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Technology Stocks : Softbank Group Corp -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mact who wrote (1941)	9/27/1999 9:16:00 PM
From: Yamakita	Respond to of 6020

A very interesting interview with Son in this morning's Gomiuri (I mean Yomiuri. Especially check out the bolded part: he's going to be buying MORE THAN 600 more companies in the next few years! ~~~~~~ Big Bang/Softbank founder gives views on online services, Nasdaq Japan By Masayoshi Tanaka and Junko Okamoto, Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers Leading multimedia venture Softbank Corp. is aggressively seeking new business opportunities in an attempt to attain further dominance as an Internet information distributor and expand into other areas, including online financial services. The Internet investor has been establishing new subsidiaries amid the rapid growth of the use of the Net in various fields. A recent announcement by Softbank that it is planning to create Nasdaq Japan--a computerized stock market in a tie-up with the U.S. National Association of Securities Dealers--rocked the domestic securities industry. The Yomiuri Shimbun interviewed Softbank founder Masayoshi Son about his company's business strategies. How is the plan to launch a Japanese version of the U.S. Nasdaq over-the-counter stock market going? Son: We are setting up a project work group in cooperation with major securities companies to draw up rules (for the envisaged stock market). We have already received responses from more than 2,500 companies interested in being listed on the Nasdaq Japan market. A study group--Nasdaq Japan Club--has been organized by a host of venture capital firms. What will be the basic rules of the new market? We will create a market just like the U.S. Nasdaq stock market. Conventional stock markets in Japan stress the importance of the performance of listed companies, but Nasdaq emphasizes information disclosure by companies. There is nothing wrong with listed companies being in the red, but they must fully disclose details of corporate performance and other information to investors. When is Softbank going to file an application with the Finance Ministry to establish the new stock market? Sometime within a few months. We want to seek approval after the work group establishes the rules, including the qualifications required for companies to go public on the new market. Given that about 5,000 companies on the U.S. Nasdaq market hope to be listed on Nasdaq Japan, will there be any difficulty in their disclosing company information in Japanese? It is not necessary for all information to be disclosed in Japanese. Such information could be left in English. A market can exist in which stock prices are rising although the information is disclosed in English, which may by a bit hard (for the Japanese) to understand. Likewise, there can be a market in which prices are dropping even though the information is disclosed in Japanese. There is nothing wrong with two markets coexisting. The choice is up to the investor. In October, Softbank will convert itself into a holding company. What is the aim of this? Of the companies listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, our holding company will be the first of its kind to have only six employees. By becoming a holding company, we can handle new business without being swamped with routine tasks, unlike traditional business entities. Business operations in our subsidiaries will be autonomous so that presidents can make swift decisions. You repeatedly say that your company will focus on Internet-related business over the next 10 years. There are currently about 120 companies engaging in Internet-related business under Softbank's umbrella in the United States and Japan. In five years' time, we want to expand the number to 780--400 in the United States, 150 in Europe, 150 in Japan, 50 in other parts of Asia and 30 in South America. We have new venture capital of about 200 billion yen and we also plan to establish two new venture capital funds to achieve that objective. Softbank will establish a joint venture next summer with Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) and the Japanese unit of Microsoft Corp. to offer a flat-rate Internet access service in the Kanto region. Are you holding talks with electric power companies other than TEPCO about providing such services? We began talks with some companies that showed a positive response to the plan. The communications service will grow to become our core business. Our service (flat-rate Internet access) will be good news for the domestic Internet industry and users. How will your company expand its online financial service unit? Do you plan to open branch offices to service it? Do you envision adding banking functions, including receipt of deposits, to your services? Softbank Finance, our financial subsidiary, is currently making preparations to offer services such as securities and loans. In the United States, five of the six top online financial service companies belong to the Softbank group. We will concentrate on enhancing our financial services in Japan by using the Internet. We are not really interested in physically setting up branch offices, but will mainly focus on the use of the Internet instead. Where do you see the Internet going in the future? One should remember that automobiles, telephones and television did not fade out. They were not a passing fad, but established themselves as indispensable parts of our lives. The Internet will evolve in the same way.

To: mact who wrote (1941)	9/27/1999 9:25:00 PM
From: Taikun	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 6020

At least they're online now-and the quote is 30 minutes faster than Yahoo Japan. here's the link (I suggest replacing the Yahoo Japan link with this one): etrade.ne.jp You can type the ticker in the upper left hand box. By the way, does anyone know what happened to Yahoo Japan Still listed at 66m yen here in the Softbank portfolio but now trading at 34m yen: softbank.co.jp

To: mact who wrote (1941)	9/28/1999 5:24:00 PM
From: Seeker of Truth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6020

It isn't clear that Etrade Securities Co.(Japan), a partially owned subsidiary of SOFTBANK, would be a good investment. I deal with Ameritrade, a typical discount broker. Their service is good and an order at the market costs just $8. From the consumer's point of view it's great. But I think Ameritrade is still losing money. There's plenty of competition. From the investor's point of view, probably only Schwab is profitable, and they are only a semi-discount broker. One can easily imagine that the subsidiary would be useful to Softbank with all those EPOs to do in the next few years, but it might not directly return much cash.