Thanks Jeff!

Jeff Immelt gave a great talk today at the American Chamber of Commerce-
The key takeaways were:

• The financial services industry is going to be more regulated so we have to learn to deal with that.
• The government has moved in next door. There is going to be more interaction and interface with the government, so we had better get good at it.
• Now is the time to go where the business is-not to sit back and gird waiting for the recession to end. Make sure you cover all your price points in all your areas.
• The recession will end. If you take some risks now to go out and build some solid foundations for growth, your business will take off when the recession ends.
• Green and Eco are good businesses-GE has profited from ecoimagination initiatives-and Walmart has taken a lead in reducing carbon. If Walmart does it, that means it can be done inexpensively and efficiently.
• Don't get constipated-enjoy the ride-keep upbeat
  

Steel takes Wigs

Well the shareholders have spoken-they have approved the board candidates fielded by Steel Partners, which in effect cancels the TOB from Unison Capital. Since we know that Steel and another US mutual fund have 38% + of the shares, plenty of other shareholders were clearly underwhelmed by the weak tender offer from Unison.
Shareholder activism at its best?

We'll see how the new Steel appointed board helps reinvigorate the company and share price-only time can tell.

Fight over the wig maker?

OK, there has to be more to Aderans the wig maker than their healthy balance sheet for Steel Partners and Unison Capital to fight over it. Sure isn't the cooperative management team. Do the funds see market potential for wigs and male pattern baldness that eludes the rest of us? I am guessing that there is something else of value in that balance sheet.

Interestingly, Steel Partners has a real concern that echoes the true spirit of shareholder value preservation-the tender offer from Unison is arrogantly low-
how will shareholders vote? Stay tuned till tomorrow!!

Donut Burger?

In the neverending race for profits and new market niches, the master of incongruous mix 'n match, Mos Burger, has come out with a ... Donut Burger! Here is a good picture in another blog (although blog entry incorrectly says Mr. Donut) Why not? As some will fondly remember, White Castle burgers were square with a few holes... I think we used to call them "sliders" in college.

Fun and danger at the giro d'italie

If you cycle regularly in a metropolis like I do, the dangers that the riders in the giro d'italie are talking about are way too real-so why do car, truck and bus drivers think that a human being on a carbon or aluminum 5kg frame with precarious balance and thin wheels is a threat on roads that are made for several vehicles? Are we talking too much testosterone driven bravado?
Read Here all about the Giro

The image of a co-worker's husband with metal pins in his leg because some truck driver was in a hurry haunt me...

We are all working together out there on the road-take a breath, give an inch, you won't be late!

Smart Phones and the Tipping Point

Although I have been a "loyal" user of DoCoMo phones for years, i just had to get the iPhone for work, along with a couple other execs. While it doesn't really do much for me in terms of voice calls, I have to say that the schedule/mail sync with exchange at work is seriously handy. Add the Bloomberg/WSJ/NY Times apps with SNS apps and it really is a tiny laptop.

Japan has the steepest (read: fast) upward slope on the innovation adoption curve between early adopters and early majority. This group is populated by a large percentage of young women, and as such I am seeing more and more young women with iPhones, playing music or getting onto SNS services. Sure, the percentage is still small compared to young women on pink phones looking at the mobile version of Mixi, but as with all trends in Japan, the tipping point can come along VERY fast.

How long did it take to go from 1% penetration to 10% for Crocs?
The speed is unbelievable-both creation and destruction-when it comes to trends.

So can DoCoMo, Softbank and KDDI come up with viable alternatives? DoCoMo sells the Blackberry, but only the clunky one-that thing is too ugly to be anything but company issue-

Watch this space...

Been Way Too Long-Sorry for my absence. First the economy and my work took off northward, then the economy in Japan started south-You could say that the bad loan crisis in Japan helped pave the way for more stable (read risk averse) financial institutions. You could say that, and lots of folks do.

But two years ago everybody and their dog was secretly laughing at Japanese banks for "not getting it" during those heady days of multi-tranche, multi-split collateralized debt obligations.

I am pretty sure that there needed to be less greedy, but still profit driven, approach to the capital markets. Who are the survivors (winners?)

I have been twitting recently-follow me!
http://twitter.com/timothyconnor