Toshiba Bond Risk Recedes as Nuclear Fears Ease: Japan Credit

Toshiba Corp. (6502) , Japan’s largest maker of nuclear power plants , is rebounding in credit markets as demand for computer chips and displays helps ease concerns over the impact of the Fukushima crisis on earnings.

The cost of insuring Toshiba’s debt for five years fell to a four-week low of 92 basis points on July 22 from 175 five days after the earthquake, according to CMA data. The average cost of swaps insuring the debt of 66 technology companies, including Toshiba’s biggest rival in chips Samsung Electronics Co., rose 31 basis points to 218 in the same period, according to Bloomberg data.

Shares of Toshiba plunged 33 percent in two trading days following the earthquake on concern the company’s bet on its nuclear business will backfire. Toshiba acquired reactor maker Westinghouse Electric Co. for $4.16 billion in October 2006. Toshiba, also the world’s second-largest maker of flash memory and a major supplier for Apple Inc.’s iPad, helped allay investor concern by forecasting record profit this fiscal year.

“Right after the quake the company was hit by fear that it in some way may share responsibility with Tokyo Electric,” said Ryuji Kobayashi, a Tokyo-based credit analyst at Daiwa Securities Group Inc. “As this risk failed to materialize and without looming nuclear-related charges, the credit default swaps are returning to their original levels.”

The extra yield investors demand to own Toshiba’s 2.2 percent bonds due 2016 instead of government bonds fell 30 basis points to 42 basis points, from the April 13 peak of 71, according to Japan Securities Dealers Association prices on Bloomberg. Spreads on the company’s 1.22 percent bonds maturing in December 2017 shrunk to 50 basis points from 81 on April 14.

Japan ’s benchmark 10-year bond yield declined half a basis point to 1.07 percent in Tokyo, approaching 2011’s low of 1.06 percent on July 19.

The extra yield investors demand to own Japanese corporate bonds instead of similar-maturity government debt rose to 67 basis points from 27 basis points on March 10, according to Nomura Securities Co.’s Bond Performance Index.

Bonds sold by Japan’s technology companies are on course for a fourth monthly gain, led by Toshiba, according to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch index that tracks 29 securities including notes sold by Sharp Corp. and NEC Corp.

The record earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11 led to blasts and radiation leaks at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant in northern Japan. Shares of Toshiba and Hitachi Ltd., which built the reactors, plunged the most in two years in the first full day of trading following the disasters.

Sharp LC52LE835U Quattron 52-inch 1080p 240 Hz 3D LED-LCD HDTV ...

Received this TV late last week (6/2/11). The set looks great. I ordered a 52 inch Samsung 7000 series Plasma a couple of months before this and ended up returning it. It put out a lot of heat! The Plasma also had image-retention.If you would watch ESPN for even twenty minutes and change the channel, you could see the shadow of the ESPN logo for a couple of minutes.. The Plasma also had a slight buzzing noise. BTW the Plasma was properly broken in.

After returning the Plasma I decided I did not want logo’s and letterbox’s (widescreen black boxes top & bottom) dictating what I watched. I knew I wanted an LED-LCD from one of the top manufactures (Samsung, Sony, LG, Sharp).

The Sony’s were a little ridiculous as far as the price and did not look any better in the big-box stores than the other brands: Buy one if you really want to pay more for a Sony logo to impress your friends (I hope you do not have those type of friends, life is too short)… The Samsung TV’s seemed to have “clouding” issues and I was not impressed with my Samsung Plasma.

This set had good reviews and the 52 inch size is perfect! The TV is bright (backlight needs to be turned down a bit from factory setting) and really looks amazing with no noticed “flash-lighting” or “clouding” so far. Colors a very accurate and the apps, ex. Netflix, are great. The TV even comes with wifi built in, no usb wifi device needed! Blacks are dark for an led and viewing angles are very wide.

If you want a solid set from one of the top manufacturers this set is perfect and can be had for a solid value.

bought from modia thru amazon. delivery was quick and without any trouble. tv is nice and thin and very light weight. picture right out of the box was ok and with a little tweaking it is absolutely stunning. watched some basketball and game of thrones and was blown away.

tv is hooked up to standard cable box(hdmi), dvd player(hdmi), wii(component)

after a quick firmware update via ethernet cable i tested all of the online services and everything worked as advertised. i love the dlna feature which works great with windows media player and connects to my libraries on my pc. was able to watch movies, play songs or look at pictures.

sound is not bad for a tv but of course you should connect it to a surround system

haven’t even tested wifi or 3d yet. will update as soon as i get a sec to test.

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