BOSTON (MarketWatch) The disasters in Japan have many investors wondering if they should put money there, but

t shareholders of one popular Japanese-stock mutual fund are asking that question for a different reason. Fidelity Japan Fund /quotes/comstock/10r!fjpnx FJPNX -0.88% the largest actively managed Japan fund rocked shareholders further when manager Robert Rowland said he would be departing at the end of April. Rowland ran Fidelity Japan for four years, producing above-average results among funds invested in Japan. Boston-based fund giant Fidelity Investments changes managers all the time, typically bringing managers up through the ranks, so that the newbies get smaller funds and gain responsibility after they have proven themselves. But the Rowland announcement was a bit different because the funds new manager, at first blush, looks green. Rie Shigakawa, Rowlands successor, has experience researching Japanese stocks at Fidelity and elsewhere, but she was an analyst not a fund manager until 2009, and since then she has run internal accounts rather than open funds with published track records. Fidelity has made switches like this countless times, but considering how unique the current circumstances are in Japan, its understandable that shareholders might be more relaxed if their funds new skipper had years of experience and enviable success.

Succession issues
Managerial changes happen regularly, but often shareholders arent aware until the news appears in the next published fund report. Whenever a manager changes, you have to be watching to see if things will continue roughly as they were or if the new manager will come in with a desire to remake the portfolio in his own image, which can be tremendously disruptive to shareholders, said David Snowball, founder of MutualFundObserver.com, which examines the fund business with a critical eye. If the manager is selling things off or feeling a need to make their mark, or if they come from outside of the corporate culture, there can be changes that are bad for shareholders. Not every internal hire works out either, Snowball added, but some firms clearly have a culture in place, and new managers are influenced by their work with their predecessors. That would bode well for a fund like Fidelity Japan, but maybe not for Janus Worldwide /quotes/comstock/10r!jawwx JAWWX -1.48% , another firm undergoing a change at the top. That managerial transition has been in the offing for about a year now. Janus made it clear that Brent Lynn manager of Janus Overseas /quotes/comstock/10r!jaosx JAOSX -2.24% would be a temporary steward. But the fund has been something of a revolving door for managers in the past few years; new headmaster George Maris is the fifth skipper since long-tenured manager Helen Young Hayes left in 2003.

Maris has plenty of experience, but its hard for a shareholder to gauge his record, in part because a lot of it came as part of a teams, making it hard to know just how much Maris contributed to results. In addition, most of his experience was not in international funds, so not a good comparison for Worldwide. Northern International Growth /quotes/comstock/10r!noigx NOIGX -2.05% , the fund Maris has run for the past two years and the fund that is the best comparison for what he might do going forward has been a middle-of-the-pack performer.

Watch closely
None of that means an investor should bail out of the fund, at least not yet. Snowball said investors should give great managers three years to prove themselves. Good managers can be apparently stupid for a year, two years maybe even three at a stretch, and some of the best managers ever have had hard times that lasted that long, he said. So if you are looking at performance of 18 months or less, you will find brilliant guys you want to run away from. Of course, that assumes that the new manager already qualifies as brilliant. Thats a bit of a stretch when an unknown takes over. Likewise, the departing manager may have a unique style that would be hard for anyone to replicate, or which is so reliant on their own idiosyncracies that it morphs into a new animal under anyone else. In the end, the advice when a new manager takes over involves watching the fund and making sure you still want to own it. Consider cutting back and putting the holdings you have in the fund with another issue in the same asset class, if the change makes you nervous. You might split your holdings so that the funds performance doesnt affect you so much, Snowball said. Its usually not a problem but every once in awhile it becomes a big problem; you want to be aware.

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) Many Chinese banking shares rose in Shanghai and Hong Kong on Monday in an apparent sigh of relief that the markets would now face one less policy-tightening measure in future after the central banks weekend increase in reserve requirements. The Peoples Bank of Chinas half-percentage-point increase in banks reserve requirement ratio (RRR), announced Sunday, is the central banks fourth such increase so far in 2011, and the 10th such move since the beginning of 2010.

