Top 10 Japanese Companies To Invest In Right Now

Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) is reportedly interested in acquiring Renesas SP Drivers, a Japanese chip maker whose products are designed to improve smartphone image display and preserve battery life.

Apple would pay approximately $482 million for a 55% stake in Renesas, a sum that would value the chip maker near $1 billion.

Renesas SP Drivers is the world's largest producer of the microchips that are used in liquid-crystal displays. That technology is common in small to midsized consumer electronic devices like smartphones and tablets. The company has about one-third of the industry's current market share.

The company's chips optimize the energy use of smartphone display screens, which extends the device's battery life. They are also known to improve the image quality on smartphones and tablets.

Top Transportation Stocks To Watch Right Now: Gannett Co. Inc. (GCI)

Gannett Co., Inc. operates as a media and marketing solutions company in the United States and internationally. Its Publishing segment publishes 83 U.S. daily newspapers with affiliated online sites, including USA TODAY, a national, general-interest daily newspaper; USATODAY.com; USA WEEKEND, a magazine supplement for newspapers; Clipper Magazine, a direct mail advertising magazine; bi-weekly Nursing Spectrum and NurseWeek periodicals; and military and defense newspapers. This segment also includes 17 paid-for daily newspapers; approximately 200 weekly newspapers, magazines, and trade publications; and approximately 600 non-daily publications, as well as involves in commercial printing, newswire, marketing, and data services operations. The company?s Digital segment owns and operates CareerBuilder, an employment Web site, which offers online recruitment and career advancement services for employers, employees, recruiters, and job seekers; ShopLocal, which provides multicha nnel shopping and advertising services; Planet Discover, which offers hosted search and advertising services; PointRoll, which provides digital marketing services and technology; and Schedule Star, which offers scheduling solution for high school athletic departments. Its Broadcasting segment operates 23 television stations and affiliated Web sites, which produce local programming, such as news, sports, and entertainment programming. This segment also includes Captivate Network, a national news and entertainment network that delivers programming and full-motion video advertising on video screens located in elevators of office towers and select hotel lobbies in North America. The company has strategic business relationships with online affiliates, including Classified Ventures, ShopLocal.com, Topix, and Metromix LLC, as well as strategic marketing agreement with Microsoft. Gannett Co., Inc. was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Gannett Co (NYSE: GCI) is expected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.41 per share on revenue of $1.27 billion.

  VMware (NYSE: VMW) is projected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.82 per share on revenue of $1.29 billion.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Gannett (GCI) rose 3.6% to $26.67 after Belo (BLC) shareholders approved a merger of the two companies. Belo’s stock fell 0.6% to $13.72.

  Carnival (CCL) fell 5.3% to $32.70 today, a day after falling nearly 8% on disappointing earnings. Barron’s says it’s time to buy.

Top 10 Japanese Companies To Invest In Right Now: Himax Technologies Inc.(HIMX)

Himax Technologies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, and markets semiconductors for flat panel displays. Its products include display drivers and timing controllers for various thin film transistor liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCD) panels, which are used in desktop monitors, notebook computers, televisions, and mobile handsets, as well as consumer electronics products comprising netbook computers, digital cameras, mobile gaming devices, portable DVD players, digital photo frame, and car navigation displays; and TFT-LCD television and monitor semiconductor solutions. The company also provides liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) products for palm-size mobile projectors; power management integrated circuits, which include drivers, amplifiers, DC to DC converters and other semiconductors; complementary metal oxide semiconductor image sensors for camera-equipped mobile devices, such as mobile phones and notebook computers with a focus on lowlight image and video quality; and wafer level optics products. It serves TFT-LCD panel manufacturers, mobile device module manufacturers, and television makers. Himax Technologies, Inc. was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Tainan, Taiwan.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephen Quickel]

  Himax Technologies (HIMX)

  Operating out of Taiwan, Himax makes liquid crystal on silicon semiconductors for flat panel displays. Analyst upgrades have spurred trading volume. Our target price is $20.

• [By Justin Loiseau]

  Google (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) is taking steps to prove its glasses are more than a gimmick. Taiwanese chip maker Himax Technologies (NASDAQ: HIMX  ) announced today that Google has agreed to invest in Himax's display subsidiary to finance production of liquid crystal on silicon chips (LCOS), the same type used in Google Glass.

