China :: Business :: Deals

Sohu Launches Mobile Advertising Platform DoNews, 3/30/11 Chinese Internet firm Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) recently announced the release of a mobile terminal advertising platform to be pre-installed in domestically-produced handsets from more than 80% of Chinese handset brands. Approximately 20 mln handsets pre-installed with Sohu's mobile advertising platform are shipped each month. The platform offers mobile advertising within various mobile applications including games, software, music, literature, and video. Sohu has also signed a cooperative strategic agreement with CR-Nielsen to provide technology support and help Sohu and its advertisers monitor ad effectiveness.

Baidu Shifts YouA Merchants to Rakuten, Yaodian100 BiaNews, 3/31/11 Chinese internet company Baidu's (Nasdaq: BIDU) B2C and C2C platform YouA announced today that it would begin making adjustments to its services, effective immediately. All YouA product posting, store editing, account management, posting, and transaction functionality will be shut down in one month's time. YouA users will be able to sign up for Rakuten.com.cn (operated by Baidu in partnership with Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten) or Yaodian100.com.cn (operated by Baidu with Daphne and Qiming Ventures). Baidu will transfer e-commerce operations to Rakuten, Yaodian100, and other partners.

Alfred Little submits: On March 29th China MediaExpress Holdings (NASDAQ: CCME ) filed an 8-K ( here ) that included a detailed list of reasons why its auditor, Deloitte, resigned. Deloittes concerns included: Authenticity of bank statements Suspicious circumstances surrounding bank balance confirmation procedures Validity of certain advertising agents/customers and bus operators Possible undisclosed bank accounts and bank loans Subsidiaries shown in SAIC filings are inconsistent with managements representations Validity of a sampling of tax invoices from certain large transactions Subsidiary tax payments to the SAT could not be verified Cash salaries to certain employee bank accounts could not be verified Production process of advertising programs could not be verified Potential double counting of a certain number of buses Most of Deloittes Concerns Share a Common Thread: Paper Bank statem...

Erik Wright submits: As many investors are aware, the Chinese RTO sector has been heavily out of favor. Among this sector stands Gulf Resources ( GFRE ) which has been thrown down along with the whole sector. Many investors in Gulf Resources continue to be worried about the company being revealed as a fraud. Other investors continue to have faith that this company is, in fact, different. Among investors' worries has been the drastic movement in the stock price. The stocks drastic movement has been due to many different news releases and rumors about Gulf Resources. I hope to clarify below many of the events that have affected Gulf Resources and its shareholders. I trust this will give many shareholders a better background on the company to enable a more educated investment decision. Company Description Gulf Resources is the largest producer of Bromine in China. The Bromine element is quite intriguing since it has much Complete Story

Rougemont submits: Which China-based stock could be the next Baidu ( BIDU ) in terms of returns? This is a tough question to answer. To try and find some possible answers, it makes sense to consider some of the following points. Baidu and other Chinese stocks like Focus Media ( FMCN ) and 51Job ( JOBS ) weren't always so well respected on Wall Street. When I first bought BIDU shares years ago for about $6.70 per share the shares traded at a relatively low PE ratio and the shares were knocked around severely by analysts for every concern one could imagine, especially after they reported earnings. Meanwhile Google ( GOOG ) shares were favored by analysts and for some time BIDU shares did not get the respect they deserved. That has all changed now, and BIDU shares have exploded upward, now trading for over 50 times earnings while GOOG shares trade for less than 20 times earnings. JOBS trades Complete Story

Xiaofan Zhang submits: Shares of Sohu.com ( SOHU ) surged 7.81% on Tuesday, the most among all Chinese Internet stocks. I believe such strong performance was driven by investors' spill-over enthusiasm toward popular upcoming IPO Qihoo Technology ( QIHU ) , as the market eagerly searched for alternative ways to play the Qihoo IPO, which was priced 16% higher than the high-end of its originally planned range of $10.50 to $12.50 a share. Despite trading near its 52-week high, I believe SOHU still has plenty of upside ahead. Below is my analysis: Similarity to Qihoo has led to SOHU's strong performance. At its core, Qihoo's business model is to offer advertising and value-added services around highly popular desktop client software such as 360 Safe Guard, 360 Anti-virus, and 360 Safe Browser. SOHU outperformed all peers on Tuesday because it offers the most similarity to Qihoo. In the past several years, Sohu has achieved great success in the area Complete Story

Renaissance Capital IPO Research submits: Founded by former executives of Yahoo! ( YHOO ) China, this young company offers Internet security products free of charge to a massive user base, which has more than doubled in two years to over 300 million. Qihoo's key product is a safe web browser in China that is rapidly gaining popularity as Internet users search for protection against increasingly pervasive and complex security threats. Qihoo ( QIHU ) plans to raise $139 million by offering 12.1 million ADSs at a range of $10.50 to $12.50. UBS Investment Bank ( UBS ) and Citi ( C ) are the lead managers on the deal, which is on the IPO calendar for the week of March 28. Originally a reseller of third-party anti-virus software, this young company now offers a suite of proprietary Internet security products under the "360" brand. Qihoo's strategy is to attract users by offering free security products and monetize them by driving traffic to its Complete ...

David Wolf submits: Last week Baidu ( BIDU ) confirmed that it has begun developing an operating system for smart phones. There was a lot to the announcement that invites comment, not least of which was Baidu CEO Robin Lis remark that he wants to create a universal interface for all computing applications, and that the goal was to let people become increasingly dependent on the Baidu box. I know: If such words were to emerge from the mouth of an American CEO, they would invite either ridicule or an anti-trust investigation, depending on the company. But coming from Baidus Li, they simply bumped the stock price. Leaving to the Twitterverse the debate over whether Li is being realistic, megalomaniacal or both, the matter that concerns many of us who are involved with Chinas mobile communications business is whether China or the world needs yet another operating system for smart phones. Hang On, Complete Story

Variant View Research submits: I am short Advanced Battery Technologies ( ABAT ) for the following reasons: The Chairman appears to have transferred ownership of ABATs key subsidiary to himself without explanation or compensation; ABAT leads investors to think that it makes cutting-edge electric cars, when in fact it produces cheap scooters and bicycles; ABAT claims unrealistic margins in what it admits is a commodity space; ABAT claims to have increased revenue from $4.2 million to $97.1 million from 2005 to 2010 while DECREASING its employee count; ABAT claims distribution relationships which appear to be fake; ABAT is a serial issuer of equity at low prices; ABAT spent $20 million to acquire a company linked to the Chairman without disclosing the relationship; ABAT spent $22 million or 7x sales to acquire a failing and possibly related company; ABAT issued 11 million shares to the Chairman and other individuals to repay a loan which appears ...

