchase a mortgage period. Journalist Neil Faulkner describes the amount

A handful of mortgage deals, buying a House? There are regular deposits if you parent or relative can ensure a guarantor.

However, it does not have a very good chance and choice that you will not meet the criteria of the mortgage lender.

But the original draft yakhrong aimed at first-time buyers, which has been expanded to help those already on the property ladder takes the next step.

The body has been NewBuy opening warranty. With the aim to help buyers to expect thousands of home building and property ladder.

To help buyers purchase homes that are newly created or used a 5 per cent deposit instead of 20-25 per cent deposit that is greater than normal in today's home market, flat.

There are now extending the scheme to House on NewBuy part exchange properties of old. There is only a 5 per cent deposit.

This extension will continue for at least the first six months of the year 2013.

Housebuilders have 40 to NewBuy which allows you to buy your own home worth up to £ 500000 in England and £ 250000 in Scotland.

Best Exchange contractors, proposed a scheme of purchasing existing properties NewBuy while new home sales, and you will need to place the 5 per cent.

In addition, all forms have been NewBuy Exchange section, like buying and selling property in the normal style.

Are you full of love is a reasonable price to your old home, and paying the price for.

There are a number of lenders offer mortgage NewBuy.

David Hollingworth of mortgage broker London which has a better view & deals.

"Nationwide and NatWest have the most competition. He said that the

Nationwide there are two or three-year fixed rate of 4.34 percent, up £ 99.

2 year fixed rate, Natwest cent 4.49 and 4.79 per cent at a five-year fix.

Both of these proposals free of charge.

You may be wondering whether the plan to buy another home, what's the point.

The intention is to. Move people up the ladder, so those properties out of the House for more, such as first-time buyers.

In addition, the scheme aims to promote the creation of more homes.

If you are buying a House, right, at a price you can comfortably afford, and the old House for sale at very reasonable prices. You benefit from this scheme.

The body work is in English, but Scottish NewBuy similar plans, which currently houses the new MI also enables the exchange of best.

And how should the Welsh Cymru NewBuy practice by spring 2013.

The new service, which is HelpMeMove Confused.com interactions free move.

It can help organize your move. Search for conveyancers and mortgage deals received a quote for removal companies. Find a medical school, and in your new position and has provided a new digital TV and broadband suppliers.

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Whiplash under spotlight as MPs launch second inquiry

Whiplash claims have spiralled to 550,000 a year in Britain, even though road accidents have dropped. Up to £2,500 of every claim goes to lawyers and claims management companies, insurers say. Photograph: Alamy

MPs are launching a new investigation into how to cut the number of whiplash claims, to make car insurance cheaper. The Transport Committee is calling for evidence on how whiplash costs – which add around £90 to every motor premium – can be reduced.

But the committee was criticised for launching its investigation at the same time as a previous government inquiry into whiplash is about to be published.

The Transport Committee called Britain "the whiplash capital of the world" and said it wants to establish what proportion of costs are caused by people faking their injuries – whiplash is notoriously difficult for GPs to diagnose. MPs will also look at the likely impact that clamping down on exaggerated claims would have on people who are genuinely injured.

The number of whiplash claims has spiralled to around 550,000 a year, or 1,500 a day, landing insurers with a compensation bill of £2bn. Insurers argue that much of the money – up to £2,500 for every whiplash claim – is wasted on legal fees and payments to claims management companies.

Britain's whiplash industry is now pushing up the cost of the average motor insurance policy by a staggering 20%, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI). From 2005 to 2010, whiplash claims soared by 70%, even though road traffic accidents fell by 23%.

Louise Ellman, chair of the Transport Committee, said: "It is vitally important for policymakers to understand the reasons for the very high cost of motor insurance, especially for young drivers, and to take steps to bring that cost down. Whiplash claims undoubtedly play a part in driving up the cost of motor insurance, but access to justice for injured people must be preserved."

But Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance, questioned the timing of the Transport Committee's investigation, coming just as a previous government inquiry into whiplash has ended. He said: "It seems odd that it has taken a year to announce this inquiry, at a time when a separate Justice Ministry inquiry appears to have covered similar ground.

"While there is clearly a need to bring the escalating number of often-spurious claims under control, there are steps that could usefully help – for example, fixed rates of compensation and a proportion of claims payment withheld and paid direct for treatment, such as physiotherapy. Similarly, historic claims should reflect the cost of treatment that sufferers have, or should have, undertaken."

The AA favours the system used in Germany and Austria, where collisions below a certain speed (assessed by expert analysis of vehicle damage) are deemed to be too low to result in whiplash injury – around 70% of road accident personal injury claims are for whiplash in the UK, compared with 47% in Germany.

Earlier this week, insurers called for people making a whiplash claim to be forced to undergo medical examinations by independently-appointed experts to cure the UK's "epidemic" of cases. The ABI wants to see all whiplash cases dealt with by medical professionals who have been accredited by a special board in order to curb the flow of claims.

The organisation added that anyone whose whiplash claim turns out to be even partly exaggerated should automatically have their whole case thrown out.