• [By Jayson Derrick]

  Himax (NASDAQ: HIMX) announced that it expects its first quarter revenue to be up 10.8 percent year over year to $194.6 million, ahead of the consensus estimate of $193.6 million. shares gained 3.56 percent, closing at $9.32.

• [By John Udovich]

  On Monday, small cap Taiwanese advanced display maker�Himax Technologies, Inc (NASDAQ: HIMX) announced an agreement with Google�(NASDAQ: GOOG) where the later agreed to invest in the company's subsidiary, Himax Display Inc, fueling ever more speculation about Google Glass���a pair of glasses that will act like a wearable�smartphone. But what do we know about this Taiwanese small cap and is it enough for new investors to jump aboard?

Top 10 Japanese Companies To Invest In Right Now: Winning Brands Corp (WNBD)

Winning Brands Corporation is a manufacturer of cleaning solutions. The Company offers products in three markets: Consumer, Industrial and Commercial. Its Consumer products include 1000+ Stain Remover; KIND Laundry Detergent; KIND Fabric Softener; KIND Laundry Stain Remover, and CLEAN1 All Purpose. Its Industrial products include TrackMoist Dust Suppressant, and ReGuard-4 Equipment Cleaning for Emergency Responders. Its Commercial products include Professional Wet Cleaning Solutions. The Company owns 100% interests in Niagara Mist Marketing Ltd.

The consumer products are offered for sale through stores in various sectors, such as hardware, paint, convenience, and grocery. The industrial products are targeted for sale through professional property maintenance personnel in the case of TrackMoist and distributors to fire-fighting organizations in the case of ReGuard-4. The commercial products are for use by businesses in their line of work to generate a finished product, with an emphasis on the dry-cleaning sector, such as on cruise ships to perform cleaning of Dry Clean Only garments in substitution of the solvent perchloroethylene (Perc).

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap stocks Beamz Interactive Inc (OTCBB: BZIC), EHouse Global (OTCBB: EHOS) and Winning Brands Corporation (OTCMKTS: WNBD) were all heading in different directions at the end of last week with the first small cap surging 49.94% while the other two sank 31.28% and 25.32%, respectively, on Friday. Moreover, all three small cap stocks are already heading in different directions again this morning. So where should investors and traders place their bets? Here is a closer look at all three small cap stocks:

Top 10 Japanese Companies To Invest In Right Now: Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd (PBEGF.PK)

Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd. (Petrobank) is engaged in the exploration and development of oil and natural gas in western Canada. The Company operates in two segments: the Heavy Oil Business Unit (HBU) and PetroBakken Energy Ltd. (PetroBakken). Its operations are conducted through its HBU, as well as its technology subsidiary, Archon Technologies Ltd. The HBU operates its heavy oil projects using Petrobank�� THAI heavy oil recovery process in the field. In addition, Petrobank owns 59% of its subsidiary, PetroBakken. Whitesands Insitu Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, owns heavy oil leases in Alberta and oil sands and heavy oil licenses and leases in Saskatchewan, and operates the Kerrobert Project. During the year ended December 31, 2011, Petrobank completed the Kerrobert Project, with all 10 expansion well pairs drilled. On February 28, 2012, Petrobank completed the sale of May River Property. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Stephan Dube]

  Peace River's most notable producers:

  PennWest Exploration (PWE), see article here.Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A), see article here.Baytex (BTE), see article here.Strata Oil and Gas (SOIGF.PK), see article here.Petrobank Energy & Resources (PBEGF.PK), see article here.