Ganaxi Small Cap Movers submits: Zoom Technologies Inc. ( ZOOM ), a China-based manufacturer of mobile phones and other mobile products, announced its December 2010 quarterly report after the market close yesterday. Earnings at 39 cents came in 6 cents above the street consensus estimate of 33 cents, and revenue at $86.6 million came in below the $90.3 million estimate. For the next March 2011 quarter, the company is projecting lower at $53 million revenue and 17 cents in earnings versus analyst estimates of $73.5 million and 20 cents, but it is reiterating its earlier projection for the current fiscal year ending December 2011, at $320-340 million revenue and $16-17 million in net income or 92-95 cents in earnings. The key driver for ZOOMs growth has been growth in Chinas robust mobile phone market, which the company says is expected to continue to grow from the current 64% penetration rate. Also, the Chinese nationwide migration to 3G Complete Story

Insider Monkey submits: Earlier this month Julian Robertson commented about Feds monetary policy, budget deficits, and global economy. Robertson said the U.S. isnt doing enough to address structural problems, such as budget deficits in its economy. "We prefer to put on the Santa Claus suit and celebrate Christmas, he said . He was highly critical of Feds monetary policy, claiming the U.S. dollar is not the safe haven it once was. "Not just gold and silver, but cotton, soybeans, you name it, they're all rising," he said. Jim Rogers is also extremely bullish about commodities. We also like commodities as an inflation hedge. Investors can buy physical gold, or gold ETFs such as SPDR Gold trust ( GLD ), Proshares Ultra Gold ETF ( UGL ), Gold Miners ETF ( GDX ), Junior Gold Miners ETF ( GDXJ ) and iShares Silver Trust ( SLV ). Investors can also invest in agriculture through ETNs, such as Cotton ETN ( BAL ), Corn ETF ( CORN ), Livestock Total Complete Story

China Analyst Ralph Arroyo submits: On March 24th, 2011, AutoChina ( AUTC ) was scheduled to announce its long awaited audited financials and fourth quarter results. On February 15, 2011, the company issued a press release that stated (emphasis mine) : We look forward toannouncing our fully audited 2010 fourth quarter and year-end financial results next month . It is now five weeks later and there is still no audited financials. In its earnings announcement Complete Story

Ganaxi Small Cap Movers submits: Telestone Technologies ( TSTC ), a Chinese provider of wireless local-access network 2G, 3G and potentially 4G technologies and solutions, announced its December 2011 quarterly report after the market close yesterday. Non-GAAP earnings at $1.31 came in 4 cents above the street consensus estimate of $1.27 and revenue was in-line at $60.8 million versus the $59.5 million estimate. This is by far their highest-ever quarterly revenue and operating profit, and significantly above the year ago December quarter revenue and earnings of $33 million and 50c respectively. The key driver for TSTC's growth has been increased market acceptance by local Chinese telecom carriers of the company's networking products based on their proprietary Wireless Fiber-Optic Distribution System (WFDSTM) technology. According to the company this will gain increased momentum in Complete Story

Cabot submits: By Paul Goodwin Supply and demand is very much what 51job ( JOBS ) , the Chinese employment and human resources services company is all about. When 51job was founded in the 1990s, finding a job (or an employee, for that matter) meant checking the listings in a weekly employment newspaper. The company excelled at getting employment news out and still publishes millions of paper copies of its recruitment newsletter every week in the 16 Chinese cities it covers. But the real action now is at 51job.com, the companys website. The site has over 45 million registered members and a database of 36 million rsums. (Its definitely worth a click to see the companys Chinese-language website, which is a starburst of flashing, competing posts that vie for attention.) Online recruitment is now solidly ahead of print as the leading source of revenue. The big story on 51job is the companys recovery from the Complete Story

Xiaofan Zhang submits: Shares of Sina Corporation ( SINA ) have risen 16.6% since I published a positive article on its Twitter-like service Sina Weibo . Based on my latest analysis, Sina shares have risen too fast in the past several weeks. I remain positive on the long-term future of Sina, especially Sina Weibo, but I believe existing shareholders should now take profits at the current price level. My analysis is as follows: Analysis of current market sentiment on SINA. Since Sina reported Q4 earnings on March 1, Wall Street analysts' consensus EPS estimates for its 2011 and 2012 fiscal years have dropped 14% and 8% respectively, according to data from Yahoo Finance. Despite these earnings downgrades, analysts' average price target on SINA has risen 17.8% to $90.5 since the Q4 earnings release, and shares of Sina have surged 26.2% since March 1. In my view, these seemingly conflicting data points have revealed the market's mainstream Complete Story

IPOdesktop submits: Qihoo 360 Tech ( QIHU ) is scheduling a $139 million IPO with a market capitalization of $1.348 billion at the ADR price range mid-point of $11.5, for Wednesday March 30, 2011. QIHU is based in Beijing, China. Conclusion: As the No. 3 internet company in China, QIHU offers a way to participate in the growth of the internet in China. QIHU itself is on a rapid growth path. Sales were up 82% in 2010 to $58 million from $32 million in 2009 Gross margin increased to 88% from 74% Net income increased 125% to $9 million from $4 million In the December 2010 quarter the annualized sales rate was $80 million, with 71% of revenue generated from advertising. The December quarter profits of $4 million equaled all the profits generated in 2009. Reasonable Price: Annualizing December quarter's profits, a QIHU IPO at the price range mid-point of $11.50 has a P/E Complete Story

Econ Grapher submits: The China bear story is overdone. Through most of this year and much of last year, it has been popular to write stories about how Chinas real estate market is about to crash, and how theres countless ghost cities, and how it will be such a struggle for China to shift to a domestic demand-led economy. Sure, there have been some interesting signals and data emerging, but in all, concerns about an imminent market crash are likely premature. Is property really the Achilles heel that everyone makes it out to be? I would guess that most of the people writing the most doom and gloom-filled articles on China have never been there. I traveled to China again early this year, and though I did see construction on a scale I could hardly imagine (coming from a small developed economy), I also saw a bustling economy. I counted about 13-odd cranes Complete Story

David Hunkar submits: China has become the driver of global economic growth for many years now. As a communist country following a Market Socialism philosophy, China continues to grow despite the slowdown in developed economies and other emerging markets. The following is brief overview of few of the statistics on Chinas incredible growth. From a recent OECD report: Ten years ago, on the eve of the 2001 slowdown, the world economy was expanding at a rate of close to 5% and China accounted for just over one tenth of that growth. Last year, as the world bounced back from the worst recession since the Great Depression, and growth was once again close to 5%, China contributed almost one third of global growth. In the meantime, it had become the worlds second-largest economy. Ten years ago, Chinas current account surplus stood at less than 2% of GDP, and its foreign exchange reserves at $166 Complete Story

