收購五大商社股份
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, the American industrial and insurance conglomerate, announced that it has purchased stakes in Japan’s five leading trading companies, marking his largest-ever foray into Asia’s second-largest economy.
巴菲特旗下的美國工業和保險集團波克夏公司宣佈，已收購日本五大商社股份，這是他進軍亞洲第二大經濟體規模最大的一次投資。
conglomerate(n.)聯合大企業;企業集團stake(n.)股本，股份foray into~進軍(市場)foray(n.)突襲;侵略
In a statement, Berkshire said it acquired the stakes of about 5 percent in Itochu, Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Mitsui & Co, and Sumitomo over the past 12 months. They are known as “sogo shosha” in Japan — general trading companies that engage in a wide range of industries, including energy, technology, and manufacturing.
在新聞稿中，波克夏表示，過去12個月，收購了伊藤忠、丸紅、三菱、三井和住友大約5％的股份。這些公司在日本稱為「綜合商社」，是業務範圍廣泛的綜合性貿易公司，從事的行業包括能源、科技和製造業等等。
acquire the stakes收購股份acquire(v.)取得;獲得;收購engage in從事;參加…活動a range of 在…範圍;一系列
Berkshire is planning a long-term investment and may increase its holdings to 9.9 percent.
波克夏正計劃長期投資，可能把持股比例提高至9.9％。
long-term investment長期投資holding(n.)擁有的財產;股份
“I am delighted to have Berkshire Hathaway participate in the future of Japan,” Chairman Buffett said in a statement. “The five major trading companies have many joint ventures throughout the world and are likely to have more.... I hope that in the future there may be opportunities of mutual benefit.”
董事長巴菲特在新聞稿中說：「我很高興波克夏參與日本的未來。」「這五大商社在全球各地都有合資事業，合作夥伴料有增無減。我希望未來可能會有互蒙其利的機會。」
joint ventures 合資公司，合資事業mutual benefit共同利益benefit(n.)利益;好處;福利政策medical benefits 醫療保險unemployment benefits 失業救濟金
The Japanese investments show that Buffett will keep expanding the company’s horizons in search of ways to boost Berkshire’s growth.
這項日本投資顯示，巴菲特不斷拓展公司視野，找尋促進波克夏成長的方法。
expand or broaden your horizons拓展視野boost(v.)改善;提高;增強boost the economy促進經濟boost the confidence增強信心
As the conglomerate swells in size, Buffett has been seeking ways to deploy the company’s record cash into higher-returning assets. While the stakes are valued at more than $6 billion, they account for just a sliver, about 4%, of Berkshire’s total cash pile. The wagers underline that Buffett sees value in Japanese stocks.
隨著企業集團規模越來越大，巴菲特一直設法把公司創紀錄的現金部位，投入報酬率更高的資產。雖然這些股份的價值超過60億美元，只佔波克夏大筆現金部位很小的一部分，大約4％。這些持股顯示，巴菲特看到日本股票的價值。
swell(v.)膨脹;變大deploy(v.)部署;調動;有效運用;發揮…的作用deploy troops 部署軍隊，調動兵力higher-returning assets 報酬率更高的資產return(n.)收益;報酬率the return on the money 資金的報酬率record cash創紀錄的現金部位stakes=holdingsaccount for 說明(原因、理由等);佔多少比例a sliver碎片;薄片cash pile 一堆現金wager(v.)賭注;打賭= stakeunderline(v.)強調、突顯出
Berkshire investors said they welcomed Buffett’s investment, as US stock valuations near their highest since the late 1990s tech bubble. Lower valuations could make Japan more attractive for US investors.
波克夏投資人表示，歡迎巴菲特的投資，目前美國股價估值接近1990年代末期科技股泡沫以來的最高水準。估值較低可能使日本對美國投資人更具吸引力。
tech bubble科技股泡沫
“Their cheap valuation may have been an attraction,” said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
三菱日聯證券首席投資策略師藤戶則弘說：「它們估值便宜可能是吸引力。」