The move came after official data released Friday showed that Chinas first-quarter economic growth rate, as well as monthly consumer prices, rose at a faster-than-expected pace. Read full story on Chinas data released Friday.

Hong Kong protests to free Ai Weiwei

Police in Hong Kong tussle with supporters of detained Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, while other demonstrations around the world draw few protestors. Video courtesy of Reuters. While most analysts say Beijing will continue to tighten its monetary and fiscal policies in the battle against inflation for at least a little while longer, expectations vary widely on how far down the road policy makers have already come, and where they will stop. Some say the end to policy tightening is in sight. We reiterate our forecast [of] one more 25-basis-point interest-rate hike and two more RRR hikes within the current quarter, after which we expect the PBOC to end its tightening cycle, said Prakash Sakpal, a Singapore-based economist at ING Financial Markets Research. Sakpal said ING remained of the view that the Shanghai Composite will remain Asias top-performing stock market all year. Among Chinese bank shares traded in Hong Kong, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. /quotes/comstock/11i!idcby IDCBY -0.42% HYPERLINK "/investing/stock/1398?countrycode=hk&link=MW_story_quote"/quotes/comstock/22h! e:1398 HK:1398 0.00% rose 1.1%, Bank of China Ltd. /quotes/comstock/11i!bachy BACHY -0.43% HYPERLINK "/investing/stock/3988? countrycode=hk&link=MW_story_quote"/quotes/comstock/22h!e:3988 HK:3988 0.00% added 0.7% and China Construction Bank Corp. /quotes/comstock/11i!cichy CICHY -1.83% HYPERLINK "/investing/stock/939? countrycode=hk&link=MW_story_quote"/quotes/comstock/22h!e:939 HK:939 0.00% was little changed by the midday break Monday. In choppy Shanghai trade, meanwhile, ICBC /quotes/comstock/28c!e:601398 CN:601398 0.00% dropped 0.4%, but CCB /quotes/comstock/28c!e:601939 CN:601939 0.00% gained 1%, and Bank of China /quotes/comstock/28c!e:601988 CN:601988 0.00% rose 0.3%. In wider market action, Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index /quotes/comstock/08s!i:hsi HK:HANGSENG -0.74% rose 0.2%, and the Shanghai Composite Index /quotes/comstock/16k!i:000001 CN:SHCOMP +0.22% added 0.3%, recovering from early losses. Elsewhere, Australias S&P/ASX 200 /quotes/comstock/27w!i:xjo AU:XJO +0.20% rose 0.4%, Japans Nikkei Stock Average /quotes/comstock/64e!i:ni225 JP:NI225 -0.36% was little changed, and South Koreas Kospi /quotes/comstock/64e! ks11 XX:$SEU -0.13% declined 0.3%. The latest RRR hike came on top of four interest-rate increases by the PBOC so far. Other recent tightening measures included restrictions on property speculation and bank