What's Happening China bans imports of some Japanese food & beverages China Huiyuan bets on sparkling fruit juice sales China Resources Enterprise To Expand Its Share In China's Consumer Market Comment - Beer - China: Global Brewers, Local Ideas Bordeaux vineyards acquire taste for Chinese buyers China lifts Bordeaux wine exports in 2010 China's leading liquor producer Kweichow Moutai net profit up 17.13 pct Beijing Jingkelong's profit up 22.1% last year QKL Stores Opens 49th Store Location OMD China wins Pepsi China's bottle business China Marine's 'Hi-Power' Becomes the Exclusive Algae-Based Beverage of the National Sports Training Center Nutrastar to Debut New Entry-Level Version of its Functional Health The spirited traveler: Tilting a glass in Shanghai

Source : Xinhua BEIJING, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Renowned Chinese liquor producer Kweichow Moutai Co., Ltd. announced Monday its annual net profit in 2010 rose 17.13 percent year on year on strong market demand. Its net profit hit 5.05 billion yuan (769.17 million U.S. dollars), the Guizhou-based firm said in its 2010 annual report filed to Shanghai Stock Exchange. The company's annual business revenue increased 20.3 percent from one year earlier to 11.63 billion yuan while earnings per share stood at 5.35 yuan. The economic rebound accelerated the development of liquor industry despite rising raw material prices, said the report.

Money Morning submits: By David Zeiler Disruptions caused by Japan's March 11 earthquake and tsunami could further encourage Japanese auto parts makers to relocate factories to China - an eventuality already being driven by explosive growth in the Chinese auto market. Japan's Big Three automakers - Toyota Motor Corporation ( TM ), Honda Motor Co. Ltd. ( HMC ) and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. ( NSANY.PK ) - all already operate assembly plants in China. And while 60% to 70% of the parts those plants need come from within China, the rest must be imported from Japan. So if the assembly plants run out of the parts from Japan, production will halt. Although no plant in China has yet reached that point - Toyota, Nissan and Honda have all said their factories have enough parts to sustain production for at least two more weeks - the possibility has led some to contemplate a more localized supply chain. "Companies were Complete Story

New Finance submits: Ian Bezek, notorious for his coverage of China Media Express Inc. ( CCME ) on SeekingAlpha, recently released another analysis of Yongye International ( YONG ). Ian hit CCME long before even their own auditor smelled trouble, so his coverage usually gets some response from readers and even the companies themselves. Today is such an instance of a company responding directly to Mr. Bezek and his claims of the various red flags at their company, and smells a lot like the last time they were forced to respond to such claims in early February. Here, I will go over some of the banter between the two sides and see if anything looks amiss. Mr. Bezek says that the levels of volatility displayed by Yong over the past several years are not commensurate with the style of business they claim to pursue; retail models, by and large Complete Story

Jon Slotnick submits: Ive always believed in the adage, When one door closes, another door opens. In fact, Ive even tried to pass on that nugget of wisdom to my teenage son on a few different occasions. Each time hes politely told me to close his bedroom door behind me on my way out. No doubt he heeded my advice and, once his door was shut, hopped up out of his chair and opened a window. Or maybe not. Thankfully, the stock market is much more forgiving than the average adolescent, and turbulent market times like these always present opportunities that otherwise wouldnt be available. When one door closes While I do more than my share of day trading, I always track small cap stocks that look like they may ultimately have long-term value and significant upside. SinoHub (AMEX: SIHI ), a contract manufacturer of electronics based in China, is one such play. Despite Complete Story

Zacks.com submits: Chinas dominant producer of offshore crude oil and natural gas, CNOOC Limited ( CEO ) reported stellar 2010 results on the back of record production growth and high crude oil prices. CNOOC reported 2010 earnings of 1.22 yuan per share ($18.00 per ADR), substantially above 0.66 yuan per share ($9.65 per ADR) in the prior year. However, full year 2010 earnings fell marginally short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $18.23 per ADR. Production CNOOC achieved an all-time high total net production of 328.8 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBoe), up an impressive 44.4% from the year-ago level. Of the total production, 80.1% was oil and liquids. The production growth can be credited to projects that came online since 2009 and contribution from existing as well as new fields. In 2010, oil production jumped nearly 42% year over year to 263.4 million barrels, while the companys gas volume surged 59.1% to 379.6 Complete Story

China Sunergy Co., Ltd. ( CSUN ) Q4 2010 Earnings Conference Call March 24, 2011, 8:00 am ET Executives Tom Evrard IR, Financial Dynamics Stephen Cai CEO John Wong [ph] Finance Controller Analysts Anthony Kit Barclays Capital Rob Stone Cowen & Company Kelly Dougherty Macquarie Christine Hersey Wedbush Vishal Shah Barclays Capital Sri Nadesan Lazard Asset Management Presentation Operator Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Q4 2010 China Sunergy Company Limited earnings conference call. My name is Michael, and I will be your coordinator for today. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. We will be facilitating a question-and-answer session towards the end of todays conference. (Operator instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded for replay purposes. I will now turn the presentation over to your host for todays conference, Mr. Tom Evrard. You may proceed. Complete Story

SARFT: Convergence Trial Draft Plans Still Await Approval Sohu IT, 3/23/11 Zou Feng, head of the Academy of Broadcasting Science at China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), recently disclosed that while China's twelve network convergence trial cities submitted draft plans in September 2010, they are still awaiting a response from the State Council's convergence leading group, which has both delayed implementation and postponed the announcement of the second batch of trial cities. Zeng Huiming, CEO of Beijing-based online broadcasting industry news portal Sarft.net, said that the telecom and broadcasting industries' respective plans left a number of key issues unresolved as the two continue to jockey for power, with the telecom operators pushing for control over content and broadcasting, and the broadcasters wanting the operators to relinquish monopoly control over broadband resources such as internet data centers and international internet gat...

