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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (90854)	3/16/2011 4:54:35 PM
From: manalagi	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 149317

The only stocks that should be selling off big time are the insurance companies 9 Companies That Might Be at Risk Due to Japan Exposure by: Rougemont March 16, 2011 \| about: AFL, BWA, COH, HIG, HMC, INTC, QCOM, SBUX, TM The massive earthquake in Japan has far reaching economic implications worldwide and Japan's economy has been dealt a hard blow. In addition to the human impact, there are many damaged buildings, destroyed cars, and lots of other property lost. It's been reported that many of Japan's largest manufacturers have been forced to shut down operations at a number of plants. Honda (HMC), Toyota (TM), Nissan (NSANY.PK) and others have halted production at some facilities due to the earthquake. Some shipping ports are damaged as well. There are clearly going to be many disruptions in production, supplies, and a change in economic activity for anyone living or doing business in Japan. Many U.S. companies have operations and/or suppliers in Japan. It's just a matter of time before we hear of the first earnings warning or miss due to the crisis in Japan. Many of these will be legitimate, but I will not be surprised to see some companies use Japan as an excuse for poor earnings reports. Below are a few companies that might be legitimately at high risk of an earnings warning or miss due to operations and/or suppliers in Japan: Here are the nine companies: Qualcomm (QCOM) was trading at $53 Tuesday. Qualcomm is one of the leading wireless communications products companies. It is based in the U.S., but has operations and suppliers in Japan. The 50 day moving average is $54.78 and the 200 day moving average is $44.85. Since QCOM is now trading below the support level of the 50 day moving average, it may not see additional support until it gets closer to the 200 day average. How Qualcomm could be affected: About 9% of Qualcom's revenues are from Japan and there are also concerns that chip production in Japan is going to be impacted. Qualcomm Japan is located in Tokyo. Hartford Financial (HIG) was trading at $25.60 Tuesday. Hartford is a major insurance company in Japan. It is based in the U.S., but has many policies in Japan. The 50 day moving average is $28.43 and the 200 day moving average is $24.62. Since HIG is now trading below the support level of the 50 day moving average, it may not have seen the bottom yet. There should be strong support around the 200 DMA. How Hartford could be affected: Hartford has operations in Japan and numerous policies in force as well. They are going to see a large number of claims based on the situation in Japan. Honda Motor Co. (HMC) shares trade at just over $39 per share. This company manufactures a range of products from cars to generators, both of which will be in demand as Japan rebuilds. These shares traded as high as $44.56 in the past year. The 50 day moving average is $41.89 and the 200 day moving average is $35.99. HMC is estimated to earn $3.80 per share in 2011. How Honda could be affected: A substantial amount of Honda's production and revenues are based in Japan. A recent report estimates that Honda could be losing about $25 million per day and that some of their production is halted until March 20. Read about that here. Borg Warner Inc. (BWA) closed at $73.75. Borg Warner is a leading auto parts maker. The 50 day moving average is $73.75 and the 200 day moving average is $56.35. I would not be surprised to see BWA drop below the 50 day moving average and test support closer to around $56. BWA is estimated to earn about $4.17 per share this year. How Borg Warner could be affected: Borg has multiple plants in Japan as well as suppliers based in Japan. In addition, some of their customers are seeing production issues which could impact revenues. Starbucks (SBUX) currently trades for about $35.72 per share. Starbucks is a major coffee retailer with about 900 licensed stores in Japan. The 50 day moving average is $33.08 and the 200 day moving average is $28.63. SBUX has earnings estimates of about $1.49 per share for 2011. How Starbucks could be affected: Japan is Starbucks' biggest market in Asia and although the roughly 900 Starbucks stores in Japan are licensed, that could result in reduced licensing fees. Sales are likely to drop due to store closures and lower sales as many Japanese consumers possibly cut back on non-essential food purchases. According to this report, about 100 of 900 Starbucks stores were closed. Toyota Motor Co. (TM) was trading at $81.39 Tuesday. Toyota is a leading auto and truck maker which should eventually see a rebound in sales as trucks are needed to rebuild, and cars are replaced. These shares have a 52 week high of $93.90 and a low of $67.56. The 50 day moving average is $86.62 and the 200 day moving average is $76.09. Estimates for TM are about $2 per share in 2011. How Toyota could be affected: A substantial amount of Toyota's production and revenues are based in Japan. A recent report estimates that Toyota could be losing about $73 million per day. Read about that here. Intel (INTC) was trading at $20.18 Tuesday. Intel is one of the leading makers of integrated circuits. It is based in the U.S., but has operations, customers and suppliers in Japan. The 50 day moving average is $21.25 and the 200 day moving average is $20.26. These shares are close to breaking below the $20 level. How Intel could be affected: Intel has substantial revenues coming from Japan and there are also concerns that chip production in Japan is going to be impacted. Intel has locations in Japan which you can see here. Aflac, Inc. (AFL) was trading at $50.89 Tuesday. Aflac is one of the leading insurance companies in Japan. It is based in the U.S., but has many policies Japan. The 50 day moving average is $56.96 and the 200 day moving average is $51.90. Since AFL is now trading below the support level of the 50 and 200 day moving average, it may not have seen the bottom yet. How Aflac could be affected: According to Aflac's website, they are the number one insurance company in Japan in terms of policies in force. They sell a variety of insurance including life and medical. You can read more about Aflac Japan here. Coach Inc. (COH) closed at $52.02. Coach is a leading maker of luxury goods, such as handbags. The 50 day moving average is $54.63 and the 200 day moving average is $46.74. I would not be surprised to see COH drop to around the 200 day moving average before finding support. COH is estimated to earn about $2.91 per share this year. How Coach could be affected: Japan is a huge market for luxury goods and the demand for these goods could be significantly diminished for a long time as conspicuous consumption probably declines. According to this report, Coach has about 161 stores in Japan, from which they receive about 20% of their profits. The data is sourced from Yahoo Finance. The information and data is believed to be accurate, but no guarantees or representations are made. I am not a registered investment advisor and do not provide specific investment advice. The information contained herein is for informational purposes. Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. seekingalpha.com