Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : The New Qualcomm - write what you like thread. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jon Koplik who wrote (1737)	5/28/2000 10:16:00 PM
From: S100	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12231

Magnificent seven trade begins ENOCH YIU Monday, May 29, 2000 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hong Kong investors will be able to trade seven big-name Nasdaq-listed companies - among them Microsoft and Intel - on the local stock market from Wednesday, bringing worldwide around-the-clock-trading a step closer. The stocks will trade in Hong Kong dollars and investors will be able to buy and sell them through any of the SAR's 500 brokerages, including on-line trading sites. Minimum investment will be as low as HK$4,000, based on closing prices last Friday. This will also be the first time the Nasdaq companies have been traded in Asian markets during the region's trade-time zone. Brokers said the gloomy sentiment of technology stocks worldwide would lead to a calm debut on Wednesday. "The Nasdaq market slump recently and the drop of many hi-tech stocks in Hong Kong will discourage investors from putting their money in the Nasdaq companies in the near term," said Fung Chi-kin, legislator representing the brokerage community. Apart from coffee chain Starbucks, the other six Nasdaq companies - Microsoft, Intel, Dell Computer, Cisco System, Applied Materials, Amgen - are from the high-technology sector. Hong Kong Stockbrokers' Association chairman Paul Fan Chor-ho however was more optimistic. "The fall of Nasdaq has made the stocks cheaper and more attractive for local investors," Mr Fan said. "Microsoft and Intel are famous companies. Some local retail investors will be interested in trading these stocks." Mr Fung also worried about the liquidity of these stocks as they are trading in the Hong Kong market when the US market is closed. Yue Wai-keung, dealing director of Luen Fat Securities, said local investors would find it difficult to get information about Nasdaq companies due to a lack of local news reports on them. The settlement time for the Nasdaq companies in Hong Kong will be the same as other stocks - two days after trade made. They will make announcements on the Nasdaq-Amex Web site, but will not follow the Hong Kong rule which requires all listed companies to publish announcements in the newspapers. Investors may also find it hard to get advice from local brokers who tend to concentrate on local companies for research, Mr Yue said. The seven Nasdaq companies are trading in the local stock exchange under a Nasdaq-Amex pilot programme, in which the companies are not listed on the local market but their shares will be admitted for trading in Hong Kong. They will not need to follow the local listings rules and comply only with US regulations. The SAR Government has waived the 0.225 per cent stamp duty on Nasdaq companies. The 0.25 per cent minimum brokerage commission rule will also not apply to Nasdaq stocks. ------------------------ Dell hopes SAR listing will enhance exposure in Asia PEGGY SITO -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dell Computer, the US-based direct-sales computer-systems company, hopes to increase its exposure in Asia with the coming trading of its stock in Hong Kong. Goran Malm, president of Dell Computer for Asia-Pacific, said the firm would be traded in Hong Kong "because it will give the company more exposure". Mr Malm said the decision to trade in Hong Kong would increase investor interest in the stock. It would also make the company more responsive to providing information to the public in Asia and in Hong Kong, he said. Dell Computer is one of seven large Nasdaq-listed companies that will begin trading on the Hong Kong exchange this week. Mr Malm said it was difficult to predict the stock's performance when its trading in Hong Kong started on Wednesday. But he said companies with solid business and good revenues would seek support from investors. The company has revenues for the four quarters to April 28 of US$27 billion, up more than 35 per cent over the previous year. Mr Malm said Hong Kong's less regulated, more transparent business environment was attractive to overseas investors. He said the SAR had the capability to become a high-technology hub in Asia. "Geographically, Hong Kong will be the hub for North Asia," Mr Malm said, adding that Singapore would be the hub for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Hong Kong was important for the group's penetration of the mainland, Mr Malm said. Dell Computer introduced direct-sales operations in the mainland in 1998. It has sales offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu. Mr Malm said Dell was ranked fifth among mainland personal-computer vendors by revenue, moving up two places from a year ago. To keep up with demand and expansion in the mainland, the group had decided to build a personal computer design and development centre in Beijing focusing on the mainland market, he said. ------- link scmp.com