Rumor: China Mobile Restructuring ASPire Subsidiary Beijing Times, 3/24/11 A source inside China Mobile (NYSE: CHL; 0941.HK) said yesterday that the operator is in the process of restructuring its WVAS subsidiary ASPire Holdings. ASPire Holdings' four subsidiaries will be combined into one subsidiary, and the Fetion mobile instant messaging service, which had been managed by ASPire, could be directly managed by China Mobile's data division following the restructuring. China Mobile holds a 60% stake in ASPire Holdings, which it established; Vodafone, Merrill Lynch, and HP, among others, hold smaller stakes. The company has four subsidiaries: ASPire Digital Technologies, ASPire Information Technologies (Shenzhen), ASPire Information Technologies (Beijing), and 139 Mobile Internet Information Services. A source inside ASPire said that according to the restructuring plan, ASPire Holdings has already been dissolved, as have three of its subsidiaries. The exception is ASPire Informat...

China Economic Review submits: Following comprehensive analysis of public information and extensive on-the-ground due diligence, our research team recommends that investors steer clear of Duoyuan Printing ( DYP ) due to poor corporate governance and suspect revenue data. Corporate governance: The company dismissed Deloitte as its auditor in response to queries over what on the surface seems to be a relatively small accounting issue . The CEO, CFO and three independent directors subsequently resigned. (See details here .) Suspect revenue data: The companys products do not appear to be well-known, but based on reported revenues alone ( see here ), it should be the second-largest market player in China. Duoyuan Printing and its subsidiaries design, develop and manufacture offset printing equipment and solutions in mainland China. It derives the vast majority of its revenue from the sale of single and multicolor offset press printing machines in single format and large format. T...

ChinaBio Today submits: Takeda Pharma of Japan ( TKPHF.PK ), which bills itself as the largest pharma in Asia, has signed an agreement with China Medical City in Taizhou. The companys China subsidiary will build facilities in CMC, including buildings for R&D, manufacturing and marketing of innovative drugs. The company candidly admits it is playing catch-up in China. We missed the boat several times in China, said Yasuchika Hasegawa, President of Takeda, last year. We are trying to catch the last boat. Takeda invested $150 million Takeda China, and the press release also said the subsidiary would have registered capital of $50 million. In its new-found commitment to China, Takeda pledged to send the best technology and talent to the PRC, according to Haruhiko Hirate, Chairman of the Asian Region for Takeda. However, he said the goal will be marketing to the entire populace of China and production of drugs there. He did not mention Complete Story

Old China Hand submits: CVVT is China's leading valve company and the primary industry consolidator, with three acquisitions in 2010. Revenues for 2010 increased by 92.6% while EPS grew by 45%, producing a historical P/E ratio of 4x. The company has been criticized for lack of transparency, and therefore, the Board of Directors on December 27th, 2010 voted to upgrade their auditors from Frazer Frost to a Big Four. Much has been said about CVVT guiding down 2011 revenues from 30% growth to the 25%-28% range (equating to $228 to $235 million). Q4 2010 revenues came in at $52 million compared to analyst expectations of $44 million. If the additional $8 million of revenues had not come through, 2010 revenues would have been reduced from $183 million to $175 million. 30% revenue growth for 2011 from that latter number is $227 million. So revenue projections for 2011 have actually been raised. Furthermore, in the Complete Story

Carlos X. Alexandre submits: c China is often admired as an economic miracle, especially since the government has been able to balance, thus far, a Communist/Socialist political infrastructure while operating a semi-capitalist free market. But as a side effect of a global economic slow down, and considering bits of information that filter out of an extremely well controlled society, Chinas economic power is beginning to be questioned. The often mentioned Chinese housing bubble appears in the headlines from time to time, despite a lack of understanding of what exactly is taking place. In the United States and Europe, citizens understand what happened, and why the housing market came crashing down: Runaway prices, fueled by extremely low rates, and a lack of banking oversight. The fallout from the excesses of the past are still with us, and as Reuters pointed out on March 16, U.S. Housing starts posted their biggest decline in 27 years in February Complete Story

Market Blog submits: By David Berman China has achieved yet another major milestone on its journey to economic superstardom: It has passed Japan as the second largest percentage of world market cap. According to Bespoke Investment Group , Chinas stock market accounts for a 7.38 per cent slice of the global total, versus 7.05 per cent for Japan's. Of course, Japans stock market was hammered in the wake of the devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis earlier this month, which put China in the passing lane. Japan could easily catch up as its companies get back on their feet. Still, its an early indication of where China is headed in the longer term. Its share of the global market was a mere 1.25 per cent in 2005. China has some room to grow before it threatens the United Complete Story

Hickey and Walters ( Bespoke ) submit: Japan's stock market declined nearly 20% in the days immediately following the tragic earthquake that hit the country on March 11. While Japanese equities have bounced back a bit, the fall allowed China to surpass Japan in terms of percentage of world market cap. Below is a table showing the percentage of world market cap for the largest equity markets in the world. As shown, the U.S. continues to hold onto the number one spot by a wide margin at 30.43%. Japan had the second-largest market cap in the world at the start of the year, but China has now surpassed Japan and currently ranks second. China currently makes up 7.38% of world market cap, while Japan makes up 7.05%. The U.K. ranks fourth at 6.49%, followed by Hong Kong (4.77%), Canada (4.38%), and France (3.59%). The table also shows where things stood at the start of 2005, the start Complete Story

Atticvs Research submits: China North East Petroleum Holding's ( NEP ) Q4 2010 earnings conference call on March 16 provided valuable insights into Shengyuan, the pending acquisition located in Inner Mongolia, as well as the companys existing business. NEP plans to drill 20-30 test wells in 2011 in the Durimu oilfield after completion of the Shengyuan acquisition and bring these into production as soon as practicable. The cost of drilling each well in the existing Jilin oilfield is about $340k (Yuan 2.0 to 2.5 million) and drilling costs at Durimu will be higher, although the company wont be able to give accurate guidance on costs or the overall drilling plan until its engineering team completes further work. The well-documented severe floods and landslides in China during Q2 and Q3 2010 hurt both oil production and drilling services, and escalated costs thereof during Q4. But now in Q1 2011, NEP is already back performing at fully Complete Story

Tyler Peglow submits: News for the aggregate Chinese small cap sector couldnt get much worse. On March 11, 2011, shares of China Media Express Holdings ( CCME ) were halted on account of "pending news" regarding accusations the company has been misstating revenue and earnings. CCME use to be the underground "darling" of sophisticated individual investors in small cap China because of its reported cheap valuation, boasted a top 4 auditor (Deloitte), the CFO (Jacky Lam) had made a recent "market" purchase of $1.5 million dollars of stock, and CCME had the financial backing in the form a $13.5 million dollar equity investment by the fund (Starr International CO.) ran by ex-Wall Street Titan Hank Greenberg. CCME was "reportedly" growing its business on the top and bottom line 30-40% and was trading for 5 or 6 times earnings. That all changed when on January 30 Citron Research issued a report detailing accusations that CCME was Complete Story

Ian Bezek submits: Investors in Yongye International ( YONG ) initially cheered the company's 4th quarter results released last week. The company beat expectations on revenues and earnings, and the stock initially traded higher. However, Yongye shares soon reversed, closing last week sharply lower despite the upbeat earnings announcement. Why the dour mood? Behind the pleasing top-line results lurk several significant problems that raise red flags about the company's operations and profitability. The first of these issues is a seemingly impossible figure reported in Yongye's 10-k released last week: Sales from Hebei increased 428% period over period in the second half year of 2010 and 111% year over year during the year of 2010. Sales from Hebei were 20 million in 2008, and 29 million in 2009, and 61 million in 2010. So how could sales have soared 428% in the second-half of 2010 versus the second-half of 2009? It seemed impossible, however further research Complete Sto...

