Industries – Trading Companies: Second

Although he slips to second place after three years on top, Nomura Securities Co.’s Yasuhiro Narita continues to impress clients with his “long-term, differentiated perspective,” as one Tokyo-based investor puts it. Narita, who tracks eight stocks, favors Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsui & Co., on their “strong cash flow and asset quality,” he says. In July, when their stocks dipped to ¥1,655 and ¥1,221, respectively, he reiterated his long-standing buy recommendations, citing the Tokyo-based general traders’ “high levels of underlying operating cash flow.” The stocks, he argued further, had been unfairly devalued because of the falling prices of nonferrous metals and other commodities they export. Downward pressure persisted for several months, but by mid-March, Mitsubishi’s share price had rallied 12 percent, to ¥1,854, and Mitsui’s had jumped 15.1 percent, to ¥1,405. During the same period the sector gained 21.4 percent. — Ben Mattlin