China and Asia Stock Alert

IBM moves

Tony Sagami — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 06:33:47 +0000

IBM announced that it is going to lay off 5,000 U.S. workers and shift many of those jobs to India. Did you know that 71% of IBM’s 400,000 employees work outside of North America? That ups from 65% in 2007. Getting computer nerd training was a sure-fire way to a successful technology career a few years ago. [...] Related posts:

Microsoft named ‘most reputable’ in India Very interesting. Microsoft was voted the #1 most reputable company...
The poverty of India With the exception of Infosys, I have avoided India. Read...
Garment industry shrinks in Bangalore When I think of Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India,...

Business crashes at Taiwan chip testing company

Tony Sagami — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 06:27:03 +0000

Taiwan-based ChipMOS, a company I visited it during my last trip to Taiwan, is a chip testing company. The last thing you want your new computer to do is not work when you take it out of the box. ChipMOS (IMOS: 0.81 -0.0099 -1.21%) makes sure that doesn’t happen. Business stinks though. Q4 sales dropped by [...] Related posts:

Profits skyrocket at Gome Appliance Gome Electrical Appliance is the largest appliance retailer in China...
Intel invests $170 million into China Intel has a huge investment division, Intel Capital, that hasjust...
Exports plunge in South Korea China isn’t the only Asian country with falling exports. South...

China: Architecture in Recession

Tony Sagami — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 06:16:32 +0000

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, one of the world’s largest architectural firrm and a big beneficiary of the China building boom, is laying off people because of the lack of work in China. “Six months ago we were turning down work,” says Silas Chiow, SOM’s China director, and “the next six months are going to be [...] Related posts:

China COSCO gets cheap! If you live near the Pacific Ocean, you’ve probably seen...
Trio of strong Chinese economic stats The Chinese economy is still humming. Here’s proof. Don’t tell...
China offical bullish on gold Wang Yu, director of the gold and foreign exchange market...

Japan exports drop by 50% in February

Tony Sagami — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:25:03 +0000

Japan just won the World Baseball Classic yesterday but its exporting companies are conquering anything. The Japanese Finance Ministry reported that exports shrunk by 49.4% in in February from the previous year. That is, by the way, the biggest drop in two decades. That puts Japan on course for its worst depression since WWII. By the way, the [...] Related posts:

Japan exports shrink by 46% Japan is a very export dependent country. That is why...
5 straight months of falling exports in Singa… Singapore reported a 7.4% decline in October exports, the biggest drop...
Toyota passes General Motors For the first time since the Great Depression, General Motors...

China leads globe in executions

Tony Sagami — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:20:05 +0000

You can have capitalism without democracy. People tend to forget that about China. According to Amnesty International, China lead the world in executions in 2008 with 2,390. That’s about seven people a day! For perspective, Iran executed 376 people last year. Don’t get into trouble in China. Related posts:Big Brother is listening Privacy advocates are shocked to learn today [...] Related posts:

Big Brother is listening Privacy advocates are shocked to learn today that the Communist...
GM and Chysler merger? My last post was about China auto sales and here...
Chinese man pays $2.1 million for Buffett lunch I admire a lot of things about Warren Buffett, but...

Yum Brands buy 20% stake in China restaurant

Tony Sagami — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:10:14 +0000

If you’ve never enjoyed a Chinese ‘hot pot’ dinner, you’re missing out on one of the greatest meals in all of China. You do need a cast iron stomach and an affinity for HOT food. But I absolutely love them. Yum Brands (YUM: 35.58 -0.22 -0.61%)is pay $63 million for a 20% stake in Little Sheep [...] Related posts:

Hong Kong jumps 10% The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index jumped 1,515 points or...
Not my kind of sushi I absolutely love sushi, but I think I’ll stay far...
Samsung drops SanDisk takeover Samsung dropped its $5.8 billion bid to buy SanDisk because...

U.S. sub-prime holdings kill Bank of China profits

Tony Sagami — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:59:58 +0000

The Bank of China reported a 59% drop in its Q4 profits. The Bank of China owns more U.S. subprime securities of any Asian institutions with $2.59 billion of toxic junk. How toxic? The Bank of China has aleady written off $2.25 billion of it. Related posts:Japan’s largest bank nosedives Our toxic mortgage destruction continues to spread [...] Related posts:

Japan’s largest bank nosedives Our toxic mortgage destruction continues to spread across the globe....
Bank of China profit jumps 85% Despite $203 million of subprime losses, the Bank of China...
Chinese massive Treasury bond holdings The largest owner of Treasury bonds in the world is...

China backs a new world currency

Tony Sagami — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:51:41 +0000

You’ve probably never heard of him but Zhou Xiaochuan is the Governor of the People’s Bank of China, which makes him the Chinese equivalent of Ben Bernanke and Alan Granspreen. Except even more powerful. Zhou is recommending a new “super-sovereign reserve currency” to replace the dollar as a the main global currency and “create an international [...] Related posts:

India cuts interest rates The Reserve Bank of India cut its main short-term lending...
World Bank worried about global trade The World Bank is now forecasting that for the first...
Indian outsourcers turn cautious The three big Indian outsource companies gave a universally cautious...

India: U.S. Fed is out of bullets

Tony Sagami — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 19:13:50 +0000

The Chairman of India’s top economic agency, the Planning Commission, described the corner that Bernanke has painted himself into pretty accurately. “Fortunately, we have more room for further relaxation unlike some of the industrialized countries where the scope for monetary easing has been pretty much exhausted.” Related posts:IBM touts India, China, Brazil growth IBM (IBM: 126.91 +0.91 [...] Related posts:

IBM touts India, China, Brazil growth IBM (IBM: 126.91 +0.91 +0.72%) announced another round of layoffs...
China and Taiwan direct flights Top officials from Taiwan and China will meet next week...
Chinese real estate still red hot According to the China’s state planning agency, the National Development...

Singapore: 3 years to recover

Tony Sagami — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 19:04:24 +0000

Former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew said that the optmistic outlook for an economic recovery will be at least 2-3 years but could take up to six years. The optimistic case is based on a rapid rebound of the U.S. economy. My advice to Singapore is to not hold their breath for the U.S. [...] Related posts:

Singapore tourist boom I think the wettest I’ve ever been in my life...
10.4% first half China GDP increase As usual, the Chinese economy continues to expand at a...
China GDP to be 2.5 times the size of US by 2030 How long does the China economic miracle have to go?...