New Finance submits: I am not afraid to admit when I am wrong, and I definitely appear to have missed the boat on China MediaExpress Inc. ( CCME ). Barring any ground breaking information or chest of gold hidden within the confines of the CCME compound, it looks like CCME has severely overstated many aspects of its business and simply conjured many cash balances. Despite warnings from Citron, Ian Bezek, Muddy Waters, Bronte Capital and pretty much every short on the planet, I was convinced that the stock was just an easy target. My convictions, as I was unable to fly to China on my own, were based on several factors that supported CCME as a legitimate company. Im going to go over them, and see if we can potentially use them looking forward to avoid other scams. Big 4 Auditor: What has Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu been doing all this time? This is the biggest Complete Story

Cullen Roche submits: There have been minor signs that one of my biggest Complete Story

Money Morning submits: By Jason Simpkins There's a sea change underway in China's economy - one that's evident in soaring prices, shrinking trade surpluses, and higher property values. And it's being driven by higher wages for workers that for decades have been grossly underpaid. From the country's fast-growing urban centers to its frontier countryside, wages are rising rapidly across China. China's 31 provinces boosted minimum wages by an average of 24% last year, according to Yin Weimin, China's minister of human resources and social security. Meanwhile, the average monthly income for migrant workers rose 13% to $256.89 (1,690 yuan). Six provinces already have raised minimum wages this year, and labor shortages and government mandates will likely compel the remaining 25 to follow suit. The central government is targeting an increase in minimum wages of 13% a year through 2015. Additionally, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabo aims to incre...

Douglas Borthwick submits: From October 22-23, 2010, the G20 finance ministers met in South Korea to discuss the world's imbalances in an effort to globally coordinate and unwind imbalances that resulted from the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the correlated flight to quality into the U.S. dollar. Going into the meeting the market was very aware of the 'beggar thy neighbor' policy being exercised throughout Asia and to a lesser extent Latin America; as each country sought to keep its currency weak via daily intervention. The G-20 Finance Minister Meeting culminated with what we described as a "Grand Bargain" between the United States and China. This bargain agreed China would gradually strengthen the Yuan while stimulating domestic demand, as agreed upon in China's 5-year plan. At the same time it would allow the U.S. to lower the value of the USD over time, thus stimulating the U.S. export business and helping enable President Complete Story

Robert Weinstein submits: "Attack when they are unprepared, make your move when they do not expect it." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War Chinese reverse merger stocks have been getting shot down so often lately that it appears as if they are in the video game called "Duck Hunt". Unfortunately for many investors, it's not electronic ducks taking hits, but their portfolio. The pattern seems to be fairly consistent. Relatively unknown halfway around the world, Chinese mid-capitalization stock is doing great both in stock performance and earnings performance. Short interest starts building with the stock, along with option activity, followed by allegations of fraud and misappropriation of company funds by management and/or management cooking the books. When the dust settles, shareholder value is largely destroyed. Some examples include: Rino Intl Corp ( RINO ) traded between $15 and $20 a share until fraud allegations besieged the company. RINO ended up getting halte...

Robert Weinstein submits: "Attack when they are unprepared, make your move when they do not expect it." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War Deer Consumer Products, Inc. ( DEER ), a $310 million market cap Chinese consumer product company, had its shares dumped after a SeekingAlpha.com article was published alleging management fraud. Specifically, the article focused on alleged fraudulent land purchases made by the company. DEER traded down over 20% after the article hit the wire. (Click to enlarge) The land purchase questions appear to have wiped out in equal or greater amount than the cost of the land in question. This is not what I would call the strongest hit piece on a company. China is full of fraud and corruption at just about every level, much greater than a level to which most Americans are accustomed. If there is something improper about the transaction, it may not be fraud against the shareholders; Complete Story

Rash Menaria submits: The following is a list of three top mid-cap gainers from Friday: Company name Symbol Quote change (%) Longtop Financial Technologies Ltd (ADR) LFT 11.50% BroadSoft Inc BSFT 10.51% CenterPoint Energy, Inc. CNP 9.67% Here are some of the specifics about these stocks and what to expect from them going forward: Longtop Financial Longtop Financial was up 11.5% on Friday. Its management announced a change in the companys HR structure and a $50 million stock buyback. These were viewed positively by the investors. Management announced that at least 80% of Longtop employees will now be directly contracted by Longtop subsidiaries, as opposed to third party staffing companies. Earlier ~86% of the companys employees were contracted from third party staffing companies. According...

Frank Voisin submits: A regular topic on this site has been the impact of China on U.S. firms, as well as the growing prevalence of Chinese firms listed in North American markets. The underlying quest here Is there still value in Chinese investments, or is China a bubble waiting to burst? But it is a real challenge for investors to research companies and get valid answers from a country with weak reporting standards and strong censorship, in a market where capitalism is on a short leash held by communists. And yet, Chinas magnificent growth and emergence as a new world superpower fascinates us and continues to attract foreign investment by the billions. In my efforts to learn more about Chinas markets, I recently read Red Capitalism: The Fragile Financial Foundation of Chinas Extraordinary Rise . This book provides a good summary of Chinas macroeconomic growth over the last few decades without shying away from Complete Story

ChinaBio Today submits: Four China API companies have been charged with price fixing in a U.S. antitrust case (see here ). According to the plaintiffs, the four companies, representing about 60% of the worlds vitamin C production, signed a document in 2001 limiting the amount of vitamin C each one could export. The defendants are not contesting the facts, choosing instead to raise an unusual defense: The government of China mandated the collusion. China credited increased surveillance for rapid identification of a new pathogen that caused death in 30% of all diagnosed cases (see here ). In 2009 and 2010, at least 240 cases of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) occurred in rural sections of eastern China. China scientists, working with a grant from the China Mega-Project for Infectious Diseases, identified a tick as the carrier. The researchers did not find evidence of human-to-human transmission. Transactions Jilin Jian Yisheng Pharma, a TCM drugmaker, c...

