now panasonic is introducing an l.e.d. bulb with the same light quality as incandescent lighting which is still loved by european people. the company has been producing incandescent bulbs for over 70 years but shifted its focus to l.e.d. bulbs in the last three years. in most bulbs, the l.e.d. chips are fixed to a base. as the base is opaque, the light is directed only upward. this is far from the bright effect of clear incandescent light bulbs. >> translator: we've used incandescent bulbs for a long time. they have many excellent qualities in design. it's of great importance to keep the sense of warmth created by the bulbs. >> reporter: not only japanese but also foreign companies have been struggling to develop an l.e.d. bulb which can diffuse light as widely as an incandescent one. this bulb has many l.e.d. chips attached to a pole. another type uses a rod attached to the l.e.d. module to diffuse the light. but companies still needed innovations to revolutionize the lighting market. but then panasonic had an idea. it pl

panasonic plans to recycle 1.2 tons of neodymium this fiscal year. just about $220,000 worth. >> translator: until now we've been recycling materials that are easily recovered like iron, copper and aluminum. but i think our mission must now be to recover and recycle neodymium and other rare metals as well as precious metals. >> reporter: securing stable supplies of rare earth metals is a challenge. new recycling technologies are offering one promising solution. >>> people in japan's northeast are focused on overcoming the challenges of the 2011 disaster, but it woen n't be easy. they have to rebuild homes, businesses, entire communities. we'll show you their struggles and their successes on "the road ahead" every wednesday at 1:00 p.m. japan time here on "newsline." >>> harley davidson representatives are planning to reunite a man with a prized possession. the tsunami swept his motorcycle out to sea. it drifted across the pacific and ended in canada. harley-davidson's spokespersons say they will send the buy back and repair it for free and give it to

can still thrive. >> panasonic is one of the high-quality leaders in high-efficiency technology, sunregarding the hit technology, panasonic is certainly in the lead there. >> it's an easy, clean, affordable entry point. and we've decided to kind of focus more in terms of the higher end something we can specialize in. >> back in seattle the panels were an easy double play for the mariners winning over environmentally conscious fans and corporate sponsors. >> it's a look to the future. it's a look to renewable energy and cleaner air and cleaner water. there's other benefits as well. >> brian shactman, cnbc business news. >> we can never have too much brian shactman. here's another dose. a double dose of brian shactman with a market flash. >> how do you do that? that's magic. >> it is magic. it's tv. smokes and mirrors. >> thank you, mandy. look at xg shares. it's not a big cap. it's a small cap. 300 million. look at the stock chart. they have adopted a shareholder rights plan obviously to vet and fend off any unwarranted takeover overtures. so the assumption in the stock price is maybe

panasonic says the payroll cuts will mostly be achieved by transferring employees to other divisions and subsidies. subsidiaries. it says it may also offer early retirement for some hundreds of workers. other major japanese electronics firms are making similar moves due to huge losses in their tv business. sony says it will cut its groupwide workforce in and outside the country by some 10,000 in the current fiscal year. sharp is reshuffling about 2,000 workers over the two years through next march. >>> the leaders of japan, south korea and china have agreed to start talks on a free trade zone that could rival the world's largest. such a deal is not expected to be as comprehensive as some. still it would make it easier for japanese and south korean businesses to get a piece of the chinese market. they are already trying to get a jump on each other before negotiations have even begun. >> reporter: carmakers at this auto show showcase their latest efforts in an effort to boost sales in the largest market. more than 1100 models are on display. 120 are being introduced for the first time.

not be simpler, it is from panasonic.ith a tape recorder we had to record everything. panasonic is a great name >>guest: this is broadcast quality if you want to broadcast yourself you can have beautiful high- definition. let us go over the big screen television at looks great. when you see this on a huge television, this has to be of the 65,f the television and you see the quality itself. let us watch the zoom you can see the different colors, how the look how far we are you cannot see him.i know he is there because i actually shot that video.if you want a camcorder that is literally off the charts in the zoom this is the camcorder and is easy. you are ready have your finger the button to take the zoom shot, notice how steady this is. your hand would be jumping up and down if you are not steady, because of the optical image stabilization plan the senate offers you will have a sure and steady shot every time. on the left side screen it you have the optical bond, or underwrite it is+ you can see the extraordinary differenc