James Dalton, assistant director of motor and liability for the ABI said: "Whiplash has come to mean 'whipcash' for too many people, with all motorists paying the price through higher motor premiums. Our 'have a go' compensation culture makes whiplash the fraud of choice for too many.

"Our proposals to curb the UK's whiplash epidemic will ensure that claimants are independently assessed, compensation paid to genuine claimants more quickly, and deter anyone who thinks that claiming whiplash is free money waiting to be collected."

The Transport Committee will look at whether the government could be taking further action to reduce the cost of car insurance and wants written submissions by 15 April.

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USANA announces second quarter 2012 financial record results

SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE) - Jul 24, 2012 - USANA Health Sciences, Inc. (NYSE: USNA) today announced financial results for its fiscal second quarter 30 June 2012.

Second quarter net sales by 8.0% to $160,90 million increasedEarnings per share rose by 26.1% to $1.11 for the quarterCompany raises Outlook 2012

Financial capacity

Net sales for the second quarter of 2012 rose by 8.0% to $160,90 million, compared with $148,90 million in the same period. The growth in sales was driven by the increase of company's Asia-Pacific and North America & Europe regions. Net sales were up $2.70 million reduced changes in currency exchange rates.

Result for the second quarter rose up $16.70 million, increase of 20.9%, compared with the same period last year. This increase was primarily due to higher net sales, improved gross margins, lower relative associate incentive costs and a lower tax rate. Earnings per share for the quarter rose 26.1% to $1.11, compared with $0.88 in the second quarter of the previous year. This improvement of earnings per share resulted from higher net income and a lower number of diluted shares as a result of the company share buy-backs in the last 12 months.

"USANA delivered solid second quarter results, which limited the very impressive first half of 2012," said Mr. Dave Wentz, Chief Executive Officer. "During the quarter we continued momentum in our business-build, partly due to our successful introduction of a new component to our associate compensation plan." This component, which is known as our life of matching bonus was worldwide very well received by our employees. "With the introduction of lifetime matching bonus, we ran a short-term promotion that also our positive results in the quarter helped."

Regional results

Sales in Asia/Pacific increased by 11.0% to $98,40 million million in the second quarter of last year compared with $88,70. This improvement was by strong sales growth in South East Asia Pacific and China. This growth was driven by an increase in the number of active employees, as well as price increases in certain markets, which were implemented in the first quarter. The number of active employees in the Asia Pacific region rose by 10.1%, due to the significant associate growth in the Philippines, associate growth in many other Asian markets and the addition of our Asia-Pacific region of Thailand.

"We are pleased with the continued growth in our Asia Pacific region can" continue Mr. Wentz. "During the quarter, we instead of a successful opening event in Thailand and dynamics in this market to grow in the second half of the year expected." "Our efforts in Asia remain focused it on our greater China region, as we lay the foundations for long-term growth through the development of associate guide continue to".

In the second quarter of 2012, sales in North America & Europe rose by 3.6% to $62,50 million, as compared to the second quarter of the previous year. This improvement was mainly due to higher sales in the United States and Mexico and, to a lesser extent, to the opening of France and Belgium. The number of active associates in North America & Europe 2011 modest when compared to the second quarter.

Mr. Wentz added, "again successfully executed our strategy growth North America is, and we are encouraged by the growth we are seeing in this region." "In August we will be our International Convention in Salt Lake City, where we are planning several advertisements that we believe global growth, to facilitate in particular in North America, will hold."

The company continued its successful results to create meaningful levels of cash from operations and ended the quarter with approximately 65,50 million $ in cash and cash equivalents. Cash flow amounted to $21.30 million for the quarter. Invested during the quarter the company to buy back $26,60 million 677.000 shares of the company's shares.

Outlook

The company put the following updated financial prospects for 2012:

The consolidated net sales between $630 million and $640 million, compared to the previous Outlook of between $610 million and $625 million. Earnings per share between $4.10 and $4.20, compared to the previous Outlook of between $3.60 and $3.70.

Chief Financial Officer Doug Hekking commented: "leverage on higher sales, gained better than expected, that gross margins and a lower tax rate were the main factors that our strong bottom-line performance this quarter contributed." These same factors, as well as a reduced number of diluted shares, are the driving forces behind the increase of earnings per share estimate for the rest of the current fiscal year. Our strong performance in the first six months of the year has laid the Foundation, what we believe, a solid second half of 2012. "As such, our financial Outlook for the business year increase 2012 we."

Conference call

USANA holds a conference call and Webcast discussing this announcement Eastern time with investors on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 at 11: 00. Investors can listen to the call by accessing the USANA Web site underhttp://www.usanahealthsciences.com.

USANA

USANA develops and manufactures high-quality nutrition, body care and weight-management products, directly to Associates and preferred customers in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Mexico, Malaysia, the Philippines, Netherlands, UK, Thailand, France and Belgium are sold. Learn more about USANA can be found at http://www.usanahealthsciences.com.

Tagged as: 2012 financials, Q2, USANA

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