Month: August 2007

Categories
Stocks

Baby thrown out of bath tub

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Last Updated on August 27, 2008 by stlplace

These days it’s not easy for investors who hold US stocks, because the market has been in declining mode after the sub-prime woes. Do you still remember the DOW 14,000? That was July 19, as I wrote a post “IS Dow 14000 relevant“. Well, relevant or not, the Dow has retreated and it’s now under 13,000.

As individual investors we can not precict the market, nor should we fight against the market. But as general market declines, usually there are some good stocks go on sale. For examples, the Crocs (CROX) and Mindray (MR). Both companies reported good earnings, got a pop, and now went back to the pre-earning price. Some possible explanations: CROX got dragged down by the weak US consumer sentiment, Heelys HLYS’ crash; for Mindray, I really could not find a good reason other than short term investors move money to WuXi Pharma Tech (WX). Both companies (CROX and MR) had some insider sell activities too.

Continue reading “Baby thrown out of bath tub”
Categories
Business China

Who is benifit from China real estate market?

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Last Updated on August 15, 2007 by stlplace

The first, Chinese banks. They are making money from two sides: the developer, and the home buyer. The developers borrow from the banks; they will pay interest and principle (hopefully) later on. The home buyers borrow from the bank, and pay mortgage (interest and principle).

The second, developers. It’s not hard to understand, as the market booming, the developer can charge more for the same apartment or villa.

Last but not least, the local goverment. The land in China are owned by the goverment, the developer will pay more for the new land as the housing price go up. The goverment wants its fair share of the profit too. In addition to the land, the goverment will collect more tax and fees as the housing price go up. So, as much as the (central) goverment wanted to control the housing price (we all want a harminious society, right?), the local goverment don’t think so, at least from economy side.

Continue reading “Who is benifit from China real estate market?”
Categories
Stocks

Home Inns HMIN stays in the game

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Last Updated on August 20, 2007 by stlplace

Here is the Q2 results (Xinhua-PRNewswire). Besides revenue and earning, I’m more interested in the following numbers:

— During the second quarter of 2007, Home Inns opened 26 new hotels. As of June 30, 2007, the Home Inns hotel chain consisted of 171 hotels in operation with an additional 63 hotels under development, covering 66 cities in China.

Continue reading “Home Inns HMIN stays in the game”
Categories
China Fun

Shanghai snapshot III

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Last Updated on August 17, 2007 by stlplace

X5?

IMG_5148

maybe not?

Continue reading “Shanghai snapshot III”
Categories
Fun

A bit influential

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Last Updated on August 14, 2007 by stlplace

I found my blog was listed as “200 most influential personal finance bloggers“, No. 182, at Hustler $$$ Blog.

Thanks, Hustler. I have added a link for your Hustler $$$ blog (under “finance”).

Categories
Business China

WuXi Pharma Tech looking good

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Last Updated on August 15, 2007 by stlplace

WuXi Pharma Tech (NYSE: WX) is a pharmaceutical R&D service company based in Shanghai, and they do work for the pharma giants like Pfizer, Merck, etc. They are the No. 1 player in China and growing fast.

Wuxi Pharma Tech pic

To give some background, here is a discussion thread from trader168.com; and a valuation analysis article from Yahoo (ChinaBio Today).

I’m not in the pharma business but from my observation, pharma R&D outsourcing is a sweet area because of the following trend.

Continue reading “WuXi Pharma Tech looking good”
Categories
China Stocks

Same stock different prices

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Last Updated on August 13, 2007 by stlplace

I was thinking about buying some ICBC or BoC shares in Shanghai, but the price difference of the Shanghai and Hongkong (or ADRs in NYSE) kept me from pulling the trigger. Since one Yuan is roughly worth one HKD, why would I pay premium for the A shares if I can get H Shares (or the equivalent US ADRs) for a discount?

Unless the Yuan depreciates (relative to HKD and USD) significantly (it’s possible but unlikely), buying A shares does not make sense to me.

ICBC: 601398 (Shanghai) CNY 6.80; 1398 (Hongkong) HKD 4.80

Bank of China: 601988 (Shanghai) CNY 5.80; 3988 (Hongkong) HKD 3.80

China Life: 601628 (Shanghai) CNY 48.00; 2628 (Hongkong) HKD 30.00; LFC (NYSE) USD 57.41

Note one share of LFC (ADR in NYSE) is worth 15 shares of 2628.HK, the price of 2628.HK is the same as LFC, if we consider this units conversion and HKD/USD conversion.

The main reason for the price difference is the supply and demand: Chinese people have lots of free money (in CNY), but they can only invest inside China. The China capital market has grown significantly, but it still could not meet the demand from flood of domestic investors.

Categories
China

Shanghai snapshot II

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Last Updated on August 14, 2007 by stlplace

Student studying at KFC, I also see students studying at McDonald. Note in China both KFC and McDonald are fashionable gathering places for middle/high school and college students.

IMG_5128

My first Chinese KFC meal in many years, I got headache after eating that 🙁

IMG_5127

Categories
Life

A new beginning

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Last Updated on August 12, 2007 by stlplace

Last Friday (August 10) we got married at Shanghai Xuhui District marriage license office.

IMG_5118

The place we received the certificate and pledge (swear?) our oath.

IMG_5121

Categories
China Stocks

Do you want to be a CEO ?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Last Updated on August 14, 2007 by stlplace

I got to see Michael on CCTV Channel 2 yesterday. He was participating a show as a guest. The show is about the “entrepreneurs born after 1980s” (Michael was born in 1960s).

I noticed he said something interesting about New Oriental “listed in NYSE”: if I could regret, I wish we haven’t done that. On the surface it seems strange, who does not want to get rich? But I think he meant this: being listed in NYSE is a huge responsibility, if he had known all the pitfalls of “listing in the US” (not just Sabane-Oxly), he would re-consider.

But in reality he couldn’t. Because he is not the sole owner of the company. Both VC (refer to Shao’s blog about VC’s timeline) and his colleagues (many are minority stock holders) wanted to cash out. The company could use the IPO proceeds to expand; note the competition has also heated up too. The “listed in NYSE” will also help them build the brand, globally.

Back to Michael’s reponsibility. As soon as he took money from the Wall Street, he was expected to deliver the financial results to meet the street. He and his team did very well in first two Qs, but they missed the lastest Q. I bet he did not get much good sleep lately, because he needs to make sure next Q will come out OK.

Continue reading “Do you want to be a CEO ?”