exporters also lower, sharp, panasonic, as the yen continues to pretty much hold strong there against the dollar and the euro. we also had earnings for the three mega banks. mitsubishi, and miso financial group, all posting gains in net profits. and a lot of japanese banks also trying to increase their overseas acquisitions. we already saw that with mitsui last year, for instance, when it bought out royal bank of scotland's aircraft leasing unit which was very profitable. we'll continue to watch banks and brokerages today. switching off to currencies, let's look at how the yen is playing against the dollar and the euro. we've seen it actually back off a little. trading around the upper levels yesterday. the euro continues to be weak. and 102.21 to 26. that's obviously gripped by events in europe. >> ramin, what about the economic data? have they been pushed aside maybe, despite promising numbers out of the u.s.? >> exactly. if you look at some of the fundamentals, it has been a little bit of mix. yesterday, for instance, we did have inflation data out of the u.s. the index was pretty

. >> panasonic announced a large net loss for the business year that ended in march. it was the word ever result for the company. the japanese consumer electronicsmaker said on friday that it posted a net loss of about $9.8 billion in fiscal 2011. that's a reversal from the previous business year when it posted a net profit of just over $900 million. the loss is mainly due to the record high yen and intense competition with foreign rivals. stagnant sales in the core television business brought about heavy losses, riding off the losses from buying out sanyo electric also led to the decline. meanwhile in the current fiscal year through 2013, the firm may return to a moderate profit. it expects to post a net profit of $625 million. the firm says restructuring, especially in its tv business, will spur the recovery. >>> in contrast, one japanese carmaker nissan managed to past a slight gain in its profit. the company outpaced rivals like toyota and honda which both reported a profit decline. nissan announced on friday that its operating profit rose 1.6% in the fiscal year,

new jersey just bid a bill billion dollars to move headquarters of panasonic to newark. do the math, that is $150 million, you have to decide what wl that is a good way of using taxpayer money. so it is not helpful to attract investment -- >> what would be a different experiment? let's consider that a failed experiment or failing experiment. admirable one. you can understand why we would try to use our central government policies to facilitate this. whether it worked or not. it is not working. so we can accept the poor results of that experiment. i would be interested if you can cast a vision for a different experiment we might try, a different mechanism, cultural or otherwise, who get us better results. >> a program that has been shown to work fairly well is the empowerment zone program. a program started during the first clinton administration that offered target subsidy for job creation and investment in disadvantaged urban communities in a number of states. and recent research shows that that program was successful at raising wages, creating jobs, without -- >> so ju

. >> i know there's no news today but add in there the strength of the yen is slamming sony, panasonic japanese transporters right now. pandora down again today. continuing to see weakness after samsung released new galaxy phone with a new built-in music service. pandora facing a competitive threat from the growing online spotify. faced with all that can pan do r ra continue to grow? let's bring in pandora analyst and john able, columnist for reuters. john, to you first of all. in what ways do you think pandora can still win? >> pandora has a space to itself. i think of pandora as sort of radio on steroids. so if you like listening to the radio and have like organic discovery like ser ren dipty, pandora is kind of perfect. it's really good on mobile. interface is great. it's different than itunes or google play or apple -- or itunes match. this isn't your own collection. it's very sort of certain se ren diptous. >> does it do anything completely different from services such as spotify? if i'm not wrong, if i use pando pandora, i can switch to spotify without being penalized at all. >>

panasonic reporting losses of about $5 billion.er titles apparently cited as a key reason for the problems. coming up next, we're going to get behind the fortress wall as we speak to principal and director of the publicly traded hedge fund and find out how they see the markets and investor sentiment. that powers sound decisions. duff & phelps financial advisory and investment banking services. you walk into a conventional mattress store, it's really not about you. they say, "well, if you wanted a firm bed you can lie on one of those. if you want a soft bed you can lie on one of those." we provide the exact individualization that your body needs. wow, that feels really good! once you experience it, there's no going back. at the sleep number memorial day sale, save 40% on our innovative sleep number silver edition bed-for a limited time. only at the sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699. all in one account. keep watch on the markets. or use our exclusive tools to help find ideas. it's powerful, easy-to-use tec