Investment strategy: Many factors will affect our investment strategy in 2010 not the least of which will be the continued development of the Chinese dragon. The transformation of China into an economic powerhouse will lead to many dynamic investment opportunities for those who can separate the proverbial wheat from the shaft.
I can think of no better international combine driver than our own research guru, Gary Rosenthal. When he simply touches a shaft of wheat a loaf of bread materializes. Am I bias because he is my father as well as a partner at RCM? Maybe, but proof of his personal success can be found under the ‘Charts & Graphs’ page of our website www.rosenthalcapital.com. Review ‘Gary’s Rosenthal’s rollover IRA’ section and judge for yourself whether my sentiments are justified or exaggerated.
Welcome to Our Research Room:
Bret: Gary, China has offered fertile soil from which to reap investment returns for some years now. Why do you feel 2010 may offer continued opportunity?
Gary: On Friday Jan. 1st 2010 a China and Asean free trade deal began. This is a major event on par with China being allowed into the World Trade Organization in Dec. 2001. I believe this Asean free trade deal among nearly 1.9bn people will further accelerate the growth in Asia. Furthermore, China has established initial agreements to settle trade in local Asian currencies, not the US$. The stage is set for Asia to roar away from the U.S. and to establish the Yuan (Rinmembi) as a hard currency.
Bret: Forgive this question for being the softball it is and riddle me this: What do you believe is in store for the US$ this year and how would you structure a portfolio to benefit.
Gary: Softball? More like a pumpkin or watermelon! Take my previous comments, add Quantitative Easing (unlimited Dollar printing) to declining Dollar demand in Asia and you have the blueprint for a dramatically lower Dollar over time. An appropriate long term investment strategy: Precious metals, industrial metals, energy, agriculture and well researched high growth Chinese equity ideas.
Stories reported since Jan. 1 2010 supporting the Chinese theme:
Asian consumers most upbeat, American sentiment dips – Reuters.com
Reuters.com reports consumer confidence is strongest in emerging Asia, Brazil and Australia, but weakened slightly in the United States in the fourth quarter as Americans worried about job security, a survey showed. Consumer sentiment was highest in Indonesia, followed by India and Brazil, and was weakest in Japan and South Korea, according to the survey conducted by Nielsen Company a month ago. Globally, the Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index averaged a reading of 87 points in the fourth quarter, little changed from the third quarter but 5 points higher than the second quarter. The U.S. reading dipped to 82 in the fourth quarter from 84 three months earlier, reflecting concern about rising unemployment and ranking U.S. confidence at 18th among the 29 markets surveyed worldwide.
China raises key interbank rate – WSJ
The Wall Street Journal reports China’s central bank unexpectedly raised a key interbank market interest rate Thursday for the first time in nearly five months, signaling a change in its policy focus toward pre-empting inflation risks in the new year. The tightening move, in the form of a higher yield in its weekly bill sale, came less than a day after the People’s Bank of China hinted its priorities had shifted toward managing inflation expectations and away from single-mindedly supporting economic growth. It also shows the PBOC still prefers using liquidity management tools, rather than policy interest rates, to guide market funding costs gradually higher before inflation becomes a real threat, analysts said. In its weekly open-market operation, the central bank sold 60 bln yuan ($8.8 bln) worth of three-month bills at 1.3684% Thursday, after keeping the yield unchanged at 1.3280% since Aug. 13. The PBOC drained a net 137 bln yuan from the money market this week, its biggest weekly fund withdrawal in nearly three months. The central bank has been draining liquidity for 13 consecutive weeks.
Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) — China overtook Germany as the world’s top exporter last year, data compiled by Global Trade Information Services Inc. show.
China shipped products worth $957.7 billion in the first 10 months of 2009, while Germany sold goods worth $917.7 billion to customers abroad, according to an Internet database operated by Columbia, South Carolina-based GTI. Exports from China exceeded German shipments every month since April last year, data show.
China has already slipped past Germany to become the world’s third-largest economy and is forecast to overtake Japan this year, assuming the No. 2 spot behind the U.S. Exports have driven a 15-fold increase in China’s economy to more than $3.8 trillion since the nation opened its doors to foreign trade and investment in 1978. READ MORE…
China approves stock futures, margin trading – AP
AP reports Chinese regulators have approved the launch of stock futures and a trial run of margin trading, a state news agency said, in a move that could help boost stock prices and increase the role of China’s securities markets in financing economic development. It will take about three months to complete preparations for stock futures, the China News Service said Friday. It said the trial of margin trading – buying stocks with cash borrowed from a broker – might be followed by full-scale use but gave no indication when that might happen. The decision was long-awaited by investors. Rumors that the innovations might be introduced this week helped to push up stock prices. They fell back when the changes failed to materialize.
