Good morning CB, the thread seems to have energized a bit, predictably, isn't is wonderful?
<<If I was going to LTBH, depending on the price I'd take a look at WalMart>> Checking in my MS Money morgue, I see I still have 100 shares of WMT, first purchased in 2000 August 25 @ 49/shr.
Thus the battle lines are drawn now, WMT vs RAD.
My MS Money morgue is actually quite full, with AIG, AMAT, AV, CSCO, EMC, INTC, JDSU, LU, MRK, MSFT, MOT, NOK, ORCL, PFE, QCOM, SFE, SUNW, T, WMT, YHOO, and in HK morgue - Citic Pacific, Harbour Ring Int'l, Hop Hing (edible oil trader/processor), Pacific Century Cuberworks, Phoenix Satellite TV, Softbank Int'l. Many residuals from much happier days, when wine spouted from water taps and music filled the air.
As noted, I added RAD to my US morgue.
My live warriors are as follows:
AAPTY, AMGN, AOL, AU, AWK, BP, CHL, CMCSK, CWT, DROOY, HGMCY, NEM, SNE, SWC, XOM, Furukawa Electric, Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp, CNOOC, Petro China, Sinopec.
Although AOL and AMGN are taking repeated hits, and SNE is not quite moving.
Message 17425261
<<And what do we do about China? (Sorry, Jay - as you say, just is)>> No biggie. Fun topic for me. It is just that the epi-center of conflict, I believe, as far as China is concerned, has shifted to the field of commerce, tech, and strategy-on-a-grand-temporal-scale, and as far as the US is concerned, to the field of TV slogans and short term geo-tactics.
Fact of the matter is, there isn't much the US can do about China and same the other way. I believe the US is making the mistake that China = USSR, but we shall see what is and is not just is.
<<what do we do about narco-terrorism in South America?>> ... stop using drugs?
<<If the US were not armed to the teeth and ready to fight, would the world still be at peace?>> We will not know until we know.
Actually, the old west, where most were armed to the belt, was probably as peaceful as the new west is now.
<<It's called the Pax Americana, and we all benefit from it, including you. And China.>> Of course, because all adjust to the reality as given and extract max benefit from it for as long as possible. And if there is no pax, the extraction will continue, method will change, but so too probably the amount to be extracted and the danger of extraction. The pie will shrink.
<<China is eating our lunch>> except when the Americans come visit in N.Korea, N.Vietnam, Laos, Taiwan, and now, Afhganistan, Napel, ... but, fact of the matter is, China is not eating Americans lunch, yet, but is busy in the kitchen cooking the lunch.
<< because they don't have the burden of peace-keeping outside their own borders>> China sees the burden now, because anti-NMD rockets costs money, but at 1/3 to 1/4 the cost of int'l price, at PPP economy 1/2 the size of the US, affordable still.
<<It's kind of a free ride>> Having my money printed out of value existence is not free, but thankfully, the negative wealth effect can be minimized via clever derivatives and gold, making it all truly and predictably free, hopefully. You too can have a free ride ... buy gold.
<<Maybe we should all take a page from China's book, forget the pax, forget the social welfare, just shrug it off>>
Well, the classics have instructed well for some time, because, China believes not everybody appreciates the help offered, and Taiwan just learnt that recently, shutting down its money diplomacy as it became not as affordable given the tech-downturn. Star Trek principles are actually similar to Buddahist teachings.
siliconinvestor.com
<<There's no easy answer to foreign exchange ... Jay live under completely different exchange systems (I don't mean Hong Kong, I mean China)>> I will answer for HK, using the scheme of triangles. We have freest (compared to world ex-HK) movement of money, labour, and we have autonomy (ignore WSJ reporting), but we do not have stability. We are like an extreme form of the US. We have done well so far, all in all, given what we started with, and had to work with. The dollar peg, however, may crumble, given fiscal deficit and recession, and cost level, unless the USD tumbles first, and we step off the ledge along side, relative to other regional currencies. Against China, we have no cure, because the Yuan is 'pegged' to the USD as well, and if tumbles alongside the USD, SE Asia and Korea is no more, and Japan needs to seek high ground that isn't there.
Thus my alarm, from 6,000 miles away, talking about event happenings that few care about.
Chugs, Jay |
