http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=aYjHLbioFHNU
Japan Is Best Investment Idea for 2010, Wien Says (Update1) By Rita Nazareth and Thomas R. Keene Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks may be the best bet among the world’s biggest markets in 2010 as the economy improves, according to Blackstone Group LP’s Byron Wien. The Topix Index, which posted the lowest return among benchmark guagues in the 20 largest stock markets in 2009, has risen the most this year, gaining 4.1 percent. Companies are projected to turn profitable in 2010 after producing a combined loss of 40 yen per share in the past 12 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. “I would definitely start buying now,” Wien, 76, vice chairman of Blackstone Advisory Services and the former chief market strategist for hedge fund Pequot Capital Management Inc., told Bloomberg Radio. “Everybody who could sell Japan has sold Japan. Everybody is on one side of the boat. My view is that we have a pretty good chance of having this one be the best of the major industrialized markets. It’s not a boom, but things are getting better.” A weaker yen boosts the value of overseas sales at Japanese companies when converted into the home currency. The yen, which dropped from a one-month high against the dollar yesterday, rose against most of its major counterparts today as steps by China to limit bank lending reduced demand for higher-yielding assets. ‘Positive’ Wien, who correctly predicted rallies in equities, gold and oil last year, also said he’s “positive” on some sectors in the U.S., including technology, materials, energy and health- care. An advance in U.S. stocks in the first half of this year will give way to losses as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index drops as low as 1,000 before finishing 2010 where it began, Wien said earlier this month. As real economic growth climbs toward 5 percent, the Federal Reserve will start boosting interest rates in the second quarter, pushing its target for overnight loans between banks to 2 percent, he said. Blackstone, the world’s biggest private equity firm, hired Wien in August to advise the company and its clients on the economy and politics. Before Pequot, Wien was senior market strategist at Morgan Stanley. To contact the reporters on this story: Rita Nazareth in New York at [email protected]; Thomas R. Keene in New York [email protected]. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
