PII-37 -- Venture Company File Number Three

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P E R S O N A L I N T E R N A T I O N A L I N V E S T O R
Personal Finance Intelligence for the Tokyo Community
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Personal International Investor
Vol. 37
December 16, 2005 Tokyo

For the full HTML version, go to:
http://japaninc.typepad.com/personal_intl_investor/2005/12/vol37_.html

CONTENTS

+ Feature
+ From the Editor
+ Forex Weekly
+ Yen Watch
+ Events
+ Job Watch

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FEATURER

Welcome to Japan!
(By Jesse Chadwick, Gaijin Inc. | December 16, 2005)

Unpack your bags, examine your new office, and realize how snug
yet expensive your new accommodations will be now that you're
living in Tokyo. You have arrived safe and ready to ignite in
a whole new culture. The next course of action would be to
search out a mode of transportation. The train is cumbersome
due to the lack of freedom and inability to transport your
groceries home and your mother from the airport. So you search
for the right automobile to fit your needs. That is when you
realize the problematic system involved in achieving one.
Some of us have been left in astonishment with headaches
after contemplating 'Why is getting a car here such a difficult process?"

Click here to read more...
http://japaninc.typepad.com/pii_full_article/2005/12/vol37_.html

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FROM THE EDITOR

Venture Company File Number Three:
Quazer System ( http://www.quasar.co.jp/jp/index_jp.htm# )

A company which specializes in making a small range of
specialized connectors doesn't sound very sexy. It also sounds
like a business that is very vulnerable to competition from China.
But in this age of high-power portable computers, electronic
entertainment devices, and mobile or exterior-use portable security
equipment, connectors that are ultra reliable and miniaturized are
still very much in demand and still very difficult to make, thus
offering an opportunity for a Japanese specialist to stay ahead
of the game. Just such a company is Quazer System,
a manufacturer and consulting firm based in Kanagawa Prefecture,
to the south of Tokyo.

Quazer System specialises with the development, manufacturing
and sales of hybrid connectors for a range of devices, and
in particular, the expanded memory slots of notebook PCs.
The driving force behind the firm's successful growth in this
competitive field is CEO Shoji Yamada. Mr. Yamada has
a long history in the field of high-performance connectors,
having worked for more than 30 years at AMP, the leading US
connector manufacturing firm. Prior to AMP, Yamada graduated
from Tokyo University with a PhD in Electrical Engineering then
went on to work in a prominent research institute in the USA.
Yamada's achieved a significant milestone at AMP, the
development of his own technology, the DUAL DIMM memory
device connector, which is today used in many of the world's PCs.

When Yamada decided to start his own company, Quazer System,
in 1997, he realized that manufacturing would require a significant
investment, and so he chose to enter the field as a consultant.
This turned out to be an excellent choice, and within a short
period he was providing designs and expertise to a number of
Japanese and Taiwanese firms. This strategy also protected him
from the gyrations of the electronics industry in general.

Three years ago, in 2002, Quazer System did in fact decide to
create its own manufacturing facility. But rather than try to compete
in the overall connector market, the factory's output is reserved for
niche products that require either a high level of technology to
produce or small lots of specialized connectors. Thus, the
consulting business continues to be a mainstay for the company,
along with various tools designed to help consulting customers
become more efficient and effective. Such tools include design
software and design IP.

Quazer's manufacturing strength is to be found in its strict control
of design and manufacturing parameters. As an example, Quazer's
memory connector has a higher data recall speed than any other
in the market, due to the fact that connector wire are precisely
the same length. This lets manufacturers such as IBM, Hitachi,
Furukawa Electric, NEC, Sotec, Twinhesd, Hannstar, LG, Compal,
FIC, ASUSTeK, JAE, TycoAMP, and Uniwill drive their circuits
at higher speeds without concern about data loss or corruption.

Despite the unglamorous nature of the business, in fact, the
connector industry is still growing at a healthy clip. It was worth
$284 billion in 2003, up a full 10% over the previous year, and
a large percentage of this business was done in North Asia.
Quazer System see their main growth opportunities in continuing
development for notebook PCs, particularly in memory expansion,
graphic cards, and in-line CPUs, and of course the broad new
digital devices hitting the market, which require high-precision,
robust connectors.

