Monday Newsline:Japan's Strength;Sony's Morpheus;Daniel Ricciardo

Asian shares were cheered by good data from Japan and China Monday morning,as well as a steady jobs report from the US on Friday.The MSCI Asia Pacific index rose 0.20%.
The Japanese economy grew a surprising amount in Q1,with the GDP up 6.7% versus an estimate of 5.6.Japanese manufacturing shares were strong,with Alps Electric up 4.0%;Panasonic up 3.0;and Hitachi Construction Machinery up 2.8.The Nikkei rose 0.41%.*
China showed strong exports in May,with a trade surplus of 35.9 billion dollars,up 7.0% on the year.It was the highest surplus since 2008.China's growth target is 7.5%.*
India's SENSEX index was up 0.6% on hopes new Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil economic reforms.*
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott will travel to Washington this week to meet with President Barack Obama.The two leaders will discuss trade,Asia-Pacific affairs and Afghanistan.Australian markets were closed Monday for the Queen's Birthday holiday.*
Sony will display its Project Morpheus PS4 virtual reality headset at the E3 electronic entertainment show in Las Vegas this week.The Morpheus is a response to Facebook's Oculus headset.Sony has sold two million more Playstation 4 consoles than Microsoft's Xbox 1.
The Sony Morpheus headset is more physically attractive than the Facebook Oculus,which could be a significant edge in itself.The Morpheus features a sleeker,more stylish and space age design than the boxy Oculus.*
In sport,South Korea's Inbee Park notched another LPGA victory at the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic in Waterloo,Ontario.Park shot an incredible 23 under par 61 to edge American Kristie Kerr and her 20 under par 63.China's Shanshan Feng was third with an 18 under par 63.
In motor racing,Australia's Daniel Ricciardo,24,sped to the first victory of the season for Red Bull Racing,while his teammate,World Champion Sebastian Vettel,took third at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.It was also Ricciardo's first F1 victory,while Vettel has yet to win this year.Germany's Nico Rosberg of Mercedes AMG came in second on the podium.*
Sony(SNY),Panasonic(Tokyo:6752;US OTC:PCRFY),Facebook(FB)

Tuesday Tidbits:Spider-Man;ISM Report;U-2 Spy Plane

This is the housing sell season,said CNBC host Jim Cramer.There's no inventory.Prices are being bid up,I know in the tristate area.It's too hot.*
I like 2:45 for a stock market rally.A great rally takes place at 2:45 and runs till 3:15.That's the sort of rally you want to trust.*
Though topping the May 2-4 box office,Sony Pictures' The Amazing Spider-Man 2 didn't do quite as well at bragging rights over its opening as Disney's Captain America:The Winter Soldier did in its April debut.Spider-Man,starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone,brought in 92 million dollars,while Captain America had earned 95 million.It's all Disney right now,the popular analyst Jim Cramer pointed out.
About 40% of the year's box office is made over the summer cinema season,which begins the first weekend in May.*
The Institute for Supply Management's April service sector report came in stronger than expected at 55.2.Over 50 indicates expansion.There was a big jump in new orders from 53.4 to 58.2.Employment in the sector held basically steady at 51.3,versus March's 51.6 reading.Inventory backlog fell,while traffic and sales were up due to a break in the weather.*
A U-2 spy plane on a mission over the Los Angeles Basin overwhelmed the region's primary air traffic control center,the Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center in Palmdale last Wednesday,causing up to 500 delays for a one hour period at LAX Airport,the FAA said.The secret aircraft apparently had to input a lot of waypoints,confusing the system that safely spaces airline flights.The U-2 was actually flying at an altitude of 60,000 feet,far above the airliners.Mitigation measures were put in place and engineers are making software changes to prevent a reoccurrence of the incident.
The U-2s are known to fly out of Edwards Air Force Base,California.The US Air Force is phasing out its fleet of about 36 of the 1980s version of the Cold War era spy plane.*
Sony(SNY),Disney(DIS)

Industry Showcase:The 2014 Grammy Awards

The recording industry celebrated its achievements of the past year Sunday night at the 56th annual Grammy Awards,awarding its golden grammaphone statue to the winners.Held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles,the ceremony is distinguished by the fact that it isn't just talk,but features substantive live performances of whole compositions,not just clips like other awards ceremonies.
A legion of luminaries not only attended the awards,but participated by presenting awards,performing songs or both.Keith Urban and Gary Clark,Jr. performed a memorable version of "Cop Car" with the two fine guitarists trading and combining riffs.The Magic Dragons and Hendrick Lamar practically blew the stage up with their rendition of "Radioactive,"and Taylor Swift was very animated even while sitting at the piano in "All Too Well,"throwing her head back several times.
Song of the Year went to New Zealand's Lorde(Ellie Yelich O'Connor) for "Royals" and Album of Year to France's Daft Punk,who dressed in robot costumes,for "Random Access Memory."
Surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr performed together in a new song by Paul and Starr sang his solo classic "Photograph."The Beatles were being honoured for the fiftieth anniversary of their arrival in America and an all-star televised gala concert,including another performance by Paul and Ringo,will be broadcast on CBS to mark the occasion on February 9.
Among others performing were Stevie Wonder,Lindsay Buckingham,Carole King,Willie Nelson,Kris Kristofferson,Madonna and Pink.
The recording industry showed a lot of imagination as well as appreciation for the past in an extravaganza full of strobe light and pyrotechnics as well as spirited music.
Sony Group Ltd(SNY),Warner Music Group(WMG)