Alfred Little submits: After I pointed out here the likelihood that Deer Consumer Products (NASDAQ: DEER ) management intentionally overpaid by 50% when they purchased land use rights to 435 Mu (289,416 square meters) in Wuhu, management quickly responded in the 10-K filed on March 10th that: We have received a land certificate covering 289,415.79 square meters (435 Mu or 28.9416 hectares) in the first parcel of land, on which we anticipate building a new production facility. Management, however, failed to respond to the key issue of why they paid a unit purchase price of RMB 330K per Mu vs. an average price of 240K per Mu from the very close comparable land use rights sales in the same month, at the same location, as I showed ( here ) in a list of 17 very comparable transactions. After the urging of Global Hunter Securities analyst Joe Giamichael, DEER management followed up by filing an 8-K Complete Story

AmateurAnalyst submits: Shanghaied: To conscript services aboard a ship by force or deception, often with the use of drugs or liquor. It would seem as if Somalian pirates are not the only ones we have to worry about. Chinese micro caps have run aground amidst allegations of fraud. In the past, I have stood against such general claims for two companies: Keyuan Petrochemicals ( KEYP ) and Shengkai Innovations ( VALV ). I have done my best to objectively defend Shengkai Innovations with all the evidence that a student in college could be expected to come up with and more. I have spoken with investors who structured the initial reverse merger, employees of one of the institutional investors who held large stakes in the company, and members of the current underwriter all in an attempt to verify the existence and operations reported. I wanted to make sure that I had done all that was possible to Complete Story

World Economic ForumFor those that are wondering what in the world venture capital is, it is simply investment that is made in companies with extremely high potential, but have not yet started. To put that into layman's terms, it is basically just investment that you make into a company or group that doesn't really have anything yet. This form of investment is generally easier to get into but is harder to get results from. There are high risks in companies potentially crashing and causing you severe losses. The best tip while doing this sort of investment is to simply do some research. Ask around for consultants and see what they say. Do not simply call the company and ask them to do an introduction. While this is possibly one of the most vital things to do, you need to do other things too.

What's Happening APB sells Kingway stake Western companies eye China's booming Maotai market China's Richest Man Wants to Go Shopping HK people line up for Japanese milk powder Hong Kong Moms Empty Shelves of Japanese Baby Formula Amid Nuclear Scare China says milk products safe, but restoring consumer confidence takes time Argentine winemakers set sights on Asian markets Tea grower returns to plant his roots GLG Life Tech JV to launch first line of stevia-sweetened ready-to-drink beverages in China Tesco Invests In Chinese Shopping Centers China Nepstar Chain Drugstore Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2010 Financial Results

Empty cans are put on the shelves at a supermarket in Hong Kong for display only, as Japanese milk powder is sold out on March 16, 2011. Milk powder from Friso, Mead Johnson and other Japanese brands were out of stock at several supermarkets in Hong Kong. A few drugstores had a small supply, prompting people to flock to the stores, in turn causing prices to be raised. [Photo/CFP] Customers wait outside a store with a sign that reads "Japanese Milk Powder" before it opens in Hong Kong March 16, 2011. Hundreds of people in the territory, worrying that future Japanese baby products will be contaminated by radiation, have lined up for milk powder. [Photo/Agencies] Customers carry boxes of Japanese milk powder away from a store in Hong Kong March 16, 2011. Hundreds of people in the territory, worrying that future Japanese baby products will be contaminated by radiation, have lined up for milk powder. [Photo/Agencies]

Money Morning submits: budget. Complete Story

Vancl to Launch Recruitment Drive Tencent Tech, 3/17/11 Chinese B2C clothing website Vancl has announced that at the end of March it will launch a large-scale recruitment drive that will last at least six months, in order to match the company's rapid growth. Currently there are approximately 6,000 Vancl employees. The company believes that this number could grow to 20,000 by the end of 2011.

Dutch Trader submits: Despite the negative climate towards investing in U.S.-listed China stocks, I will share with you a list of Chinese sectors/stocks that I believe could benefit from the Japan earthquake. Steel Sector Japan's reconstruction activity and supply cut from Japan's steel exports (44% of China's steel was important from Japan) could drive growth here. A company that could be an interesting play is Ossen Innovation ( OSN ). This steel company manufactures and sells a wide variety of plain surface pre-stressed steel materials and rare earth coated and zinc coated pre-stressed steel materials. The company's products are mainly used in the construction of bridges, as well as in highways and other infrastructure projects. Ossen has two manufacturing facilities located in Maanshan, Anhui Province, and Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province, with a combined annual production capacity of 140,000 tons per year. Cement Sector Annual cement consumption in Japan is 44 mil...

Alfred Little submits: Introduction In this detailed report, I show that Deer Consumer Products Inc., (NASDAQ: DEER ), a producer of small kitchen appliances located in China, has substantially inflated both its sales and profit margins and failed to disclose direct competition from entities related to its chairman. Additionally, management recently announced two major land purchases at prices that are at least 50% above closely comparable sales that occurred in the same month on the same street. The timing, nature and lack of documentation and disclosure regarding these land purchases make it very likely DEER management misappropriated over $12 million in company funds. I have organized my findings into six sections as set forth below. 1. Management misappropriated over $12 million on two recent land purchases 2. High profit margins are impossible 3. Extensive 10-city, 60-store channel check confirms very weak domestic retail sales 4. Questionable revenue ...

Douglas W. House submits: The most enduring impact of lifes many lessons that we endure are those that reach deep into our souls. The ones that go straight to our core, the ones that sting. Who doesnt have a vivid memory of love lost or the unexpected pink slip? Its like being electrocuted. Youre stunned and shocked. For long investors, the equities market offers another way to step on the third rail. Bad news. Who hasnt seen a stock drop 40%, 50% or more in a matter of seconds? If youre holding it, its scary, brutal and merciless. Experiencing just one of these will provide a wonderfully effective lesson for an individual investor. Its the most common method the market employs to shine a bright light on your experience, skills and knowledge. In short, youll know quite clearly whether or not you honestly know what youre doing. Ive been following Chinese stocks for some Complete Story

Rumor: Giant MMO to Charge Player-to-Player Transaction Fees Sina Tech, 3/15/11 According to one industry source, Chinese online game developer and operator Giant Interactive (NYSE: GA) is finalizing a new revenue model for its self-developed MMORPG ZT Online II. As opposed to its first-generation pay-to-play model and second-generation standard free-to-play model, ZT Online II's third generation business model is rumored to differ from its predecessors with the adoption of a more diverse economic system. The new model is free-to-play but with no operator-to-player virtual items market. Instead, Giant will earn a commission from player-to-player sales of virtual items collected from slain monsters and quests. With this new model the majority of game operator revenue will come from such commissions. Editor's Note: For more background on this topic, please see "Giant to Launch MMO Promotional Campaign in Q2 2011" MD 2/23/11 issue.