  Cold Lake's most notable producers:

Top 10 Japanese Companies To Invest In Right Now: Navistar International Corporation (NAV)

Navistar International Corporation, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells commercial and military trucks, buses, diesel engines, and recreational vehicles, as well as provides service parts for trucks and trailers worldwide. The company operates in four segments: Truck, Engine, Parts, and Financial Services. The Truck segment manufactures and distributes trucks and buses for the common carrier, private carrier, government, leasing, construction, energy/petroleum, military vehicles, and student and commercial transportation markets under the International and IC brands; assembles components; and produces sheet metal components, including truck cabs. This segment markets its products through its independent dealer network, and distribution and service network retail outlets comprising 784 in the United States and Canada, 86 in Mexico, and 292 internationally, as well as markets reconditioned used trucks to owner-operators and fleet buyers through its network of us ed truck centers. The Engine segment designs, manufactures, and sells diesel engines under the MaxxForce brand for use in the medium trucks, heavy trucks, and military vehicles, as well as for its IC branded school buses and other applications. The Parts segment provides customers with products required to support the company�s brands, as well as offers other truck, trailer, and engine service parts. The Financial Services segment provides and manages retail, wholesale, and lease financing services for products sold by the Truck and Parts segments and their dealers. It also operates as a private-label designer and manufacturer of diesel engines for the pickup truck, van, and sport utility vehicle markets. Navistar International Corporation was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Lisle, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Navistar (NYSE: NAV  ) will release its quarterly report on Wednesday, and investors don't expect good news from the trucking giant. Yet even if Navistar earnings continue to look as bad as they have in recent quarters, relief might not be too far away for beleaguered investors.

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  There's no question about it: 2013 has been a stellar year for shares of Navistar (NAV). Since the first trading day of January, shares of the heavy vehicle maker have jumped 57%. But with red flags flapping in this stock's financials, anxious shareholders may want to think about taking some gains off the table.

  Navistar is a leader in the heavy vehicle business. Its brands include flagship International, as well as Monaco Coach and MaxxForce engines, giving NAV market-leading positions in three quarters of its business lines. But it's a company that's well-positioned in an extremely challenging industry. Economic headwinds continue to be a problem for NAV, especially as defense budgets get cut and high oil prices spur more shippers to go with rail transport. While the commercial vehicle fleet is aging, uncertainty could convince owners and operators to prolong use of older trucks.

  Navistar has a long track record of destroying shareholder value, and failing to meet deadlines. While a recent management shakeup in 2013 could help NAV turn a new leaf, other headwinds, like a pension plan that's underfunded to the tune of $1.4 billion, could leave the new managers with few options. Debt has nearly doubled in the last two years -- and lenders are hiking NAV's cost of capital in turn.

  At the very least, buyers should wait for more of a management track record before thinking about building a position in this name.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Navistar International (NYSE: NAV  ) reported earnings on June 10. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended April 30 (Q2), Navistar International whiffed on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

Top 10 Japanese Companies To Invest In Right Now: GasLog Ltd (GLOG)

GasLog Ltd. (GasLog), incorporated on July 16, 2003, is an owner, operator and manager of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers. The Company is a holding company. Its subsidiaries conduct all of its operations and own all of its operating assets, including its ships. The Company operates in two segments: vessel ownership and vessel management. In the vessel ownership segment, the services provided primarily consist of chartering out company-owned LNG carriers, and in the vessel management segment the services provided consist of LNG carrier technical management services, as well as LNG carrier construction supervision services and other vessel management services provided to the Company�� vessel ownership segment and to external third parties.

In February 2011, GasLog Carriers Ltd. established two vessel-owning companies, GAS-five Ltd. and GAS-six Ltd. In March 2011, GasLog Carriers Ltd. established two vessel-owning companies, GAS-seven Ltd. and GAS-eight Ltd. In June 2011, GasLog Carriers Ltd. established two additional vessel-owning companies, GAS-nine Ltd. and GAS-ten Ltd. In June 2011, Ceres Shipping Ltd. (Ceres Shipping) transferred its interest in GasLog Ltd. to Blenheim Holdings Ltd. (Blenheim Holdings). In June 2011, an entity jointly owned by the Livanos and Radziwill families (Joint Venture Partner) sold its 49% interest in GAS-three Ltd., GAS-four Ltd., GAS-five Ltd. and GAS-six Ltd. to Ceres Shipping. Ceres Shipping contributed the 49% interest in GAS-three Ltd., GAS-four Ltd., GAS-five Ltd. and GAS-six Ltd. to Blenheim Holdings, who in turn contributed the 49% interest in these four vessel-owning companies to GasLog Ltd., which contributed the same to GasLog Carriers Ltd. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned 100% interest in GAS-three Ltd., GAS-four Ltd., GAS-five Ltd. and GAS-six Ltd. On July 11, 2011 and September 5, 2011, the Company transferred its interest of two dormant subsidiaries, GasLog Holdings Limited and GasLog Services Limited, respectively, to Ceres Shi! pping.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� owned fleet consisted of 10 wholly owned LNG carriers. As of December 31, 2011, the Company managed and operated 14 LNG carriers, which included its owned ships, as well as 11 ships owned or leased by BG Group plc (BG Group), a participant in the worldwide energy and natural gas markets, and one additional LNG carrier in which it had a 25% interest. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned a 25% interest in Egypt LNG Shipping Ltd. (Egypt LNG), whose principal asset is the LNG carrier Methane Nile Eagle. The Company�� owned fleet includes the GasLog Savannah, the GasLog Singapore, four LNG carriers on order at Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (Samsung Heavy Industries) in South Korea, two LNG carriers on order at Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea, and two LNG carriers on order at Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea.

