Fun movie. I actually saw Michael Douglas the other day. He is definitely starting to look older. Sadly, I didn't see his "better half", Catherine Zeta-Jones, though my wife has seen her a couple of times.Seems like the movie title is appropriate in many ways. For those that haven't seen the movie is is about a big bad utility company that cuts corners building a nuclear power plant and it almost melts down, which for obvious reasons is called the China Syndrome.
I don't know about other investors out there, but I feel like I have been witnessing a meltdown of Wall Street. I guess the multi-billion dollar question is whether we have avoided the complete meltdown or whether we're just at a pause.
My MFI (and non-MFI for that matter) portfolio is in shambles. I am doing worse than the benchmarks, but to be honest, the benchmark isn't doing so hot either... it may simply be a race to see who gets to zero 1st.
As long as I am employed and have a long time line, I am not too upset. I went through the crash of 2001-02 and I am pretty sure the world won't end. Doesn't mean I am thrilled to be over 20% down, but c'est la vie. Things will work out in the long haul.
I used the title China Syndrome for another reason... not that nuclear power is coming back into vogue, rather that China really caught my eye today. This was obviously a dreadful day, pretty much across the board... but not entirely across the board.
Look at these MFI stocks that are based in China today:
CHCG: +3.6%
QXM: -2.9%
CAST: +8.2%
KHD: +9.2%
AOB: -2.2%
CSKI: +11.7%
Now I don't know how other people's portfolios did today, but I think these 5 stocks (all on the lists) had stunning numbers for such a crummy day. Coincidence? I think not. Jubak had an extremely interesting article about China today, basically painting them as a potential white knight to jump start the world economy. The Chinese stock market is down 64% this past year (which is certainly reflected in these stocks, which are extraordinarily cheap if you believe their financials) and the Govt is now taking steps to get growth back above 10% (Cure for crisis: Chinese medicine?).
I am going to keep both eyes on this trend. If these stocks go "green" (meaning the combination of momentum and value that I discussed 8 days ago) I may pull the trigger (especially on CSKI, which I do not own) for my next tranche.
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One thing that worries me about these Chinese companies is how accurate and reliable the numbers really are. I own CSKI, QXM and CAST. Cast is down 15% today and 43% for me overall, while QXM is down 41% for me (just since I purchased them not even two months ago).
Anyway, what concerns me is that CAST is down 15% today after selling an additional 4 million shares (they had 31 million outstanding previously). This, despite the fact that their June 30 balance sheet lists $20M in cash, and nearly $400M in cash & short term equivalents. Now why in the hell would they need to dilute my shares by 13% when they supposedly had all these cash & cash equivalents?
Albert, that is a good question. I have no answer. I think one of us should send the question to IR
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