Danny Furman submits: Since a natural disaster and nuclear spillover in Japan shocked the world last week, mayhem has continued there both physically and financially. While the sad situation continues and hopefully begins to turn around, worldwide financial implications are as hotly debated a topic as any in the media today. For example: Is the Nikkei Index oversold temporarily or in a bear market to oblivion? Will commodities rally as Japan rebuilds or resume a downward slide that began in February? What will the BOJ's actions, among other things, do to the Yen? Those are all tough questions, at least much tougher than this one: What will happen in the coming months, and possibly beyond, to travel and tourism in East Asia? I say East Asia because every traveler will interpret the situation differently. Some may simply avoid areas authorities exclude them from visiting while others may nix much anticipated ventures to South Complete Story

Patrick Chovanec submits: Senior officials of Chinas central bank, the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC), have left a trail of curious statements over the past month that appears to tell an interesting tale. The story starts with an interview PBOC Governor Zhou Xiaochaun gave at the G20 meeting in Paris on February 18, in which he said China would use all mechanisms at its disposal, including bank reserve requirements, interest rates, and the exchange rate, to combat inflation: Zhou Xiaochuan, the nations central bank governor, said reserve requirements are just one tool to curb price gains in the fastest-growing major economy. "We cant really say that its the only method that well use to battle inflation, its about using all means including rates and currency, " he said in a Feb. 18 interview. "One method doesnt exclude the other, " said Zhou, who was attending a Group of 20 nations summit in Paris. Another source, Complete Story

China Economic Review submits: Following comprehensive analysis of public information and extensive on-the-ground due diligence, we believe China Biotics ( CHBT ) may have fabricated revenues and earnings reported to U.S. regulators. We believe the claimed distribution channels for its retail products in the Shanghai market are wildly overstated, and that the products themselves are not popular enough to justify reported revenue figures. The firm's Shanghai production facility appear not to be large enough to generate the implied output of retail products. All bulk additives customers named by the company denied the existence of any business relationship. China Biotics is engaged in the research, development, production, marketing and distribution of probiotics products. These contain live bacteria, which act as dietary supplements and food additives to improve intestinal health and digestion. China Biotics' business consists of two segments: retail probiotics produ...

Randy Durig submits: Duoyuan Global Water Inc. ( DGW ) See Part 1 Per share values on 02-25-2011: Market value $9.15 Cash $6.29 Equity value $2.86 Shares 24.61 million (Introduction from Part 1) Duoyuan Global Water Inc. is a leading China-based water treatment equipment supplier. It has been continuously developing advanced water treatment technologies for multiple end users including municipal, industrial and residential clients. Currently, it offers more than 100 water treatment solutions. We selected Duoyuan Global Water Inc. because it is one of the select few that fit our model. Our goal is to select, purchase and continually monitor companies in an effort to obtain outstanding performing investments while minimizing risk by finding low values for our clients. We covered part of our review and selection process as well as explain why Duoyuan Globa...

Patrick Chovanec submits: Senior officials of Chinas central bank, the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC), have left a trail of curious statements over the past month that appears to tell an interesting tale. The story starts with an interview PBOC Governor Zhou Xiaochaun gave at the G20 meeting in Paris on February 18, in which he said China would use all mechanisms at its disposal, including bank reserve requirements, interest rates, and the exchange rate, to combat inflation: Zhou Xiaochuan, the nations central bank governor, said reserve requirements are just one tool to curb price gains in the fastest-growing major economy. We cant really say that its the only method that well use to battle inflation, its about using all means including rates and currency, he said in a Feb. 18 interview. One method doesnt exclude the other, said Zhou, who was attending a Group of 20 nations summit in Paris. Another source, Complete Story

IPOdesktop submits: Based in Guangdong (84 air miles from Hong Kong), Guangzhou, China, Global Market Group (GMC) is scheduling a $132 million IPO with a market capitalization of $607 million at the price range mid-point of $12, for Friday, March 18. Joint managers are Deutsche ( DB ) and Piper ( PJC ). Co-managers are Cowen ( COWN ) and Oppenheimer ( OPY ). Each ADS represents 10 shares. GMC has carved out a profitable niche connecting high-quality manufacturers in China to international buyers. GMC increased its manufacturing clients by 90% in 2010 to 1,636 as of December 2010, compared with 2009. According to the iResearch Report, GMC is the only e-commerce service provider in Chinas B2B e-commerce industry that focuses on providing export marketing services to high-quality manufacturers in China. During 2010, GMC generated very good sequential quarterly progress in both top line revenue and bottom line profits. For calendar 2010, GMC showed a very high gross margin at Complet...

Robert Weinstein submits: Sun Tsu's The Art of War : So there are five ways of knowing who will win. Those who know when to fight and when not to fight are victorious. Those who discern when to use many or few troops are victorious. Those whose upper and lower ranks have the same desire are victorious. Those who face the unprepared with preparation are victorious. Those whose generals are able and are not constrained by their governments are victorious. These five are the ways to know who will win. China MediaExpress Holdings Inc. ( CCME ), the hotly debated "is it a fraud? is it not a fraud?" Chinese advertising company, appears to be in the process of a total implosion. It appears that the warnings of Citron Research , Muddy Waters Research , and SAs Roddy Boyd turned out to be correct. Investors have plenty to fear with CCME. In what seems to be a never-ending Complete Story

Ian Bezek submits: It's been a bad week for Chinese companies formed by reverse mergers. China Agritech ( CAGC ) announced the formation of a special committee to investigate allegations against the company and it also dismissed its auditor . China MediaExpress ( CCME ), whose stock has been halted since Friday, announced Monday afternoon that its CFO has resigned and that its auditor has quit. Both of these stocks have been vitriolic battlegrounds between longs and shorts. I previously warned investors to avoid China Agritech ( CAGC ) and I noted the huge skew in the options market suggesting that the smart money thought (correctly) that China MediaExpress was a fraud. Now it is time to look at other Chinese reverse-merger birthed companies that will receive special attention in the wake of the problems with China Agritech and China MediaExpress. China Biotics ( CHBT ) -- Citron Research (who correctly called CCME too good to be true) also has been on Complete Story

