How a Foreign Company Can Gain a Bit More Presence in the American Market

Japan's largest cosmetic company, Shiseido, is set to acquire the American make-up company Bare Escentuals Inc. (products pictured) for $1.7 billion, marking the largest acquisition in its 83-year history.

It goes to show you the price companies are willing to pay to boost and capture a market.

Read all about it here.

To expand your reach, what's your global acquisition target in 2010?

Japan: Why Some Companies Are Hot in a Down Market

Not all companies are performing poorly in Japan.

Take a look at these:

Toyo Suisan Kaisha -- Japanese site (profile snapshot)
Nitori (Japanese site) -- Reuters stock quote
Fast Retailing (parent of Uniqlo)
Ryohin Keikaku (parent of Muji -- pictured is a Muji house)

Find out why (value is a large part of it) a select few, such as those noted above, are doing better than others at The Economist, "Winner's In Japan's Recession: Gloom and boom."