Gibson Guitar has completed its tender offer for almost 55 percent of TEAC Corp., a Japanese company that makes audio and visual equipment as well as data storage equipment. TEAC will be folded into Gibson's operations but remain listed in Tokyo.

A Japanese newspaper says Nissan executives will shift production of their Murano crossover to Smyrna from Japan when the company's next generation debuts in 2014. Such a move would further overhaul the lineup in Smyrna, which recently said goodbye to the Frontier truck, the first vehicle ever built there.

By moving production of the Murano to the U.S., Nissan would counter the exchange rate hit taken by vehicles exported from Japan. The move would also be convenient because the Smyrna plant already builds two Nissan models off the same platform, the Altima and Maxima sedans.

The Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled that Franklin resident Chris Savoie cannot pursue some of his claims against law firm Stites & Harbison and its former-attorney-turned-judge James Martin. The court backed up District Court Judge Aleta Trauger's ruling that Savoie, who was arrested in Japan in 2009 while trying to reclaim the children of which he'd been awarded sole custody, did not state a valid vicarious liability case against Stites under Section 1983 of the civil rights laws. Martin, the judges said, has immunity and Stites cannot be pursued for its work with Martin while he was at the firm.

Read the full opinion here. Savoie says he'll likely take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

SEE ALSO: Stites law firm sued for $30M, which details a separate case Savoie filed in Davidson County Circuit Court in November

The strong yen could create a "hollowing out" of the Japanese manufacturing sector over time, says Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn. In the short run, Ghosn doesn't plan on plowing money into Japanese capacity, instead betting on Brazil and other emerging markets for mass production and locally for its Leaf electric car.

Local sock maker Swiftwick isn’t sitting on the sidelines when it comes to helping out those affected by the crisis in Japan. The Cool Springs-based company is shipping 14,642 pairs of medical compression socks valued at $150,000 to help those in Japan affected by the crisis brought on by the earthquake and tsunami that hit the island nation last month.

The socks, which are designed to assist those suffering with deep vein thrombosis, are manufactured in Cleveland, Tenn., and are the first run of a new line of product that had been set to be sent to retailers in the coming weeks.

Swiftwick officials, who have no commercial presence in Japan, decided that instead of sending the socks to U.S. stores, they would ship them to where they felt there was a greater need. President Mark Cleveland said the company is sending more socks to Japan in this shipment than it sold during its first year of business.

On hand to see off the shipment were (from left to right) those who helped arrange the donation: Josh Noblitt and Hiro Ito with FedEx, Kirk Bednar of the Rotary Club of Brentwood, Consul General Hiroshi Sato of the Consulate of Japan, and Cleveland.

As the Japanese auto industry continues to wrestle with the effects of last month's earthquake on its supply chain, Jesse Toprak of TrueCar.com says it won't be long until prices for pre-owned Japanese models work their way up. The effect is likely to be especially prevalent on the luxury models made by Toyota, Honda and Nissan.

Several Nissan plants in Japan remain off limits after the recent earthquake and tsunami, but locally based spokesman David Reuter said U.S. consumers shouldn't notice a supply disruption anytime soon. The auto maker will raise its prices soon, though, but that's a move that already had been planned.

UPDATE: Work restarted Monday on a number of Nissan plants