International Comparison of Living Space Per Capita

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Nice chart from Nomura ... hard to be bearish on property in China looking at the big picture.

What's the deal with Russia? No one has upgraded from those squalid Soviet-era apartments, or what? My favorite movie of 2012 was 'Elena,' which features a suburban Moscow apartment block, beautifully placed next to a giant cooling tower. Those subtle Russian movies fill me with a dark joy.

How Much Lost Trading OXY?

Added on by C. Maoxian.

OXY was Monday's trading idea.  Assuming you got long that dummy spot in the morning, where was your initial stop? Could you have gone to breakeven by the end of the day?  When price rapidly reversed on Tuesday morning, how much of a hit did you take? 

White House West

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Architectural Digest has a feature on the Bush Ranch outside of Crawford Texas.  I noticed when viewing the satellite photos of the place that W. has a single golf hole there, approachable from opposite directions.  See it?

Movies Watched -- A Touch of Sin

Added on by C. Maoxian.

This is a movie by Jia Zhangke, a young Chinese filmmaker whom I joke makes copycat European arthouse films in the same way that other Chinese manufacturers make fake Gucci handbags and Rolex watches.  

There are four separate tragedies presented and the movie runs over two hours. The first is a pure revenge fantasy ... this movie obviously is banned in China because any kind of violent solution to the various social problems presented is a no-no.  I wasn't that thrilled with it, or any of Jia's other movies for that matter.

Any Form of Racing Other Than on Foot

Added on by C. Maoxian.


Exclusions 
不保事項 
(For Accidental Death & Disablement Benefit and Total and Permanent Disability Benefit) 
(適用於意外死亡及傷殘福利和完全及永久傷殘福利) 
 
The insurance under this benefit does not cover injury caused or aggravated directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, by: 
因以下情況直接或間接引致之傷亡,將不會獲得賠償: 
 
1. Active, passive participation in war, declared or undeclared, civil war, revolution, riot, civil commotion, strike, insurrection or criminal activities; 
直接或間接參與戰爭(不論有否宣告)、內戰、暴亂、罷工或犯罪活動; 
 
2. An act or attempted act of self-injury or suicide whether mentally sane or insane or whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs other than those prescribed by a registered, qualified medical practitioner; 
自殺或自我毀傷(不論神智是否清 醒),或在酒精或未經註冊醫生處方之藥物影響下所自致之傷害; 
 
3. Engaging or taking part in professional sports, including martial arts, scuba diving, mountaineering or rock climbing (necessitating the use of ropes or guides), aviation of any kind other than as a passenger on a regularly scheduled passenger flight on a commercial aircraft or any form of racing other than on foot. 
參與專業性活動,包括武術潛水、攀山或攀石(使用繩索或滑輪)、非以繳費乘客身份乘坐由持牌商業航空公司所營運之航機、賽馬或賽車。 

NQ Mobile Next Stop in Lows 3s

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Voodoo from that green circled spot puts this in the low 3s, say, $3.15 a share, next stop.  You'd have to go back to 2011 to find someone whose cost basis is lower than the current price ... basically every shareholder here is underwater, many disastrously so ... this means there's no "support."

Money Market Fund Growth in China

Added on by C. Maoxian.

A chart from HSBC, but I don't know how accurate it is ... Yu'e Bao has over 500 billion in assets now from zero last June ... that would take the chart from 400 to 900 ... I'm not sure where the other 500-600 billion is coming from since Yu'e Bao's competitors are relatively small.

Moving to T+1 Settlement

Added on by C. Maoxian.

From DBS Vickers:

Increasing AUM size is putting pressure on operation costs and redemptions as money market funds usually have to set aside 5-10% of assets as a liquidity reserve to prepare for redemptions. Looking at Yu'e Bao’s better liquidity due to support from Alipay, we assume a 5% reserve ratio to arrive at a liquidity reserve of Rmb25bn while daily average idle funding parked at Alipay is about Rmb30- 40bn. Yu'e Bao may hit the assets under management limit of Rmb1trn in the near term based on our estimates. In view of rising liquidity risks, Yu'e Bao announced in April that it will delay withdrawals of >Rmb50,000 to T+1 settlement if made before 5pm or T+2 settlement if made after 5pm. Other online money market funds such as Tencent’s Li Cai Tong or Baidu’s Baizhuan are also adopting T+1 settlements now.


Heads of State

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Angela Merkel is visiting Beijing and traffic was more or less shut down on Chang'an Avenue this afternoon to allow her motorcade to pass. I loved this Beijing cabbie's pose as he waited. He's got it all: the wife beater, the gut, the combover, the omnipresent cigarette ... something timeless about him.

(Click to enlarge)

Movies Watched -- Sound City

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Another recording studio documentary, like Muscle Shoals, except Sound City was in California and Joe Gottfried seems to have worked only with white musicians. This one touched more on the technology side of things and how some software called Pro Tools? has changed the whole music business.  Apparently people "make" albums on their laptops now and recording studios are obsolete.  This one I also fast forwarded after an hour or so in.