Best Japanese Stocks To Watch Right Now

Top hedge fund managers look beyond the United States to find the best investment opportunities. And we do, too. Indeed, my latest recommendation is a Japanese stock, says Mark Skousen, editor of Hedge Fund Trader Alert.

Let me make the macroeconomic case first, starting with valuations. Japanese stocks are cheap. If the Nikkei 225 rose 70%, it still would be cheaper than the S&P 500 on a price-to-book value basis. In fact, the Tokyo market could triple from here and it would still be no higher than it was in 1989!

You shouldn't fight the Fed��nd the same is true of Japan's central bank. The Bank of Japan is in an ultra-accommodative mode right now, determined to weaken the yen until Japanese inflation hits 2%. That won't be anytime soon. Right now, Japanese consumer prices are stagnant.

A weaker yen strengthens exporters, the backbone of the Japanese economy. As Japanese cars, televisions, machinery, and electronics are priced cheaper overseas, sales will rise��nd so will corporate profits.

5 Best Promising Stocks To Own For 2015: iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF (EMB)

iShares JPMorgan USD Emerging Markets Bond Fund (the Fund) is a non-diversified fund. The investment objective of the Fund is to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of a specified benchmark index (the Underlying Index) representing a segment of emerging countries bond markets. The Fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing primarily in fixed-income securities that comprise the Underlying Index. The Fund operates as an index fund and will not be actively managed. The adverse performance of a security in the Fund�� portfolio will ordinarily not result in the elimination of the security from the Fund�� portfolio. The Fund is managed by Barclays Global Fund Advisors (BGFA), a subsidiary of iShares JPMorgan USD Emerging Markets Bond Fund (BGI).

The Fund generally will invest at least 90% if its assets in the securities of its Underlying Index. However, the Fund may at times invest up to 20% of its assets in certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents, including money market funds advised by BGFA, as well as in high-yield corporate bonds not included in its Underlying Index. iShares JPMorgan USD Emerging Markets Bond Fund invests a substantial portion of its assets in the United States-denominated bonds issued by sovereign and quasi-sovereign entities of emerging market countries. The Fund may invest in short-term instruments, including money market instruments, on an ongoing basis to provide liquidity or for other reasons.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Finally, beyond the Dow, the real damage is happening not in stocks but in other markets, especially bonds. PIMCO Total Return ETF (NYSEMKT: BOND  ) is down 1.3%, proving to investors seeking safety that bond investments are far from a secure place to put your money these days. Emerging-market bond investments are taking even more damage, with iShares JPMorgan USD Emerging Markets Bond (NYSEMKT: EMB  ) plunging 3.5%. When investors try to reduce their risk, the first place they look is in the more aggressive areas where they've put their money. The exodus from emerging markets in both stocks and bonds shows the fear that's rising among U.S. investors -- but that fear is motivated less by the prospects in those countries than by investors' desire to preserve hard-won profits dating back to 2009.

• [By Saumya Vaishampayan]

  The iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond Exchange-Traded Fund (EMB) fell 0.6% to end at $107.55. �

Best Japanese Stocks To Watch Right Now: Ausdrill Ltd (ASL)

Ausdrill Limited is a mining and energy services company providing exploration, mine development, surfacing and underground mining, manufacturing, energy and infrastructure services globally. The Company operates in five segments: Mining Services Australia, which includes the provision of mining services, including drilling and blasting, in-pit grade control, exploration drilling, earthmoving, waterwell drilling, energy drilling, equipment hire, equipment parts and sales and mineral analysis in Australia; Contract Mining Services Africa, which includes the provision of mining services, including drilling and blasting, in pit grade control, exploration drilling and earthmoving in Africa; Manufacturing, which includes manufacture of drilling rods and consumables, drill rigs and dump truck tray bodies; Supply and Logistics, which includes the provision of mining supplies and logistics services and Other, which includes its central functions like treasury, financing and administration. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Adam Haigh]

  Toyota Motor Corp. (7203), the world�� biggest carmaker, lost 1.3 percent in Tokyo after its net-income forecast fell short of analyst estimates. Ausdrill Ltd. (ASL) slumped 29 percent in Sydney after the drilling contractor said its expects a lower profit. GungHo Online Entertainment Inc. gained 2.5 percent as Japan Exchange Group Inc. and Nikkei Inc. said the Internet-game maker will be included in their new index.

