I had expected a market correction of an almost 10 percent fall sometime between January and March.

It's the right strategy for niche brands like Mazda and Fuji Heavy. Improving outlets will directly lead to increasing sales.

A sudden jump in trading volume like this would catch off-guard any exchange (in industrialized countries). I'm sure they will fix it.

This market just keeps going and going and people are betting on even further gains. Strength in economic fundamentals is the biggest incentive.

Technology shares here got a lift from strong gains in the Nasdaq index as many investors here regard this sector as having lagged last year.

(The takeover) helps us to anticipate future restructuring in the retail sector. For example, we cannot imagine that rival Aeon will not do anything after this.

There's increasing diversity in consumer demand. Automakers have to respond.

Even though fees are falling, the online brokers only offer stock trading and have almost nothing else - there are no research departments or outlets to support.

While it may be temporary, the major risks we see for Japanese stocks right now are the Iranian situation and currency moves. That's still going to keep a lid on the market.

When a catastrophic event happens, such as the Hurricane Katrina, there is always rebuilding demand after the disaster and that tends to be reflected in stock prices.