Investing Insights:Twitter,Google and Sony

Twitter as a business is absolutely sensational,said Larry Haverty,portfolio manager at GAMCO Investors.The growth of the global ad revenues are divided by the big three:Facebook,Twitter and LinkedIn.At close to a 40 billion valuation,I can't make Twitter grow fast enough to justify the price.You've created an artificial shortage.This is a hoarding apple,not an investing apple.
There's speculation going on.People are just buying it.It's going to make a lot of money,but with a 40 multiple on it,five years from now I get a stock valuation where it is right now.God forbid something happens to the business like to an AOL and previous speculative companies.Once I see how the numbers look,seeing how the people behave at the conference call,I'll be able to judge it better.I just can't do that right now.*
I would still be a buyer of Google.Right now it's a technological conglomerate.Basically it eats on ad dollars.It's returning 5%.I think Google glass will be a phenomenal success.*
Macau in the next five years is gonna double.*
With Sony,one thing I like is,they're finally figuring out how to make money in the music business.Profits are gonna start going up as these services allow them to start monetising.
The real call option on Sony is the electronics business.Ultra HD TV is gonna be all over the Consumer Electronics Show.Sony is gonna have a seat at the table.Three to five,you have the entertainment business and a turn in the electronics business with PlayStation 4,somebody's gonna make a fair amount of money with Sony.*
In the next few weeks,Liberty Media will buy Time Warner Cable.*
Sony Group(SNY),Twitter(TWTR),Google(GOOG),Time Warner Cable(TWC),Liberty Media Corporation(LMCA)

Asia This Day:Can SoftBank Save Sprint

As early as today,Monday,Japan's SoftBank,a telecom titan,is expected to announce a deal to purchase American counterpart Sprint Nextel.SoftBank will reportedly offer about 20 billion dollars for a 70% stake in Sprint.
Some analysts are sceptical SoftBank can reverse Sprint's decline.It has lost 7.5 million customers over the past five years.
The deal is unlikely to face official opposition.Indeed,regulators will probably welcome increased competition in a space currently dominated by AT and T and Verizon.
Moody's has downgraded Sony's credit rating to Baa.The rating agency has also reduced the Japanese electronics and entertainment firm's outlook to negative.
China's inflation is well in hand.According to this morning's report,consumer prices rose 1.9%,in line with estimates and below the government target rate of about 4%.Wholesale prices dropped for the eight straight month,down 3.36%.
Australian home loan approvals were up in August more than forecast,rising 1.68%.They had fallen in July.
Asian shares fell slightly in early Monday trading.The MSCI Asia-Pacific index was down 1.27% on concern about the Euro debt crisis.
Sprint Nextel(S),SoftBank(SFTBF)

Who Sings on the Acura ILX Commercial

In this ad,an office worker gets up from his desk at the end of the day and heads through the office out to the parking garage.He drives off in his Acura ILX,the fun part of his life after a day of responsibility.The snappy song in the background is "Hit Me Down Sonny" by the English duo The Ting Tings.The Ting Tings hail from Salford,Greater Manchester.They formed in 2007.The song is from their second album,"Sounds From Nowheresville."(C)2011 Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited.
The Ting Tings are comprised of Jules de Martino,about 43,and vocalist Katie White,about 29.Katie grew up on a farm.The Ting Tings are named after her former shop colleague.They won Best UK Video for "Shut Up and Let Me Go"at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2008.As well,they were nominated for Best New Artist at the 2010 Grammy Awards.
Sony(SNE)

Asia This Day

FoxConn,a major outsourcer for Apple,Hewlett-Packard and Sony,has suffered a tragic fire and explosion in Chengdu,China.Three workers were killed.All operations at that plant and similar plants were shut down.
Computers are assembled at the stricken facility.iPad and iPhone production may also be hindered by the blast in a dust duct there,which caused smoke to billow from the plant.
FoxConn is based in Taipei,Taiwan.It was plagued by a rash of worker suicides last year.
Elsewhere in Asia,Thailand's GDP growth has exceeded expectations.It grew 3.0% on the year.The growth is being attributed to very strong exports,as well as robust domestic demand.
Asian markets were lower today,Monday,on account of fears about European debt and a Chinese regulator's call for better risk management by banks.
Hong Kong saw a temperature of 73F under mostly cloudy skies,with thunderstorms in the forecast.
Apple(AAPL),Sony(SNY),Hewlett-Packard(HPQ)

Sony Reports Loss

Sony has reported its first loss in 14 years.The Japanese multinational lost one billion dollars in the previous quarter,due to falling sales in electronics and computer games.Sony is expecting a slight recovery in the second half of its fiscal year.This is consistent with many economic forecasts.It is restructuring by reducing costs,closing plants and laying off workers,in response to the financial crisis.