How do you think the H-shares will be affected if MSCI (and later FTSE) add the A-shares to their emerging market indices?
The 2 futures which give easy access to the Chinese market at the moment are the Hang Seng China enterprise index and the FTSE China A-50 index. Which of these do you think is the better bet?
Thanks to a subscriber for this report by Albert Edwards for SocGen which may be of interest. Here is a section:
Why is China’s lurch into deflation on the GDP deflator, but not the CPI measure, so important? We have pointed out before (unfortunately we don’t have space for the chart here) that in Japan during the 1990s the thing to watch to see the havoc that deflation was wreaking on nominal revenues and debt/income loads was not the CPI, but rather the GDP deflator, which fell far faster than the CPI. Economic agents produce far more than just consumer goods and services and the GDP deflator is a much wider basket of goods and services and includes exports and investment goods. Clearly the descent into outright GDP deflation in China explains the more aggressive, even slightly panicky, policy easing measures there.
We also pointed out last week that China’s move into BoP deficit imposes a substantial monetary headwind on the economy. China may wish to keep the renminbi stable at this time while the IMF is currently considering including it in the SDR currency basket. But the economy is simply not in a position to withstand a major yen decline bringing down the currencies of its competitors in the region (and the additional deflationary impulse). I remain convinced that China must start guiding its currency down against the dollar and it can do that easily now it has a BoP deficit by doing absolutely nothing (ie not intervening any longer to hold it up)! China will also take the IMF’s recent declaration that the renminbi is no longer undervalued as justification for these actions - link.
Worrisome deflation is already being imported into the US, especially from Japan (see chart below). China (blue line) has yet to participate, but a further round of Asian devaluations will inevitably see waves of deflation heading westwards as in 1997/98. Watch this data closely.
This article from Bloomberg News may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:
China’s most-wanted fugitive, an official accused of embezzling more than $40 million, is in U.S. custody, according to the Communist Party’s anti-graft agency.
Yang Xiuzhu, who fled China in 2003, was detained after entering the U.S. using a fake Dutch passport last year, according to the party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
In the first confirmation of Yang’s whereabouts in a decade, the commission’s International Cooperation Department said she escaped from detention in the Netherlands in May 2014 - - after being rejected for political asylum and before she could be sent back to China.
This article by Fion Li for Bloomberg may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:
The yuan still has some way to go before it can become a major reserve currency, former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said Tuesday in Taipei. The IMF requires that a currency is “freely usable” to be included in its SDR basket.
Endorsement by the Washington-based lender would lead to about $1 trillion being switched into Chinese assets over the next five years, according to an estimate this month from Standard Chartered Plc. AXA Investment Managers estimated some 10 percent of the $11.6 trillion of global reserves would flow into yuan assets, though it didn’t give a timeframe.
China should allow greater flexibility in its exchange rate, with intervention limited to avoiding disorderly market conditions or excessive volatility, said the IMF’s China mission, which is led by the lender’s deputy director of Asia and Pacific Markus Rodlauer. The statement said it contains the views of the IMF staff involved and has not yet been endorsed by the institution’s board.
The yuan rose 0.6 percent versus the dollar in the past 12 months, while Brazil’s currency dropped 28 percent and Russia’s slid 32 percent. China’s productivity will probably rise more rapidly than the rest of world so its exchange rate will need to appreciate to take account of that, David Lipton, the IMF’s No.2 official, said at a briefing Tuesday in Beijing.
This article from Bloomberg may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:
Entering China would let Netflix, the broadcaster of “House of Cards” and “Orange Is the New Black” take advantage of what’s forecast to be explosive growth in online TV in the nation of 1.4 billion people. The market is estimated to almost triple to 90 billion yuan by 2018, according to Shanghai-based Internet consultant IResearch.
A local partnership would be essential given the Chinese government’s strict controls over licensing for online content. Netflix wants a partner that has licenses for content on all devices -- including mobile phones, computers and set-top boxes, according to the people. China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television has given Internet TV licenses to seven companies, including Wasu.
Wasu didn’t respond to an e-mail seeking comment. Two phone calls to Wasu’s general line weren’t answered.
This article by Lulu Yilun Chen and Tim Culpan for Bloomberg may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. shares surged the most intraday since September as the company named a new chief executive officer, nine months after a record initial public offering.
China’s biggest e-commerce operator posted a 45 percent increase in revenue.
Daniel Zhang will become CEO on May 10, replacing Jonathan Lu, who will remain on the board as vice chairman, the company said Thursday. The change was announced as Alibaba’s sales rose to 17.4 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) in the three months ended in March, beating analysts’ estimates.
Zhang hopes to build a global platform beyond China, part of a strategy that is “a long journey,” he said in an interview Thursday on Bloomberg Television.
Alibaba’s market value had plunged as much as $90 billion from a November peak amid concern about slowing economic growth and criticism from the Chinese government about its business practices. Billionaire Chairman Jack Ma elevated Zhang after the chief operating officer helped turn the Nov. 11 “Singles’ Day” shopping promotion into the company’s biggest sales day.
“Perhaps Jack is sending a signal to the capital markets and the regulator that he’s willing to make changes,” said Mike Clendenin, managing director of RedTech Advisors.
This article by Belinda Cao for Bloomberg may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:
The stock rally has prompted authorities to roll out measures this year that signal an effort to temper gains and prevent another boom-and-bust cycle after a record number of novice investors entered the market. China’s securities regulator started a campaign on Friday to crack down on stock- market manipulation and insider trading, the latest effort to reduce risks.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission will target trading by brokerage employees using non-public information, and market manipulation, including of futures prices, the CSRC said in a Friday statement on its website.
Chinese officials are trying to find a balance between weeding out speculators and encouraging the stock market to play a bigger role in helping companies raise funds as the government reins in credit expansion. The CSRC and central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan have endorsed the flow of funds into equities.
Thanks to a subscriber for this report from Deutsche Bank focusing on the Chinese property market. Here is a section:
Mere sales volume recovery would not improve profitability of developers
While we expect further recovery in the physical property market, given policy relaxations, the recovery could just be a "profit-less" or profitless one for some developers (like those with expensive landbank, high gearing, high financing costs). The strategy of high asset turnover to drive earnings growth has proven ineffective as earnings growth has consistently lagged behind sales growth in the past two years. This prompted some developers to start shifting away from the high asset turnover strategy that they had been adopting in recent years. Meanwhile, we see little scope for profitability to rise significantly in the near term without a marked correction in land prices or a sharp rebound in ASPs.
Contracted sales growth not directly translate into corresponding profit growth
Some market participants believe that strong contracted sales growth will lead to corresponding strong earnings growth. However, by comparing contracted sales with earnings, we found that earnings growth has consistently lagged behind contracted sales growth, especially for developers focusing on high asset turnover. Contracted sales for leading developers saw YoY growth of 30% and 17% respectively in 2013 and 2014, but the corresponding core net profit growth was only 21% and -7%, while core EPS growth was lower at 19% and -10% respectively. For developers focusing on high asset turnover, the discrepancy between sales and earnings growths was more severe, reflecting the key industry challenges – land prices rising faster than home prices and rising financing costs from higher debt levels (used to drive higher growth). For example, Country Garden had contracted sales growth of 123% and 22% in 2013 and 2014 but had core EPS growth of only 16% and 10%, while Sunac had sales growth of 61% and 30% in 2013 and 2014 but achieved core EPS growth of only 17% and 4%. Adjusting for some aggressive interest capitalization, core net profits of the key developers were on average 41% and 106% below reported figures, suggesting that actual profitability is even lower