lending, a gradual appreciation in the yuan, and selective controls on prices of a range of goods and services including consumer products, electricity rates, coal and motor fuels. Some other economists, including those at European research houses such as Societe Generale and Deutsche Bank, have already said that the need for policy tightening may become less urgent in the second half of the year. Jun Ma, Deutsche Banks chief economist for the Greater China region, wrote in a note Sunday that although March consumer prices accelerated from the same month in 2010, prices fell in March on a month-on-month basis. He expects Chinas year-on-year consumer price index to peak around 5.8% in June and drop below 4% in December, and that monetary tightening should become much less aggressive in the second half of 2011. No ceiling to RRR level Such comments came even as PBOC Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan was quoted as saying in weekend media reports that the central bank didnt have an upper limit for the RRR. However, he also expressed caution against raising interest rates too much to guard against potential speculative money inflows. The international market has excessive liquidity, and if we raise interest rates in an excessive or aggressive manner, we may attract big hot money inflows, Zhou said, according to a Reuters report. But not everyone thinks the end is in sight for Chinese policy tightening. Given the comments by the governor of the PBOC, we now think that the RRR could be raised to 22%-23%, economists at Credit Suisse wrote in a note Monday. We believe that CPI inflation is unlikely to soften much after peaking around mid-year, forcing the central bank to continue to tighten in [the second half of the year]. The PBOC has been in favor of raising the RRR instead of interest rates, resulting in an imbalance between the quantitative and pricing aspects of credit tightening, in our judgment. We think the PBOC will need to strike a better balance between the two going forward, they said. The Credit Suisse economists also maintained their view that the PBOC may raise its benchmark policy rate the one-year lending rate by another 1.35 percentage points in the remainder of this year. The RRR and currency appreciation are seen by many economists as the central banks preferred weapons in the battle against inflation, while interest-rate increases are seen as harsh measures that affect economic growth. The latest increase in RRR took the ratio to about 20.5% at larger banks and to 18.5% at the smaller ones. Some economists estimate the move will suck out about 370 billion yuan ($56.7 billion) from the Chinese banking system, where liquidity remains abundant amid a gush of capital inflows. Chinas foreign-exchange reserves climbed to $3.045 trillion at the end of March, after

swelling by as much as $197.4 billion during the first quarter of 2011. In 2010, the Chinese central bank issued more than 3 trillion yuan worth of base money for its purchase of foreign-exchange, and absorbed around 80% of the money via RRR increases, according to a Dow Jones Newswires report.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) April 18 is almost here, and for some Americans a big tax bill is coming due. There are a slew of ways to make that payment or, if you dont have the money right now, to work out a payment plan with the IRS. But no matter what your financial situation, the most important tip: File your return. You want to avoid the 5% per month penalty up to 25% that accrues every month you dont file. The failure-to-pay penalty, on the other hand, is a much smaller 0.5% per month. Last-minute tax questions Stumped by a tax problem? It's not too late to find a tax pro to get an answer. They're online, on the phone, in person even on the radio. Here's how to find an expert. Last-minute tax checklist What to do if you owe the IRS If your tax situation has got you in a muddle, and youre not sure how to correctly file your return, at least file an extension. Fill out Form 4868 to the best of your ability. Read more on how to file an extension. HYPERLINK "http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=238425,00.html"Also, see this IRS page for more on extensions. An extension gives you six more months before your tax return is due; it does not extend your payment-due date, but if you cant pay by April 18, then heed our tips below on what to do.

How to get your money to the IRS

For those who are ready to pay up: Maybe you want to mail your check to the IRS at the last possible minute on April 18? Be warned: Many post offices no longer stay open till midnight on tax day. The U.S. Post Office website has a handy spreadsheet detailing the more than 1,400 post offices that are open past 6 p.m. on April 18 but closing times for many are 7 p.m. or 10 p.m. Only a few are open until midnight. Get the details on this USPS page. HYPERLINK "http://www.irs.gov/file/content/0,,id=105693,00.html"Wondering where

to mail your return or payment? See this IRS page. If youre mailing a return or a payment to the IRS, get proof. You can send it certified mail, but this generally requires going to the post-office counter. Another option: Send it via the U.S. Post Offices priority mail service, with proof of delivery. MarketWatchs Eva Rosenberg noted in her recent column that you can print out the paperwork at Stamps.com. Read her April tax to-do checklist. Writing a check is too old-school, you say? Maybe a credit or debit card is more your speed. Then, mind the fees. Read more on this IRS page about fees for paying with credit or debit. Another option: Let the U.S. Treasury pull the money directly out of your bank account. If youre using tax software or a professional, its relatively easy to set this up just be sure to provide the correct bank account and routing numbers and its free. See this IRS page for more.

Can you trust your tax preparer?

