China Bankrupt?

[DOR]

No one in HK is worried about money

Several thousand people are standing in line, from Admiralty all the way to LegCo (on the new bridge that goes by CITIC Tower), a distance of maybe half a kilometer.

My colleagues tell me they are all hoping to get the Bank of China commemorative $100 bank notes. . . which are being resold for 3-10 times face value.:insane:

[Officer of Engineers]

I wait 3 weeks and buy them back at face value.

[DOR]

The lines are gone. Now, there are only a couple dozen people, each with thousands of dollars, buying and selling.

I expect the first rip-off – strong-arm or counterfeits – to be reported within a couple of days.

Welcome to Hong Kong's latest financial centre!

[DOR]

Still a strong crowd in the secondary market.
I'm thinking of offering a derivative product on the Growth Enterprise Market, our secondary board.

[kyli]

Still a strong crowd in the secondary market.
I'm thinking of offering a derivative product on the Growth Enterprise Market, our secondary board.

In the good old days, we used to line up to purchase apartments, McDonald toys, and new gadgets of course etc. We are not called the city of greed for nothing.

[DOR]

kyli,


Remember the run on Marie Cakes coupons?

[Officer of Engineers]

Coupons? There was a market for coupons?

[HKDan]

In the good old days, we used to line up to purchase apartments, McDonald toys, and new gadgets of course etc. We are not called the city of greed for nothing.

I personally fell victim to the McDonalds craze for the Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel plush toys. IIRC, between me, my brother, and my sister we got the entire set. I also have a friend who got out of control over the little plastic Disney character set that 7-11 had a few years back. Hong Kong rocks.

[DOR]

Coupons? There was a market for coupons?

Yep. Wedding guests were given coupons to redeem later. When the company went bust, there were huge protests, and some people reportedly had thousands of unused coupons.

[RollingWave]

Yep. Wedding guests were given coupons to redeem later. When the company went bust, there were huge protests, and some people reportedly had thousands of unused coupons.

And in the case of Taiwan, one of the things that the ex-first lady was setenced for was accepting brides in the form of Department store coupons... so...

[Doktor]

And in the case of Taiwan, one of the things that the ex-first lady was setenced for was accepting brides in the form of Department store coupons... so...

You mean bribes, right?

[RollingWave]

yeah bribe XD

[kyli]

kyli,


Remember the run on Marie Cakes coupons?

I was not in HK at that time. Although I did get a recap of episode from friends.:Dancing-Banana:

In the late 80s, there were a lot of Ponze scheme in HK, I still remembered for every few months there were always victims and protests. Nowadays, it seems more common for many companies just to close their doors without paying their employees or honoring their obligations. For the last few years, many Hong Kongers have fellen victims to the surprise closing of gyms and yoga chains.

I personally fell victim to the McDonalds craze for the Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel plush toys. IIRC, between me, my brother, and my sister we got the entire set. I also have a friend who got out of control over the little plastic Disney character set that 7-11 had a few years back. Hong Kong rocks.

A few of my friends also fell victim to the McDonalds toys. Personally I never developed any attachment towards these kinds of things, but I left HK before these things became really popular. I always saved my money in the piggy bank until I spent all of them on junk foods(a few thousand dollars) a few week before I left HK. Fishball and Soft Tofu, they were great back then.

[cyppok]

China records huge February trade deficit - The Economic Times

BEIJING: China swung into a huge trade deficit of $31.48 billion in February as oil imports rocketed, customs data showed Saturday.

China is normally a net exporter of goods -- it recorded a surplus of $27.28 billion in January -- but total monthly imports rose 39.6 percent year-on-year to $145.96 billion, with exports only going up 18.4 percent to $114.47 billion.

The deficit was the largest for at least 12 years, according to Dow Jones Newswires, and far in excess of the median forecast of $8.5 billion among 15 economists it had surveyed.

UPDATE 1-China Feb trade deficit at $31.5bln as imports leap | Reuters

"Since the Chinese new year fell in January this year and
February last year, the year-on-year growth rate is distorted,"
said Zhang Zhiwei, chief China economist at Nomura in Hong Kong.
By Zhang's calculations that adjust for days worked and
exclude the volatility of the 2008/09 financial crisis, exports
appear to have posted one of their lowest month-on-month growth
rates since the mid 1990s.

[DOR]

China’s trade figures always swing wildly in the first two months of the year, because of the Chinese New Year effect. So, keep an eye on Jan-Feb data, rather than just February:

Percent change from same period a year earlier
Jan-Feb _ _ _ Exports _ _ _ Imports _ _ Balance ($ bn)
2005 _ _ _ _ _+36.2% _ _ _ _ +8.3% _ _ _+$10.8 bn
2006 _ _ _ _ _+25.5% _ _ _ +27.2% _ _ _+$12.2 bn
2007 _ _ _ _ _+41.5% _ _ _ +20.6% _ _ _+$39.6 bn
2008 _ _ _ _ _+16.7% _ _ _ +30.9% _ _ _+$27.9 bn
2009 _ _ _ _ _-21.2% _ _ _ -34.0% _ _ _ +$43.7 bn
2010 _ _ _ _ _+31.5% _ _ _ +63.6% _ _ _ +$21.8 bn
2011 _ _ _ _ _+21.3% _ _ _ +36.2% _ _ _ -$0.9 bn
2012 _ _ _ _ _ +6.9% _ _ _ _ +8.2% _ _ _ -$4.2 bn

Clearly a change, perhaps to the greater domestic demand that everyone’s been waiting for, but still too early to tell. In essence, Jan-Feb is just a single data point.