Displaying items by tag: China

(Beijing)

If one thing has been clear over the last couple of years, it is that US-China relations are getting worse. It started earlier in Trump’s term and has escalated in a tit-for-tat battle over the last couple years. Some refer to it as a great “uncoupling” while others say it is a new cold war. Whatever you call it, there are a handful of sectors that will do well as the situation unfolds. One such sector is automation and robotics companies. These companies are likely to do very well as US businesses are forced to re-shore manufacturing from China and seek out automation to make the return more economical.

FINSUM: A major decoupling will be a very ugly event. US companies do $500 bn of sales in China each year. The automation play makes sense. Check out the Robotics ETF (ROBO).

(New York)

Markets were up big today on news out of China. The day started with Chinese stocks surging on news from the government—Chinese state media told its people that they should load up on stocks. This sent hopes for a recovery soaring around the global and markets rose strongly. Beyond the state’s endorsement, the Chinese economy does seem to be dong well. “In recent weeks the data has looked very positive from China. Its economy is back in motion, and that should lift global equities a bit”, summarized Principal Global Investors chief strategist, Seema Shah.

FINSUM: The state media announcement seems a bit hollow, but since real economic data in China appears to be improving, the overall direction looks positive.

(San Francisco)

Apple’s stock has suffered significantly last week since it announced that it would likely miss its revenue targets because of the virus outbreak in China. The stock is down 7% since the announcement and there is increasing speculation the damage may not be transient. The whole incident calls into question whether the country is too reliant on China for production (and also for sales). Many Wall Street analysts have pushed lost revenue for this quarter into other quarters, but it is not at all inconceivable to think that some of the sales may be lost permanently as consumers could have bought rival products, or just won’t switch at all (especially those in China).

FINSUM: Apple should probably work to adjust its supply chain as a reaction to this, but that seems unlikely. Hard to tell how this plays out; it depends on the news cycle.

(New York)

An adviser to the World Health Organization has put out a very worrying forecast. He thinks that coronavirus may end up infecting two-thirds of the globe. The forecast is based on studies of the virus’ transmissibility, which has been on display in China. The prognostication also comes after rising evidence mounts that Beijing is falsifying, or at least underrepresenting, the number of cases reported. Scientists have found very odd and near-impossible correlations within the data China is releasing on this virus.

FINSUM: We don’t think China is being fully honest about the extent of cases, which then amplifies the transmissibility of the virus.

(Beijing)

Just when you thought the market’s worries over coronavirus might be in the rear view mirror, more bad news has just struck. The largest single day rise in cases just occurred, with China reporting an additional 15,000 cases in a single day. That rise was more than 10x the previous day’s increase. The country reacted by firing top health officials in the Hubei province, which is the epicenter of the outbreak.

FINSUM: When you combine this information with the growing chatter than China may be drastically under-reporting cases, it makes sense markets are worried. 60m people in China are currently under quarantine. Economic damage is inevitable.