Does your tax preparer have your best interest at heart? We'll talk with Taxmama.Com's Eva Rosenberg about making sure your tax preparer is both qualified and trustworthy. Or, you can use the Treasury Departments Electronic Federal Tax Payment System, or EFTPS. Individual filers can enroll in this system its free and use it to schedule tax payments. It may take a couple of days for your online enrollment to be processed, but once it is, you can call the EFTPS toll-free phone number to schedule a tax-bill payment. About a week after enrolling, youll receive a PIN that allows you to use the EFTPS.gov website to schedule payments. Read more here. Keep in mind: The Treasury Department advises taxpayers to schedule their EFTPS payments at least one full day before the due date. Cant pay? You have options Are you worried about your bill? File a return or an extension anyway. That terrible-awful-please-never-do-this trap that people fall into is, I cant pay my taxes so Im not going to file my return. Do not do that, said Larry M. Elkin, a certified public accountant and president of Palisades Hudson Financial Group, a financial planning firm based in Scarsdale, N.Y. It is far better to deal directly with the creditor. Others agreed. The government really isnt that bad, said Jack Nuckolls, a San Francisco-based national director of private client tax services at accounting firm BDO. They understand people get behind, he said. What they dont appreciate is you not communicating with them. They will hunt down assets and bank accounts.Its best to communicate with them and find out some way to pay on a regular basis. If youre facing a short-term pinch, heres one option: File your return, then wait for the IRS to send the bill a few weeks later. You may be subject to a little bit of penalty and interest because [your payment] didnt accompany your return, but you can get a little bit

more time to pay without a formal request, said Sherrill Trovato, an enrolled agent in Fountain Valley, Calif. and president-elect of the National Association of Enrolled Agents. Whatever you do, pay what you can as soon as you can, to minimize penalties and interest. If youre struggling financially, consider asking the IRS to waive penalties. You can compose a letter to the government and explain reasonable cause as to why the tax wasnt paid, Nuckolls said. Read about 7 ways to persuade the IRS youre right. Another option: If youre facing a short-term money crunch, you can apply for a payment extension of up to 120 days provided you can pay your full bill by then. Theres no fee for this option, but you face interest and the failure-to-pay penalty until you pay off the amount owed. Apply through an online payment agreement application, or by calling the IRS. Get the details on this IRS page.

Installment agreements
If you need more time, its easy to set up an installment plan on IRS.gov if you owe less than $25,000. If you owe less than $10,000 and can pay off the debt within three years (and youre up to date on previous years returns), youll be automatically approved. If you owe $25,000 or less and can pay it off within five years, youre still likely to get your request automatically approved, though the IRS may want more information about your finances. See this IRS page for more. Come up with reasonable terms that youll be able to meet, Trovato said. You have to tell them how much money you will pay per month, Trovato said. Always make sure you can at least make that payment. You can always send in more, but if you fail to make it you can end up in default. There are fees for installment plans: $52 if you agree to automatic withdrawals from your bank account, and $105 otherwise. Low-income taxpayers can apply for a lower fee of $43. See this IRS page for frequently asked questions about payment agreements. Finally, an offer in compromise, in which the taxpayer pays part of the bill and the IRS forgives the rest, is a possibility for some portion of taxpayers. But its tough to get accepted. If youre never going to be able to pay it, and its clear youre never going to make that much money, Nuckolls said, an offer in compromise may be possible. Read this IRS page for more information on payment options and payment plans. But, be warned: While their television and radio ads are alluring, be wary of forking over money to people who say they can settle your debt for pennies on the dollar. Some such companies have faced lawsuits; consumers said they received no help in return for the hefty fee. Check up on the company at the Better Business Bureau website before handing over any money