Atticvs Research submits: During recent times, the media has been awash with reports about the perils of investing in U.S.- listed Chinese companies. Without doubt, some of these invariably negative reports have been warranted, and are doing investors a highly valuable service when they root out companies guilty of malpractice. However, some reports seem ill-researched and do little other than jump onto a xenophobic bandwagon. And then there are those reports that are clearly the product of diligent work by short selling groups who are trying to make a buck, even if that entails disseminating statements that are less than true. It is clear that short players have deliberately targeted Chinese small cap stocks. Even leaving aside the well-publicized examples of Chinese company malpractice which are in fact no more prevalent than with U.S. companies -- it is not really surprising that the sector attracts short players. Chinese companies file reports with Complete Story

Sold At The Top submits: Looking deeper into todays OECD Leading Indicator release , one notable trend, namely the near simultaneous slowing of India and China, sticks out as very important development when considering macro-economic conditions going forward. One theme that has been spun numerous times since the lows of March of 2009 is that outsized growth in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) emerging economies would provide the global economy the boost it needed to shake off the malaise of the collapse and maintain an ongoing expansion. It could easily be argued that investor enthusiasm for the speculative potential in these hot economies (along with the suspension of mark-to-market accounting and a few trillion here and there from the Feds) did, in fact, help to turn the trend during the dire days of early 2009 but many have taken the idea of these emerging economies actually driving the global economy with a "grain-of-salt " especially Complete St...

Saj Karsan submits: Deswell Industries ( DSWL ) manufactures plastic, metal and electronic components for equipment manufacturers. As one might expect, business has slowed as a result of the recession. Revenues fell almost 40% in 2010, but they have started to tick back up in recent quarters. Meanwhile, the stock price has fallen some 75% since its 2007 high. As a result, the company trades for just $55 million, while it has a cash position of $33 million, zero debt and operating income of a combined $22 million in 2007 and 2008. In addition, the stock trades at a slight discount to the company's net current assets. Clearly, if earnings can return anywhere close to where they were before the recession, this investment should pay off handsomely. Often, value investors can make money by investing in cyclical companies when things look bleak . But to be successful in doing so, they must be able to distinguish Complete Story

Carnegie Endowment submits: Chinas National Peoples Congress (NPC) and its Peoples Political Consultative Congress (CPPCC) have been meeting for the past week. The results so far suggest that policy remains steady as you go, mixed with cautions against political reform. The economy: The most crucial outcome of these annual meetings is the NPCs political work report by Premier Wen Jiabao, setting forth the benchmarks for economic growth for the year ahead. This year, Wen said the target for GDP growth will be reduced to 7 percent. Wens target offered reassurance to those who believe the economy overheated in response to the post-financial crisis stimulus program and is at risk of significant inflation. It also signaled that the Chinese leadership is adjusting the country to more sustainable levels of growth than have prevailed in recent decades. The reassurances will need to be scrutinized closely, however, as Premier Wen last year called for a growth Complete Story

Ambow, Microsoft Establish Training Base in Liaoning Ambow, 3/14/11 Chinese education service firm Ambow Education Group (NYSE: AMBO) has received initial approval for its plan to set up a service-outsourcing career enhancement base together with Microsoft in Dandong, a city in the northeastern province of Liaoning. The base will be a platform for an integrated solution to Dandong's growing demand for software outsourcing personnel, offering a comprehensive training program adapted from the Microsoft IT Academy's curriculum, teaching materials, education training modules, and accreditations. In addition, there will be services such as job placement for students, recruitment for companies, and further career advancement opportunities for individuals. Targeted to begin operation later this year, the base will leverage the facilities of Eastern Liaoning University in its early stage of development. It is planning to train a total of 10,000 Microsoft-accredited service outsourcing ...

There is an old saying in the world of global investing: "When the U.S. sneezes, the world catches a cold." Today, the U.S. is still recovering from a cold and U.S. consumers do not appear to be the engine of growth they once were. On the other hand, the huge population in China that is moving towards the middle class is a key driver of global demand. Hence, it seems that "When China sneezes, the world catches a cold may be the more relevant saying today. The current news cycle is full of concern over unrest in the Middle East and its impact on oil prices. This situation can have implications for the global economy, and may be pushing China headlines to the background, but there are still plenty of opinions about the future of China and its long-term prospects for investing. However, it is not to hard to believe Complete Story

Money Morning submits: By Kerri Shannon American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG ) on Thursday offered to pay $15.7 billion for a portfolio of mortgage-backed securities the Federal Reserve Bank of New York acquired when it bailed out the collapsing insurer during the financial crisis. The New York Fed set up the fund, named Maiden Lane II, in 2008 to buy from AIG about 800 securities that were backed by subprime home loans. "The conditions that necessitated Maiden Lane II in the first place have been resolved," AIG said in a letter Thursday to the New York Fed. The company said it is now more stable and can match the assets with "appropriate longer-term insurance liabilities, not shorter-term liabilities." AIG originally purchased the mortgage-backed securities with collateral from Wall Street banks in securities-lending deals. When the housing market collapsed, AIG couldn't reimburse banks that wanted their collateral back. The...

Econ Grapher submits: This week the focus is on China and global monetary policy. First up we look at China's vital stats for February: inflation, retail sales, industrial production, and international trade. Some of the data is a little distorted due to the holiday season in China, but there are still some interesting insights. Finally we check out some of the seven interest rate changes that various central banks around the world announced over the past week. 1. China Inflation China reported inflation of 4.9% in February, the same figure as in January. The figure was largely driven by food price inflation, with the prices of foodstuffs rising 11.0% but with non-foodstuffs also showing signs of life, rising 2.3% year on year. The other key category was housing, which rose 6.1%, showing the Chinese housing market is still chugging along, with a mind boggling rate of new buildings under way (e.g. the government's Complete Story

Patrick Chovanec submits: Two important pieces of economic data came out in China over the past two days. Ill deal with the more straightforward story first. On Friday, Chinas Consumer Price Index (CPI), a standard measure of inflation, came in at a year-on-year increase of 4.9% for February , the same rate as in January. The number suggests that while inflation isnt getting dramatically worse, it hasnt gotten any better either, despite two months of tighter anti-inflationary policies. Even the most optimistic analysts suspect a substantial amount of further tightening will be needed to bring the rate down to the governments 2011 target of 4%. Now onto a somewhat more complicated subject. China released its monthly trade figures on Thursday, showing a $7.3 billion trade deficit in February. Since China usually runs trade surpluses and large ones at that the news attracted a lot of attention and prompted plenty of speculation about Complete Story