Best Japanese Stocks To Watch Right Now: Intuit Inc.(INTU)

Intuit Inc. provides business and financial management solutions for small and medium-sized businesses, consumers, accounting professionals, and financial institutions primarily in the United States, Canada, India, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. The company offers QuickBooks financial and business management software and services, technical support, financial supplies, and Web site design and hosting services for small and medium-sized businesses; and payroll products and services, as well as merchant services comprising credit and debit card processing, electronic check conversion, and automated clearing house services for small businesses. It also provides TurboTax income tax preparation products and services for consumers and small business owners; Lacerte and ProSeries professional tax products and services; and QuickBooks Premier Accountant Edition and the QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program for accounting professionals. In addition, the company offers outsourced online financial management solutions for banks and credit unions; Quicken personal finance products and services; Mint.com online personal finance services; and Intuit Health online patient-to-provider communication solutions. It sells its products and services through various sales and distribution channels, including Websites, promotions, retail channels, and call centers, as well as through alliance partners, principally consisting of banks, credit unions, and securities and investment firms. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jose Pagliery]

  The nation's largest tax preparers say they dodged the bullet. Intuit (INTU), maker of the popular TurboTax software program, said it wasn't affected by Heartbleed. But just in case, the company has taken security measures to make sure no one can trick your computer into visiting a fake TurboTax website.

• [By Mani]

  Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) is slated to report its first quarter financial results on�Nov.21. The company will host a conference call on the same day at 1.30 Pacific Time to discuss the operating performance.

• [By Amanda Alix]

  Recently, al-Qassam reemerged after a break, threatening more mayhem. American Banker�quoted an analyst from Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU  ) , a business and financial software provider, as noting that DDoS attacks "have less of an impact" on banks' business than those designed to hide more nefarious cyber activities. Another analyst from NSS Labs, an information and security research and advisory firm, stated that DDoS assaults in and of themselves don't really cost banks much, though they are inconvenient for customers.

Best Japanese Stocks To Watch Right Now: Cornerstone Progressive Return Fund(CFP)

Cornerstone Progressive Return Fund is a closed-ended equity fund of fund launched and managed by Cornerstone Advisors, Inc. The fund invests funds investing in the public equity markets of the United States. It invests in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. Cornerstone Progressive Return Fund was formed on April 26, 2007 and is domiciled in the United States.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  But you can see in several places the consequences of the stampede toward high yield. Here are just a few:

  Closed-end funds Cornerstone Progressive (NYSEMKT: CFP  ) and Pimco High Income (NYSE: PHK  ) both make fixed payments back to fund shareholders on a monthly basis, and their distribution yields are truly extraordinary, at about 17% and 12%, respectively. Those dividends have enticed shareholders to pay $1.30 to $1.40 or more for each $1 of assets in the funds. Yet during most months, a substantial portion of those distribution payments has simply been a return of investor capital rather than true income from the funds' investments. A recent study discussed in The Wall Street Journal found that returns on a portfolio with a combined value and dividend-income strategy outperformed a strategy focused more exclusively on maximizing dividends by an average of 1.7 percentage points per year, a huge edge in long-run returns. In the dividend ETF arena, most funds tend to focus on maximizing yield. Although the popular Vanguard Dividend Appreciation (NYSEMKT: VIG  ) ETF bucks the trend by screening first for consistent dividend growth and only then looking at yield as a factor, many rival ETFs start with high-yielding stocks as their baseline and only then consider other desirable traits. Others focus solely on high-dividend niches of the market, such as iShares FTSE NAREIT Mortgage-Plus (NYSEMKT: REM  ) and its concentration on high-yield mortgage REITs.

  When dividend stocks get too popular, their prices get out of line with both their dividend income and the fundamentals of the businesses that underlie those stocks. In simpler terms, when dividend stocks become bad values, it's time to consider looking elsewhere for a margin of safety.

Best Japanese Stocks To Watch Right Now: Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI)

Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI) is an Austria-based bank that focuses on corporate and retail banking sector. The Bank offers a range of products and consulting services, as well as market knowledge. The Bank�� products and solutions include financing, leasing, investing, hedging, trade & export finance, investment banking, cash management, payment services, custody & fund services, and cards, among others. RBI is organized into seven segments: the Central Europe segment encompassed the banking markets in the European Union countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region; the Southeastern Europe segment comprises Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Croatia, among others; the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) other segment comprises Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine; the Group Corporates segment covers business with corporate customers of the Bank; the Group Markets segment covers capital market customers and business; Corporate Center, and Russia. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rebecca Bundhun]

  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently banned banks from issuing loans under the ��0:20 scheme�� which, through a three-way agreement between the lender, the developer, and the homebuyer, allowed the customer to pay 20% upfront, while the remainder of the loan would be issued to the developer, regardless of the stage of construction.

Best Japanese Stocks To Watch Right Now: Calavo Growers Inc (CVGW)

Calavo Growers, Inc. (Calavo), incorporated on January 5, 2001, is a provider of value-added fresh food. The Company is engaged in the marketing and distributing avocados, prepared avocados, and other perishable foods allows them to deliver a wide array of fresh and prepared food products to food distributors, produce wholesalers, supermarkets, convenience stores, and restaurants on a worldwide basis. The Company procures avocados principally from California, Mexico, and Chile. Through its various operating facilities, it sort, pack, and/or ripen avocados, tomatoes and/or Hawaiian grown papayas. Additionally, it also produces salsa and prepares ready-to-eat produce and deli products. It distributes its products both domestically and internationally and reports its operations in three different business segments: Fresh products, Calavo Foods and Renaissance Food Group, LLC (RFG).