NEW YORK (24/7 Wall St.) America is the arms merchant to the world and is likely to sell $50 billion in weapons this year. Business may not be as good in the near term, however. Military spending among all countries totaled $1.63 trillion last year, but that was up just 1.3% from the year before. Spending includes weapons, soldiers and the cost of maintaining a countrys military infrastructure. Reuters Marines aboard Sea Stallion helicopter launched from USS Essex transport humanitarian assistance and disaster relief supplies to Miyako, Japan. The U.S. defense budget is by far the worlds largest, and that has been the case since World War II. Last year that figure was just below $700 billion, largely because of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The U.S. is the only country that maintains naval, air force and ground troops in nearly every part of the world, from South Korea to Europe to the Persian Gulf. The worldwide slowdown in military spending is a product of two things: the recession, and the austerity following it, and decisions by big nations such as Germany that they do not need large military presences beyond their borders. Many countries have not turned their backs on defense spending at all, but they are nations with relatively small overall budgets. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which provides the numbers 24/7 Wall St. used for its analysis of global arms spending, military spending in Africa and South America rose nearly 6%. That is barely enough to make up for cuts by larger nations. 24/7 Wall St. looked at military spending in the 10 countries that are the biggest spenders over a period of a decade. China, the worlds second largest nation by GDP and largest by population, had the biggest military-spending increase of any country. Its military spending rose 189% from 2001 to 2010, reaching $119 billion. And many experts believe China underreports this spending, which now represents 2.1% of GDP. The comparable figure is 4.8% in the U.S., so, should China decide to match Americas spending on a percentage basis, its military budget would be closer to $300 billion. That may take on added relevance, since the Obama administration is expected to slash the Pentagons budget. Should China decide to match Americas spending on a percentage basis, its military budget would be closer to $300 billion. A review of the numbers leads to three important questions. The first is whether the large industrial nations of Europe and Japan will continue to see high military expenses as

unaffordable. The second is whether an arms race between China and the U.S. will emerge one that compares to the one between the Soviet Union and the U.S. running from the 1950s through the 1980s. And the last question centers on whether military activity in the developing world will expand further. Expenditures in places like the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan could certainly rise sharply soon. There is not currently a weapons race among the largest nations. There is, however, enough global unrest for that to change. 10. Italy 2010 spending: $37 billion (estimated) Change 2001-10: -5.8% (est.) Share of GDP: 1.8% (est.) Reuters Italy's defence minister, Ignazio La Russa, arrives for parliamentary debate April 5. Italy spent the 10th greatest amount on the military in 2010. Its 5.8% decline in military spending since 2001 is the greatest decrease among all the countries on this list. One reason may be that the number of volunteer troops is being cut, according to an Italian nonprofit organization, the Istituto Affari Internazionali. Italys defense budget is expected to be cut further this year to reduce the countrys debt. 9. India 2010 spending: $41.3 billion Change 2001-10: 54.3% Share of GDP: 2.7% India spent the fifth largest amount on their military among all the Asian countries and the ninth largest in the world. The country underwent the largest absolute decrease in military spending from 2009 to 2010, spending $1 billion less than it had a year before. This decrease will likely not amount to much in the long run because in February India increased its defense spending by 11.6%. This was undertaken largely in response to the growing military strength of China and Pakistan. 8. Germany 2010 spending: $45.2 billion (est.) Change 2001-10: -2.7% (est.) Share of GDP: 1.3% (est.) Although Germany has one of the worlds largest military budgets, its military spending as a percentage of GDP, at about 1.3%, is not especially high compared with other

countries. It is the second-smallest percentage, in fact, among the countries on this list. Spending in 2010 decreased 1.3%, after the countrys Defense Ministry recommended Germany close several army bases and cut the number of troops from 250,000 to 180,000. 7. Saudi Arabia 2010 spending: $45.2 billion Change 2001-10: 63% Share of GDP: 10.4% Saudi Arabias level of defense spending is all the more impressive when one considers the size of the countrys economy. The $45.2 billion the country spent in 2010 was 10.4% of the countrys GDP. That percentage is more than double that of any other country on this list. Saudi Arabia also underwent the largest increase in military spending from 2009 to 2010, 4%. It had the largest absolute increase in the Middle East, as well, at $1.6 billion. 6. Japan 2010 spending: $54.5 billion Change 2001-10: -1.7% (est.) Share of GDP: 1%

