China and Asia Stock Alert

The Chinese wage gap is not a problem

Tony Sagami — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:14:31 +0000

Some China critics have cited the wide disparity between the coastal urban cites and the rural interior areas. The per capita income of the average urban residents is now 17175 yuan, versus 5153 yuan equivalent for rural residents. That 5153 yuan translate into roughly US$775.

So the Chinese city slickers make 3.3 times more money than the rural country folk. That doesn’t sound like a problem to me. Do you think that the average LA or NY or Chicago resident makes 3.3 times more money than somebody in Lubbock or Des Moines or Boise? Wouldn’t surprise me one bit if they did.

Minimum wage to rise by 15% in Shanghai, Beijing Both the City of Shanghai and Beijing are going to...
Haves and Have-Not in China According to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress...
Chinese stocks at 18 times earnings What country has lower stock valuations: China or the U.S.?...

Shuangji Cement expects big business

Tony Sagami — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:17:33 +0000

China Shuangji Cement (CSGJ.OB) said its expect strong demand in 2010 and beyond for cement.

“Analysts are estimating that China’s overall demand for cement in 2010 will rise by almost 12%, about 188 million tons from 2009 levels.”

What do you think that means for Anhui Conch Cement that ASA subscribers own?

China Shuangji Cement IPO The U.S. isn’t the only place Chinese companies go to...
Chinese cement companies The demand for cement was sky high in China before...
Swiss cement giant dives into China Swiss cement maker Holcim AG is buying the Australian operations...

Coke says China, India are healthy, growing

Tony Sagami — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:02:20 +0000

Coca Cola CEO Muhtar Kent says that Southeast Asia, lead by India and China, is roaring back from the global recession.

“The emerging world is in a healthier situation as we are exiting the tunnel,” said Kent.

And he warned that Japan, the U.S., and western Europe were not going to rebound any time soon.

Coke sales jump 37% in India One of the seemingly small things that surprised me during...
Key to Prosperity? Sell to China and India The early take on quarterly earnings reports shows that companies...
China Mobile still growing like a weed How is China Mobile doing compared to its competitors? China...

The Twitter of China

Tony Sagami — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:54:36 +0000

First of all, Twitter is banned in China but some company is certain to fill that void.

That company is Sina.com, which uses a combination of celebrities (actors, musicians, models) and well-known business leaders to author blogs. Those blogs are wildly popular and earnings at Sina are booming.

Sina.com is China’s largest internet portal, comparable to Yahoo or MSN, and it reported an 8% jump in revenues to $93 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. More importantly, that increase in online advertising revenue is a good sign that the Chinese economy is healthy and growing.

Microsoft rips off the Chinese Twitter? Twitter is outlawed in China. In its place, is a...
China manufacturing continues to expand Two different surveys showed that the Chinese manufacturing sector is...
China Mass Media files U.S. IPO China Mass Media International Advertising Corp has filed a U.S....

China to spend $78 BILLION for military in 2010

Tony Sagami — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:45:00 +0000

China unveiled their military budget for 2010 it is a staggering $78 BILLION. China has increased its defense spending by an average of 10% a year for the last decade.

That sounds like a lot of money (and it is) but it is dwarfed by the $636 billion the U.S. will spend this year. Nonetheless, China has the second largest military budget in the world.

The U.S. spends 3.5% of its GDP on defense, China will spend 1.8%.

You know what? China can pay cash for its military needs. The U.S. needs to borrow like crazy to finance our spending.

$146 billion for quake reconstruction The Chinese government announced that it will spend $146.5 billion...
China owns $799 billion of U.S. bonds The number is almost hard to grasp. According to the...
China unviels $862 billion stimulus package China’s State Council approved a massive $862 billion stimulus package...

China to launch its own space station

Tony Sagami — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:32:10 +0000

Remember the old days when the U.S. and Russia battled it out for space superiority? In the not-to-distant future, the rest of the world may be trying to catch up to China.

China is preparing to launch the first module of its space station, called Heavenly Palace. From there, China has plans to land a man on the moon in 2012. I bet that China will come away with a lot more than just Tang from its space missions.

China’s successful space shot The Chinese successfully completed their space walk and safely returned...
China: the world’s largest auto market Henry Ford would be amazed. It took 100 years but...
China readies for first spacewalk I am giving away my age but when I was...

Shanda Interactive tumbles on weak results

Tony Sagami — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:58:57 +0000

I’m glad we sold Shanda Interactive when it was near $50.

Shanda Interactive reported a 49% increase in sales but only a 13% increase in profits. That tells me two things: (1) the online gaming market is still a great business to invest in but (2) SNDA is not the company to buy.

Video gaming thrives in China Online video game operator, NetEase (NTES) reported a 30% quarterly...
Machiner orders remain weak in Japan Core machinery orders increased by a measly 0.5% in August...
Asian males love their video games Internet gaming is big, big business in Asian. In China,...

China manufacturing continues to expand

Tony Sagami — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:00:45 +0000

Two different surveys showed that the Chinese manufacturing sector is still healthy and growing.

The HSBC Purchasing Managers Index hit 55.8 and the The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing survey was 52.0 in February. Any reading above 50 is considered to be healthy.

Chinese manufacturing slumps Production at China’s manufacturing plants fell sharply in November. The...
Chinese manufacturing expands in January The HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index rose from 56.1...
China manufacturing takes off The HSBC China Purchasing Manager’s Index rose from 55.0 in...

New Fidelity China Fund

Tony Sagami — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 03:48:09 +0000

Fidelity has a new closed-end fund to offer its U.K. customers: a $950 million China fund.

The Fidelity China Special situations will invest in a portfolio of China and Hong Kong-listed securities and will be managed by the U.K. version of Warren Buffet, Anthony Bolton (no relation to Micheal).

I’m not suggesting that anyone invest in this fund. What I am pointing out is that another billion dollars of investment money is going to be pouring into Chinese stocks.

China’s unique strategy to shore up its pension fund Like our Social Security System, the Chinese retirement fund faces...
China $1.4 billion nuclear investment fund Here is another non-greenhouse gas energy tidbit. Wilson Feng, a...
Singapore sovereign fund sells half Citigroup stake U.S. banks stocks have zoomed since cratering during the peak...

How much $ does the U.S. owe China and Japan?

Tony Sagami — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 03:39:45 +0000

Boy, we owe the Asians lots of money.

The #1 largest holder of U.S. Treasury bonds: China with $894 billion. Number 2? That would be Japan with $768 billion.

China and Japan ditch U.S. bonds Foreign investors are getting sick of U.S. treasury bonds. The...
China passes Japan as largest holder of U.S. … China bought $43.6 billion of of Treasuries in September and...
S&P puts Japan’s soverign debt on watch list Wow, Standard and Poor’s is talking about downgrading Japan’s government-backed...