The Company�� wholly owned subsidiary, GasLog LNG Services Ltd., (GasLog LNG Services) handles the technical management of its fleet. Through GasLog LNG Services, it provides technical ship management services for 12 LNG carriers owned by third parties in addition to management of the two LNG carriers operating in its owned fleet. The Company provides the services of its owned ships under time charters. The Company�� subsidiaries include GasLog Investments Ltd., GasLog Monaco S.A.M., Ceres LNG Employee Incentive Scheme Ltd., GasLog Carriers Ltd., GAS-one Ltd., GAS-two Ltd., GAS-three Ltd., GAS-four Ltd., GasLog Shipping Company Ltd., GasLog Shipping Limited and Egypt LNG Shipping Ltd.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Robert Rapier]

  GasLog (NYSE: GLOG) owns 15 LNG carriers, with eight ships on the water and seven more to be delivered by 2016. The company is one that we have liked and recommended, and it performed well in 2013, up 33 percent for the year. It has long been thought that the company might drop down assets into an MLP, but last week’s news that this will indeed be the case helped propel the stock up nearly 20 percent for the week.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  LNG carrier owner-operator GasLog (NYSE: GLOG  ) will pay a second-quarter dividend of $0.11 per share, the same rate it's paid for the last two quarters after initiating its dividend payment, the company announced today.

• [By Stephen Quickel]

  Gaslog Limited (GLOG)

  This Monaco-based company owns and operates a sizeable fleet of ocean-going liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, which it charters out and manages for others. Earnings are expected to grow 32% a year. Thirteen of 14 analysts rate it a Strong Buy or Buy.

• [By Rebecca McClay]

  And, GasLog Ltd. (NYSE: GLOG) is up 2.4% after it announced it has signed a memorandum of agreement to acquire the STX Frontier, a 153,600 cubic meter liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier, from Singapore-based STX Pan Ocean LNG PTE. Ltd. The acquisition cost of the vessel is in the vicinity of US$160 million.

Top 10 Japanese Companies To Invest In Right Now: Vanguard FTSE All World ex US Index Fund Investor Shares (VEU)

Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF (the Fund) is an exchange-traded class of shares of Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund. The Fund seeks to track the performance of an index that measures the investment return of stocks of companies located in developed and emerging markets worldwide. The Fund employs a passive management or indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the FTSE All-World ex US Index (the Index), a free-float-adjusted, market capitalization-weighted index designed to measure equity market performance of international markets.

The Index includes approximately 2,200 stocks of companies located in 47 countries, including both developed and emerging markets. The Fund typically holds 1,200 to 1,300 stocks in the Index (covering nearly 95% of the Index�� total market capitalization) and a representative sample of the remaining stocks. The Fund holds a range of securities that, in the aggregate, approximate the full Index in terms of key characteristics. These key characteristics include industry weightings and market capitalization, as well as certain financial measures, such as price/earnings ratio and dividend yield. The Fund�� investment advisor is The Vanguard Group, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Philip Springer, President, Retirement Wealth Management, Inc.]

  Our favorite is Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US (VEU). This all-in-one ETF combines broad diversification, a high yield (4.7%) and a rock-bottom expense ratio (0.15%).