Terrie Lloyd
...Investor in Training/

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FOREX WEEKLY

Team Tokyo Forex Weekly
December 15, 2005

During the christmas break all sorts of things can happen.
The US dollar is in robust condition which is going to turn in
the next few months. So get in while it is hot. A great equalizer
is on it's way. It is certainly not attractive for folks travelling to
the U.S from Japan but for those travelling out of the U.S there
will be hearty Christmas cheer all round.

I finally thumbled through my Japanese internet connection,
not sure how I did it but here I am. So today I am going to let
someone else take the credit :)
Here is the the world market this week from the good folks
at Forex t.v.com

Weekly EUR/USD and USD/JPY forecasts

EUR/USD (1.1812) ・Weekly Forecast
Trading range: 1.1640 ・1.1905
Trend: Neutral
In spite the expecting positive news during the coming week for
the US economy the market is on the way to make a consolidation
at levels of 1.17-1.18. There are chances for recovery of the Euro
to levels of 1.20. A break below 1.1638 will open a way for
correction to levels of 1.1440/70. The most important events
during the coming week are US Interest rates decision
schedule for Tuesday where are expecting new raise to 4.25%.
The next key event for the week is US Trade Balance data
on Wednesday. All fundamental analysis will provide a good
support for the dollar and there are chances for moving down
below 1.1690 and even 1.1640.

USD/JPY (120.65) ・Weekly Forecast
Trading range: 119.55 ・121.40
The market today.Trend: Neutral
The coming week is positive for the dollar and there are good
chances for gains of the dollar against the Yen above 121.40.
But first it is expecting temporary consolidation at current levels.

Forex Weekly Review
USD/JPY

Even though rallied to fresh new high of 121.38 on Monday,
USD/JPY failed to break higher after meeting resistance of a longer
term falling trend line (from 147.68, 1998 year high to 135.20,
2002 year high) and turned into consolidative trading throughout
the week. Retreat accelerated on Thursday and fell to as low as
119.97 but USD/JPY was still being supported by mentioned
resistance turned support of 119.93.

As discussed before, USD/JPY is now facing an important
resistance zone with 100% projection of 101.65 to 113.74 from
108.75 at 120.84, long term pattern resistance at 120.71 and long
term falling trend line (from 147.68, 1998 year high to 135.20,
2002 year high) which is now sitting at 121.35. Hence, we should
be seeing continuous loss of upside momentum and a major reversal
could be around the corner. Daily MACD's possible bearish divergence
is starting to support this case.

But still, even though the rally from 108.75 is clearly over extended,
considering the uninterrupted strength of the rally from 108.75
(without any sizeable correction yet), more evidence is needed to
indicate USD/JPY has topped. We'll only treat USD/JPY as in
tight sideway trading as long as 119.93 holds and chances for
another rise remains.

On the downside, firm break below 119.93 resistance turned
support and sustained trading below the lower channel line
(now at 119.85) will strongly suggest an important near term top
is made at 121.38 and risk further decline towards resistance
zone between 118.18 and 118.40 (with 23.6% retracement of
108.75 to 121.38 at 118.40). And touching of this support zone
will indicate the rally from 108.75 has finally ended and USD/JPY
will at least turn into consolidative trading with chances of
a deeper sell off.

Merry Christmas.
The editor,
Jason Bainbridge
http://www.tokyo-forex-japan.com/
callme@tokyo-forex-japan.com

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EVENTS

No events this week.

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JOB WATCH

Brought to you by DaiJob, Inc - providing jobs for bilinguals.
http://www.daijob.com/dj4/tracker/counter?th=pii-toppage

- Trading System Application Support (Negotiable)
- VP Sales (JPY 13-17M)
- Sales Executive (Asset Management) (JPY 6-10M)
- Project Management Representative / Cards Operations (Negotiable)
- Analyst (Negotiable)

Check out these and other jobs like these here!
http://www.daijob.com/dj4/tracker/counter?th=pii-merumaga

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SUBSCRIBERS: 667 as of December 16, 2005

Edited by Burritt Sabin (editors2@japaninc.com)

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