Honda (HMC) North American Factory Slowdowns Extended

Honda Motor Co. (NYSE:HMC) announced late Friday it will extend the slowdown for its factories in North America by at least two more weeks, with early May cited as the earliest they'll resume prior production levels.

The cuts will be through at least through May 6, and Honda said there is no doubt there will be more cutbacks after that.

Shortages of vehicles made by Honda will come very quickly, as production is being slashed by up to 50 percent at the plants. Expectations are production will take a least several months to go back to pre-earthquake levels.

Honda employs about 21,000 workers in North America, none of which will be laid off the company says.

The majority of parts for its vehicles are produced in North America, but important parts are made in Japan, and those will keep production at lower levels for months.

Honda closed Friday at $35.96, gaining $0.70, or 1.99 percent.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Drops After Another Japan Earthquake

The overall stock market fell in response to another earthquake in Japan (this won a much milder 7.4 in magnitude against the one that devasted the country that was 8.9 in magnitude), and the insurance company with the most exposure to Japan, Aflac (NYSE:AFL), predictably dropped in price as well.

Shares of Aflac dropped by as much as 2.5 percent, although they, along with the broader market, have recovered some since then.

For Aflac, this is just after it had rebounded from plummeting to about $48 a share in the aftermath of the earlier earthquake.

Aflac was trading at $54.35, falling $0.40, or 0.73 percent, as of 12:18 PM EDT.

All Toyota's (TM) American Plants to be Shut Down in April

Toyota (NYSE:TM) plants in North America will all be shut down in April, said the company, saying it is inevitable that they will all have to be shut down temporarily during the month.

More than likely the shutdowns will be in the latter part of April, as parts shortages increase as the month goes on.

American-based companies have been spared more of the pain because some of their parts were already being shipped when the earthquake in Japan hit, helping them to have minimal disruption so far, although that's going to increase if things don't turn around soon.

It's unclear at this time whether or not all the factories will be closed at once or it'll be staggered.

Ford (NYSE:F), General Motors (NYSE:GM), and others said they will be forced to shut production even more, as their supplies are running low.

Only the restart of production in Japan could keep that from happening, an unlikely scenario.

Toyota closed Monday at $79.48, dropping $1.03, or 1.28 percent.

Deere (DE), AIG (AIG) Hurt by Japan Earthquake

Although disparate companies, Deere (NYSE:DE) and AIG (NYSE:AIG) both said the earthquake and tsunami in Japan will have a negative impact on them.

Deere said they will have delays with its excavators in direct connection to the Japan disaster, according to a regulatory filing.

American International Group Inc. said they see the Japan crisis, and other events in the first quarter, will end up costing them at close to $1 billion.

Deere & Company closed Friday at $90.10, gaining $0.72, or 0.81 percent. AIG closed at $34.95, down $0.75, or 2.10 percent.