Fresh products

The Company�� Fresh products business grades, sizes, packs, cools, and ripens (if desired) avocados for delivery to its customers. It operates two packinghouses and three operating and distributing facilities that handle avocados across the United States.Calavo markets California avocados. In California, the growing area stretches from San Diego County to Monterey County, with the majority of the growing areas located approximately 100 miles north and south of Los Angeles County. The storage life of fresh avocados is limited. It generally ranges from one to four weeks, depending upon the maturity of the fruit, the growing methods used, and the handling conditions in the distribution chain. The Company sells avocados to a diverse group of supermarket chains, wholesalers, food service and other distributors, under the Calavo family of brand labels, as well as private labels. From time to time, some of its larger customers seek short-term sales contracts that formalize their pricing and volume requirements. California avocados delivered to the Company�� packinghouses are graded, size! d, packed, cooled and, frequently, ripened for delivery to customers. The Company imports avocados from Mexico, Chile, Peru, New Zealand and the Dominican Republic. It�� diversified avocado sources provide a level of supply stability that may, over time, help solidify the demand for avocados among consumers in all markets it distribute to.

The Company also handles avocados from Chile, Peru and New Zealand, most of which are on a consignment basis with its growers. Pursuant to its joint venture agreement with M5, Calavo de Chile is the primary contact with its Chilean avocado sources. It has invested in the Aweta AFS (acoustic firmness sensor) technology and equipment. It has three Aweta systems in use in the United States, which, it believe, can effectively meet its customers��demand for conditioned fruit. It has developed various display techniques and packages that appeal to consumers and, in particular, impulse buyers. Some of its techniques include the bagging of avocados and the strategic display of the bags within the produce section of retail stores. The majority of its sales are generated from tomatoes and papayas. Tomatoes are primarily handled on a consigned basis, while papayas are handled on a pooling basis, similar to the California avocado pool previously described.

Calavo Foods

The Company�� Calavo Foods business procures avocados, processes avocados into a wide variety of guacamole products, and distributes the processed product to its customers. All of its prepared avocado products shipped to North America are cold pasteurized and include both frozen and fresh guacamole. The Calavo Foods segment was originally conceived as a mechanism to stabilize the price of California avocados by reducing the volume of avocados available to the marketplace.The Company utilizes ultra high pressure machines which are designed to cold pasteurize its guacamole products. Using high pressure only, this procedure substantially destroys the cells of any b! acteria t! hat could lead to spoilage, food safety, or oxidation issues. Once the procedure is complete, its packaged guacamole is cased and shipped to various retail and food service customers throughout the markets its service. Its IQF line provides food service and retail customers with peeled avocado halves that are ripe and suitable for immediate consumption. These halves were frozen, packaged and shipped out of Mexicali to warehouses located in the United States., and, ultimately, to its customers. The Company�� line of salsa will further diversify its product offerings and will be a natural complement to its ultra-high-pressure guacamole, as well as its Calavo tortilla chips.

RFG

The Company�� RFG business produces markets and distributes nationally a portfolio of healthy, lifestyle products for consumers via the retail channel. RFG is a fresh-food company that produces, markets, and distributes nationally a portfolio of healthy, products for consumers via the retail channel.RFG products range from fresh-cut fruit, ready-to-eat vegetables, recipe-ready vegetables and deli meat products. RFG sells under the labels of Garden Highway Fresh Cut, Garden Highway, and Garden Highway Chef Essentials to a wide range of customers. RFG products range from fresh-cut fruit, ready-to-eat vegetables, recipe-ready vegetables and deli meat products. RFG sells under the labels of Garden Highway Fresh Cut, Garden Highway, and Garden Highway Chef Essentials to a range of customers.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Monday

  Earnings Releases Expected: Sonic Corp (NASDAQ: SONC), Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ: CVGW), Zep Inc. (NYSE: ZEP) Economic Releases Expected: �Spanish services PMI, Italian services PMI, French services PMI, German services PMI, eurozone services PMI, British services PMI, eurozone investor confidence, German CPI, Australian trade balance

  Tuesday

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Calavo Growers (Nasdaq: CVGW  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By John Udovich]

  Just when you think the global warming (excuse me, climate change)�warnings could not get anymore hysterical or�goofier (Niagara Falls and the Great Lakes have frozen over after all), Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc (NYSE: CMG) is sounding the alarm (which may rally all of the Sofritas vegan tofu eaters of America)�over�its potential�threat�to�guacamole, but small cap avocado stock Calavo Growers, Inc (NASDAQ: CVGW) continues to grow investor returns no matter what the weather is doing and has outperformed PowerShares DB Agriculture Fund (NYSEARCA: DBA).�First and as noted by ThinkProgress.org, Chipotle Mexican Grill�� latest Annual Form 8-K reported: