More on the Alipay dispute

Caixin is stayaing on top of the Alipay dispute, with this latest article giving a background to the situation.

Getting to the Bottom of the Alipay Dispute

Alipay fiasco

Caixin has a summary of the Alipay fiasco and they've also written an editorial very critical of Alibaba founder Jack Ma. In sum, Jack Ma was seen as one of the country's leading entrepreneurs, earning widespread acclaim abroad as well as at home. His actions fit the foreign stereotype of shady Chinese business practices, stripping a company of the good assets while leaving the foreigners with the stub. Thus, he has caused damage not only to his own reputation and company, but to all of China.

Alipay Dispute

Of course, prices are falling anyway due to declining social mood and pure fraud cases are piling up, as overseas listed Chinese shares face intense scrutiny from short sellers.

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

2009/05/07 News

Light posting lately. I've been studying up on the German hyperinflation (德国恶性通货膨胀) of the early 1920s, and will post about it in future.

Markets are gaining on no news and bad news (stress tests at U.S. banks). China's PMI numbers indicate economic expansion in April, and positive reports from companies such as Alibaba (1688.HK) have helped send the market higher. Optimism is in charge.

On to gold and gold miners:
From the Financial Times: China to continue buying gold

China is likely to buy more gold as a means of diversifying its foreign exchange reserves, after having recently doubled its holdings of the precious metal, the Financial Times reported, citing gold analysts.

The newspaper said analysts believe China will buy gold mostly from domestic producers to avoid pushing international prices higher.

More here:中国将继续增加黄金
Domestic producers include Sino Gold (1862.HK), Lingbao Gold (3330.HK), Zijin Mining (2899.HK), and Jinshan Gold (JIN.TO).

From Caijing:

Zijin Mining Shareholder Cuts Stake
Zijin Mining Group Co, China's largest gold producer, said its second-largest individual shareholder has lowered his stake to 1.72 percent from 2.24 percent.
Ke Xiping sold around 74.8 million Zijin Mining shares between April 27 and May 5.
After the sale, Ke and Hengxing Group, in which Ke holds 95.4 percent, held a combined 4.99 percent of Zijin Mining.

紫金矿业第二大自然人股东减持7477万股

And finally, the big news:

Taiwan and China are planning to permit trading of each others’ shares for the first time as ties improve 60 years after their civil war ended.

A so-called trading platform may list as many as 30 stocks from each market, said Schive Chi, chairman of the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Now, investors are restricted from directly investing in each others’ equities. An agreement on the dual-listing of exchange-traded funds is also expected this year, he said.

iShares Taiwan (EWT)is 65 percent off it's lows this year. The potential gains for Taiwan's economy and stock market are much greater than for China, due to their relative size, but the cross-straits trade will be a boost to the entire region's economy.