Chinese shares pummeled in Hong Kong

Investors are pricing in a much slower Chinese economy as disappointing economic numbers come in and today was the worst one-day decline in the past three months. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index tracks H-shares in Hong Kong. Today, the HSCE was knocked for a 3.4% loss and was down as much as 3.7% late in the day. Beijing Capital International Airport (0694) was hit for a 7.1% loss. Jianxi Copper (0358) fell 6.0%; Sinofert (0297) lost 5.9%; China Minsheng Bank (1988) declined 6.2%; Sands China (1928) slid 4.9%; CITIC (6030) tumbled 5.7%; and Chow Tai Fook (1929) plunged 9.6%.

In the real estate sector, Sino-Ocean (3377) sank 7.5%; Guangzhou R&F (2777) fell 6.6%; China Resources Land (1109) declined 6.1%; SOHO China (0410) lost 4.1%. On the Mainland, Vanke (000002.SZ) fell 3.4%, well ahead of the 1.2% drop in the Shanghai Composite.

Nice move for GR Vietnam - Watch List Update

I added GR Vietnam (0139.HK)to my watch list of Hong Kong and Mainland listed stocks because it provides exposure to the Vietnamese consumer market. Shares have popped in the past week though. It had been sitting around HK$0.05 to HK$0.06 for about three months, but it rose to HK$0.17 today. It's up 246% since I added it to my watch list on January 22.

Other shares are up as well due to an overall market rally. The best performers among my January 22 new additions was Ming Hing Water (added January 20; 0402.HK), up 7.69%; Sinoma (1893.HK, up 7.91%; China Dongxiang (3818.HK), up 16.35%; Lingbao Gold (3330.HK), up 43.37%; and Zijin Mining (2899.HK), up 21.50%. The worst performance came from Sinofert (0297.HK), down 3.16%; and Swire Pacific (added January 7; 0019.HK), a Marc Faber pick, down 18.08%.

There's still plenty of shares on my list down in a range from 30-60+%, especially in the materials sector.

China's stimulus package should deliver a boost to some infrastructure companies. I notice the chart on Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery <上海振华港机>(600320.SS) has had a nice steady rebound from November.

Mengniu (2319.HK), mentioned on this blog before, lost 10% on Wednesday and fell as much as 20% during the day. Caijing<财经> has two articles on the company: Chemical Additives in Mengniu Milk Prohibited and Dumex, Mengniu Dairy Products under Probe. Originally I thought they'd be able to pull out of the scandal, but the brand erosion may be approaching the point of no return.