[Foreign] Japan Stocks - Part 2

Earlier this month we have introduced some stocks from the recovering economy of Japan. Most stocks we talked about were the so called blue chip Japan stocks that you are probably more familiar of. Today we will take a look at other Japan stocks also traded in the US stock exchange but may not be well known to most US investors.

• Matsushita Electric Industrial(MC): one of the world's largest consumer electroonic producer based in Osaka, Japan. Most people probably don't know Matsushita but are very familiar of its American operation - Panasonic Corporation of North America. Other brands under the firm in US are Technics and Quasar. Past year has been a strong year for the stock as it went from $14.92 in end of January to $19.38 at the end of December. The stock is currently trading at P/E ratio of 80.12.
• Internet Initiative Japan(IIJI): the company is like the AOL of Japan providing Internet connetivity servcies from dial-up to high-speed. The company are beginning to see turn-around as it went from net loss in 2004 to net gain in 2005. The stock was still a $3 stock in May yet is now trading at $11.08 per share, almost 300% gain in little more than half year.
• Konami(KNM): the Tokyo company is famous for its action and RPG video games. The company also engages in Health and Fitness industries. The stock, currently trading at P/E ratio of 20.71 has been on a rally since 52 week low of $19 per share back in November and is now at $22.99 per share.
• Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. (NTT): the largest telecom in Japan is equivalent to AT&T in US before it breaks up in to the Baby Bells. The 50 year old company have full time employee of 0.2 million and is bringing in annual revenue of 100 billion, about 5 times more than Verizon(VZ). However the stock is still cheap trading at P/E ratio of 5.78, significantly lower than many other telecom firms in US.