Japan seems awfully cheap these days:
A study made under the authors’ direction (covering some 3,700 stocks traded on the Japanese exchanges), found 512 stocks selling for less than net current asset value (includes long-term investments) and 212 selling below ⅔ of net current asset value (Graham’s famous “66% net-net” threshold). Equally interesting, 763 of the businesses were selling for less than cash plus short and long term marketable securities. Suffice it to say, there are large parts of the Japanese market selling for extremely cheap.
Based on the studies previously referenced, we would anticipate this basket of cheap Japanese stocks to similarly outperform the market indices. If the 30 businesses were afforded a modest multiple (8-times earnings before interest and taxes) + net cash, similar to what businesses typically sell for in private-party transactions, the average valuation for the 30 businesses would be $191 million vs. a market-cap-inferred-price of $86 million. You’re theoretically getting $191 million worth of private-party businesses for the public market price of $86 million. This represents a tremendous upside potential when the market’s sentiments toward Japan become normal again– offering a handsome potential reward for those brave enough to test their resolve in the face of threatening headlines.
Individual securities can be attained through most brokerage houses without too much fuss. Although the trading costs can be steep (we’ve paid $100 per trade through one of the bigger name houses), we feel the potential upside justifies the transaction costs, depending on the size of your portfolio. For smaller amounts of money and certainly increased liquidity, WisdomTree’s Japan SmallCap Div Fd ETF (NYSE:DFJ) may be a good way to participate in Mr. Market’s mispricing of Japan. Although the DFJ is not as cheap as a readily-attainable basket of individual stocks (Price-to-Book of ~.77 vs. much less), the liquidity and diversification is quite attractive.
I like the idea of investing in Japan. It’s strongly within the econo-legal orbit of Western countries and Western attitudes toward law and commerce. There is definitely fraud and corruption, as there is anywhere in the world, but it’s probably less worrisome in Japan than it is in a place like neighboring China.
The challenges to investing in Japan are:
- Cost of trading
- Language barriers in studying company publications
- Convenient access to reliable market data
I am not sure how affected Japan will be by a China slowdown. I am not sure how much a person should worry about the fact that many of these Net-Nets appear to be in the engineering and construction consultancy business– this was an area that was a focus of corruption and overspending during the boom years in Japan and it’s questionable how many of these businesses are kept alive now or in the future by political connections.
Finally, at some point Japan is going to have a day of reckoning related to their massive government debts. For the average Japanese business with earning power and some growth prospects the implied inflationary solution to that problem seems like a tailwind. But for a Net-Net with no real exciting business prospects and a lot of cash on the balance sheet, that seems like it could destroy a lot of value, if anything.
Austrian economist Gary North insists that won’t happen, but I’m not sure what will take place instead.
The best strategy, were someone to attempt to take advantage of this scenario and these low prices relative to net current assets, would probably be to build some kind of a basket of the best of the best, as the author suggests.
I read a good article by Geoff Gannon on How to Pick Net-Nets, and he argues the main idea is to protect yourself from the downside, not to worry about the upside, when it comes to Net-Nets. He says the main risks to look out for are:
- Fraud
- Solvency
- Ownership dilution
I’m going to keep my eye on the Japanese NCAV situation, but for now it might be cheapest and easiest for me to find a few issues in the US, first. Meanwhile, I wonder what’s going on in Europe as far as Net-Nets go?
A House Rises 