Friday, October 12, 2007
Broad indexes are up 120% this year; the average IPO makes 192% in its first day; even blue chip stocks are nearly doubling every year; and there are more IPOs than ever before in history. Sound familiar? No, it's not the dot-com boom of 1999. Rather it's the manufacturing boom being seen in China right now... and it's the next big bubble.

Just how crazy has it become? Well, China Shenhua Energy recently IPO'd and rose 87% in its debut to which its chairman said he "was not totally satisfied". Low floats, spectacular valuations, investment restrictions, and a greedy market has made China the next big bubble and many say is approaching critical mass.

Bullish investors insist that the Chinese bubble differs greatly from the dot-com boom in the United States. After all, these companies are actually generating real profits with real businesses supported by a robust economy. However, bears are quick to point out that the valuations are still just as bad with some companies like Baidu trading at more than 70x earnings!

In the end, China is an extremely hot market that shares a lot in common with the dot-com boom of the 90s in the United States. Investors in this space should be careful to hedge their positions and limit their exposure as these valuations can come crashing down at any time. However, until then, the Chinese market indexes and ETFs - like FXI - are definitely worth watching!

10/12/2007 5:07:43 PM UTC  #    Comments [0]  |  Trackback