Why Is Oil Down? China's "Open Secret" Slowdown

Wondering why oil is down? Demand is down. Saudi Arabia Says Hard for OPEC to Give Up Market Share

Global oil markets are experiencing “temporary” instability caused mainly by a slowdown in the world economy, Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said, according to comments published yesterday by the Saudi Press Agency. He reiterated the country’s intention to maintain output amid plunging prices.

China's slowdown is an open secret: for all the government is blamed for massaging the data, it puts out a lot of data that shows sharp slowdowns in various sectors and geographic regions. The charts below are cherry picked to show where the economy is slowing. The slowdown/recession is still concentrated in the northeast and real estate related sectors, although the drop in electricity production and autos hints at a widening slowdown.

Auto production is down.

Related: Massive Volume "Panic Selling" Cuts Warren Buffett's Chinese Car Maker BYD In Half Overnight

The reason - perhaps unsurprising - given by some is worries over Mainland China IPOs "caused a liquidity squeeze," as the recent rally in mainland shares is led by leverage financing leading to major margin-calls on modest drops. Is it any wonder the PBOC is trying to tamp down the speculation.

I don't think so, since earlier this month a CASS researcher explained how smart money is buying when there are liquidity freezes. Also, BYD trades in HK, not only the Mainland, but the drop was larger in the market without a liquidity freeze......ZeroHedge links to a story with the real reason (reason not in headline): China Stocks Fall From 4-Year High on IPO Concern as BYD Slumps

BYD, the automaker partially owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., slumped as much as 47 percent in Hong Kong and plunged by the daily limit in Shenzhen.

......The shares slid 10 percent in Shenzhen. Investors are speculating on BYD’s outlook after Geely Automobile Holdings forecast a plunge in profits on the slumping ruble, said Mari Oshidari, a Hong Kong-based strategist at Okasan Securities Group Inc.

The contagion begins? BYD addressed 6 rumors today: 比亚迪紧急会议澄清六大传言：王传福没“出事”

1. Russia is not the presence of large amounts of foreign exchange losses, BYD sales to Russia a year only a few hundred thousand dollars ; 2. electric cars are all running correctly; 3. battery factory normal operation; 4. for the reduction of major investors rumors, investors and members through communication, nor understand; 5. the possibility of Buffett's holdings of small, recently did a communication; 6. Wang no "trouble", he still presided over the shareholders' meeting yesterday, today also met with the staff.

Electricity production:

Cement production:

Industrial production in China's industrial heartland. Hebei technically isn't in the northeast, but has many steel mills. Beijing and national rate in for comparison.

Real estate investment in Liaoning province, Heilongjiang and Jilin.

Buffett buying China Rare Earth?

It makes some sense since he's invested in a Chinese car company that needs rare earth elements, but at this point I think it's more rumor than anything. The impetus for this rumor was the halting of China Rare Earth (0769.HK) for a share placement.

Rare hopes for a Buffett bonanza

Rumors that US billionaire Warren Buffett will take part in a share placement by China Rare Earth (0769) has raised hopes the firm may be the next to get the "Midas touch" after PetroChina (0857) and BYD (1211).
The rare earth and refractory products maker is selling 100 million new shares to raise HK$395 million, Reuters reported.

At HK$3.95 each, the offer is a 10 percent discount to the stock's last closing price of HK$4.39 on Wednesday.

An over-allotment issue of 20 million shares could boost the total amount HK$474 million. Analysts estimate CRE's share price to soar after it resumes trading because of the "Buffett effect."

H-Shares Near or at 52-week highs

I posted this list on the "mirror" site, and I'm not about to translate it at this hour. Add .hk to the symbols and you can see them on Yahoo!, or click the links and change the page to English. First are near 52 week high, then at 52 week high, and then I have one Mainland stock, Emei Shan. This list is not total, nor any recommendation, just some stocks off one watch list. Many are tech, commodity, and consumer stocks.

很多我经常看看的股票快到52周高：
香港交易所 0388

越秀投资 0213

中国粮油控股 0606

紫金矿业 2899

有的已经到了！
腾讯控股 0700

京信通信 2342

金山软件 3888

阿里巴巴 1688

中国食品 0506

康师傅控股 0322

中国旺旺 0151

比亚迪股份 1211

中国动向 3818

大陆
峨眉山 000888.SZ

Update 2009-06-03: Clive Corcoran has an article on Seeking Alpha, the title of which explains the content: 

Hong Kong Index Ends at Exactly 38% Retracement of Swing High/Low

China‘s Going Electric!

Dongfeng Nissan said it plans to roll out its first electric car in China in 2011, one year earlier than scheduled.

Nissan's alliance with Renault earlier signed a cooperative memorandum on promoting the use of electric vehicles with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Under the memorandum, Nissan will provide information about the development of electric vehicles and formulate plans of the construction of battery recharge networks and promote the wide use of electric vehicles.

东风日产拟于2011年在华推出电动车

大谷俊明透露，东风日产原计划在2012年将电动车引入中国，但是由于形势的变化，将这一时间提前到了2011年。他表示，电动车不是只要能动就可以，而是在不牺牲驾乘体验的前提下实现零排放。因此，东风日产一旦开始将电动车引入中国，一定是以大规模的推进为目标的。

　　4月初，雷诺-日产联盟宣布与中国工业和信息化部（下称工信部）在中国国内推广零排放汽车项目上达成合作伙伴关系。根据协议，日产汽车将为工信部提供电动汽车发展的相关信息，制定包括电池充电网络建立和维护、促进电动汽车大规模使用的综合规划。

　　大谷俊明说，根据工信部的部署，中国将在13个城市进行电动车的试点工作，这一过程中，需要考虑充电站等基础设施如何布局，如何出台鼓励措施。虽然双方的合作还在信息交流阶段，但2011年已经不远，东风日产会尽快启动小规模的试点工作。

Shares of BYD (1211.HK) popped after Warren Buffett's purchase became public:

Some say it's mystic
It's electric
Boogie woogie, woogie
You can't resist it
It's electric
Boogie woogie, woogie
You can't do without it
It's electric
Boogie woogie, woogie