2016-05-26

Sign of the Bear in Low Volume, Delistings

Bull markets peak with a frenzy, and while a bear market will see peak volume days amid a crash, they end with a disinterested public and companies delisting.

SCMP: Hard landing: China brokerages look to cut bonuses, staff as markets snooze
Bye-bye fat red envelops. China’s securities brokerage companies are bracing for their very own hard landing as turnover on the stock markets plumbs depths not seen in more than one a half years.
“We now have a headcount freeze. The headquarters are cutting down on expenses, including overseas trips, to control costs. Things are becoming tight and there is no sign of any recovery,” said a senior executive at a China-based brokerage who did not want to be identified.
Many brokerages are delaying bonuses, which would run to several times the monthly pay in the go-go years.
SCMP: Peak Sport latest to consider leaving Hong Kong stock exchange amid low trading volumes
“The trading volume of Hong Kong stocks has been very low in the past month,” said Wong Chi-man, head of research at China Galaxy International Securities. “Many mid- and small-cap stocks only have some hundreds of thousands transactions a day. For them, Hong Kong has already lost its function as a financing platform.”

Peak’s price to earnings ratio (P/E) was only nine times before it announced the buyout plan.

That compares with an average 37 times for firms trading on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, which is dominated by small- and medium-sized companies.

There are a rising number of companies feeling dissatisfied with their Hong Kong shares’ weak trade.

Billionaire Wang Jianlin is preparing to take his Hong Kong-listed Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties private as he believes it has been undervalued on the city’s market.

Brazil’s Vale S.A., the world’s biggest iron ore producer, is another company leaving Hong Kong. On Wednesday it said the Hong Kong stock exchange had approved the withdrawal of its HDRs (Hong Kong depositary receipts) after they had been listed for five years.

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