U.S. military aid to Japan

Japanese and American officials mark the end of Operation Tomodachi, which means "friend" in Japanese. Japan has kept its military expenditures at about 1% of GDP since 1967. As a result, the amount spent on defense turns on the strength of the economy. While military spending in the entire East Asia region has increased by more than 55% over the last decade, Japans has decreased by 1.7%, according to the Institute for Policy Studies. 5. Russia 2010 spending: $58.7 billion (est.) Change 2001-10: 82.4% Share of GDP: 4% (est.) Although Russian military spending decreased 1.4% from 2009 to 2010, it increased 82.4% over the entire decade. According to the BBC, Russia has plans to spend $650 billion on defense between now and 2020. According to Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, this money would be used to modernize the countrys armed forces. It currently relies heavily on a nuclear arsenal built during the Cold War.

Reuters Honor guard at February 2010 ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. 4. France 2010 spending: $59.3 billion Change 2001-10: 3.3% Share of GDP: 2.3% While Frances military spending increased 3.3% over the past decade, it decreased a stunning 8.4% from 2009 to 2010. This decrease, which is by far the largest on our list, is mostly the result of the global economic crisis. The crisis was severe in Europe and hit France especially hard. This has caused the government under Nicolas Sarkozy to make large cuts to rein in the deficit. 3. United Kingdom 2010 spending: $59.6 billion Change 2001-10: 21.9% Share of GDP: 2.7% The U.K., home base of defense contractor BAE Systems /quotes/comstock/23s!a:ba. UK:BA. -1.50% , surpassed France in the amount spent on its military in 2010. Despite growth of 21.9% in spending over the decade, military expenditures dropped 0.8% from 2009 to 2010. This amount will most likely decrease more in 2011. In late 2010, Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the country would be making defense cuts, including cutting 17,000 troops, to help bring down debt. The country will instead focus more on special forces, which includes counterterrorism units. Reuters F/A-18F Super Hornets launch from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise in the Red Sea on March 17. 2. China 2010 spending: $119 billion (est.) Change 2001-10: 189% Share of GDP: 2.1% (est.) China spent the second greatest amount on the military in 2010, and that amount is growing quickly. From 2001 to 2010, the countrys military expenditures increased 189%. This is more than double the amount spent by any country on this list. Weak economic performance in 2009 kept the 2009-10 increase to only 3.8%. Spending in 2011 will increase by 12.7%, according to the BBC. It should be noted, however, that many analysts believe Chinas defense spending is higher than the country reports.

1. United States 2010 spending: $698 billion Change 2001-10: 81.3% Share of GDP: 4.8% The United States home to such defense-contracting giants as Boeing /quotes/comstock/13*!ba/quotes/nls/ba BA +0.26% , Northrop Grumman /quotes/comstock/13*!noc/quotes/nls/noc NOC +0.00% , Lockheed Martin /quotes/comstock/13*!lmt/quotes/nls/lmt LMT -1.65% , Raytheon /quotes/comstock/13*! rtn/quotes/nls/rtn RTN +0.44% and General Dynamics /quotes/comstock/13*! gd/quotes/nls/gd GD -1.52% spent just under $700 billion on its military in 2010, more than all the other countries on this list combined. The proportion of GDP that goes to the Pentagon has risen from 3.1% in 2001 to an estimated 4.8% in 2010. This is the highest among countries with reliable military spending data outside of the Middle East. Even with the countrys large budget deficit, military spending seems to be untouchable in the political realm. As the Stockholm International Peace Research Institutes report says: President Obamas FY2012 budget announced a 5-year freeze on non-securityrelated discretionary expenditure, but military spending, along with other security spending such as intelligence and Homeland Security, is exempt.