Marc Faber on Japan Being an Opportunity of a Lifetime

Before the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Marc Faber, the author of the Gloom Boom & Doom report, had called Japan a great investment idea.

He holds to that, and in a preview of an upcoming new daily trading and investing show called Breakout, from Yahoo! Finance, he now says the sell-off in global markets is a "lifetime buying opportunity" in Japan.

Faber also said going forward any investor not willing to forgo 20 percent to 30 percent moves in equity prices doesn't belong in the market, insinuating a time of volatility.

He also said while bullish long term on Japanese equities, they could drop up to 30 percent before bottoming out and becoming attractive as measured on valuation.

Coach (COH), Tiffany (TIF) Drop on Japan Exposure

Coach Inc. (NYSE:COH) and Tiffany & Co. (NYSE:TIF) closed down Tuesday on direct exposure in the Japanese market.

Sales in Japan are expected to come under pressure for Coach on news they have closed some stores and cut back on hours in others. The handbag company shut 20 stores and reduced hours at a number of others, according to a company spokeswoman.

While not giving a specific number, Tiffany & Co. said they closed a number of its 55 outlets in Japan until further notice.

Tiffany closed Tuesday at $57.68, falling $2.18, or 3.64 percent. Coach closed at $52.02, down $1.09, or 2.05 percent.

Marc Faber Says Time to Buy Japan after 20-Year Lull

After 20 years of stagnant growth in the longest bear market for a country over that period of time, Marc Faber is saying it is now time to buy Japanese stocks.

Not only does Faber recommend acquiring shares of Japanese stocks, but he also says investors should hold onto their shares.

Faber's reasoning is Japan will be forced to print money in order to pay for the huge debt load they are under. They will weaken the normally reliable yen, and will help Japanese exporters, which should push up the earnings and share price of the companies.

Faber said this at the CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets’ annual conference in Tokyo, “If I had to make a bet for the next ten years in terms of equity markets, I would seriously consider a very strong weighting here in Japan. Once the debt market starts to go down, the yen will begin to weaken and that will lift equity prices. I would buy equities at the present time.”

“If I look at the next five to ten years, the interest payments on the government debt in Japan and the fiscal deficits will become very burdensome and that will necessitate monetization,” Faber added. “That will bring about a huge shift of money out of cash and bonds into equities.”

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) has also become bullish on the Japanese equity market.



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