|
|
A Bull in China: Investing Profitably in the World's Greatest Market (Audio CD)
by Jim Rogers
| Category:
Popular Economics, Accounting & Finance |
| Market price: ¥ 218.00
MSL price:
¥ 198.00
[ Shop incentives ]
|
| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
|
|
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
From legendary investor Jim Rogers, this book is a how-to guide for investors interested in following him to China and the Far East. |
| If you want us to help you with the right titles you're looking for, or to make reading recommendations based on your needs, please contact our consultants. |
Detail |
Author |
Description |
Excerpt |
Reviews |
|
|
|
Author: Jim Rogers
Publisher: Tantor Media
Pub. in: December, 2007
ISBN: 1400155932
Pages:
Measurements: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BB00094
Other information: ISBN-13: 978-1400155934
|
|
Rate this product:
|
|
- Awards & Credential -
From Commodities King Jim Rogers, who claims "This is the China century. It's time for them to rule the roost." He relocated full-time to Singapore recently to focus on China. |
|
- MSL Picks -
For a book whose the back-cover screams "Indiana Jones of Investing", the author thankfully sets realistic expectations in the introduction chapter and adopts a sane tone (different from the cheerleader hysteria or end of the world tone adopted by most investing books). Rogers starts off by saying that "this is not a catalog of hot tips or even recommendations", but a "survey of happenings" in China. The reader is well served with that approach. He also re-iterates his oft stated opinion - short the dollar, long commodities, and learn Chinese!
In the first chapter, Rogers takes the reader through the different shares classes in China and some history on the evolution of the stock exchanges in that country. Chapter 2 provides his assessment of the different risks faced by China. His bias towards investing in China as opposed to India is quite apparent in a rather superficial comparison (readers wanting a more detailed comparison could benefit from a recent book - The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What It Means for All of Us). It is hard to argue that the first two chapters provide the informed reader anything substantially new, but positioning that discussion with a quasi-travelogue is very entertaining.
Throughout the book, Rogers provides a list of companies that are relevant to the trends/observations in a section (Jims Sino Files!). To me, these lists seemed like an excellent way to understand the landscape of Chinese economy (high level, but still a good picture) and to create a watch list for IPOs! An overwhelming majority of the companies in the list do not trade as ADRs - most in Hong Kong or only in China. Rogers mentions where the stock is traded if at all, and provides the 3 year trends on profits and revenues. (sadly, it doesn't have any information on operating margins). Listing the companies along with his observations on a particular topic, as opposed to burying them in an appendix is a good choice.
Chapter 2 also talks about aero-defense-industrial materials sector companies, with the section on water purification the most interesting. The third chapter focuses on household names ranging from grocers to insurance companies and also highlights the top 5 innovators. (one wonders the lead time for editing these books, because the author still has Alibaba's IPO as a planned one...any reader who has watched CNBC or reading blogs should be aware that this was a big deal a few weeks ago...). The next chapter focuses on the energy sector. Using some startling statistics (most of them are cited, so a reader has to be content with the interpretation Rogers provides) talks about coal, hydro-electricity, wind power and nuclear energy. The list of companies involved in these sectors is an excellent source for China watchers/investors. (while Rogers identifies some companies that derive indirect benefit from these trends, some omissions is intriguing - Fuel Tech (FTEK) for coal industry is one of them). Chapters 5 and 6 talk about transportation and tourism respectively - the latter providing a much better reading than the former. The next chapter on agriculture is perhaps the most unique discussion in the book. Covering a wide range of topics from seeds to fertilizers to animal husbandry to wineries, the chapter paints a very vivid picture of the agriculture sector and identifies the key players.
Rogers seems to be running out of patience when he reaches Chapter 8, where he clubs Health, Education and Housing in a single "service sector" oriented chapter. The discussion highlights some interesting trends overall, but misses the relatively more detailed context provided in previous chapters. Nevertheless, an informative chapter, despite not mentioning any of the recent darlings in the stock market - EJ Holdings (real estate) and WuXi (WX - medical research outsourcer).
Chapter 9, the most important one in the book, provides his prognosis for the different sectors/themes with a view of "possibly plunking your money in them someday"! An excellent read and worth buying the book for this chapter alone.
The reader should also search some of the investment blogs such as Seeking Alpha to read recent interviews of Rogers regarding this book and his opinion on the current investment climate in China. The author cautions that one cannot predict whether a bubble is imminent or not, but suggests to keep monitoring the landscape for potential long term investments. That sanity is welcome!
The Appendix seems to be an after-thought and not particularly useful, and there is no list of citations for the more serious reader. Another book worth keeping in the radar is From Wall Street to the Great Wall: How Investors Can Profit from China's Booming Economy.
The writing style is very conversational and easy-flowing. The part travelogue aspect of the narration sustains the interest level of the reader throughout the discussions.
All in all, for the price of a few lattes, you can get first-hand information on the landscape of Chinese economy in a wide variety of sectors, and an excellent concluding chapter that could serve as a good framework for investing in China. A must read for any serious investor.
(From quoting Sreeram Ramakrishnan, USA)
Target readers:
Investors, people keen on Chinese business opportunities and the future market trends.
|
|
Jim Rogers co-founded the Quantum Fund and retired at age thirty-seven. Since then, he has served as a sometime professor of finance at Columbia University’s business school, and as a media commentator worldwide. He is the author of Hot Commodities, Adventure Capitalist, and Investment Biker. He lives in New York City. His website is www.jimrogers.com.
|
|
From Publisher:
If the twentieth century was the American century, then the twenty-first century belongs to China. Now the one and only Jim Rogers shows how any investor can get in on the ground floor of “the greatest economic boom since England’s Industrial Revolution.”
In this indispensable new book, one of the world’s most successful investors, Jim Rogers, brings his unerring investment acumen to bear on this huge and unruly land now being opened to the world and exploding in potential.
Rogers didn’t just wake up a Sinophile yesterday. He’s been tracking the Chinese economy since he first went to China in 1984 in preparation for his round-the-world motorcycle trip and then again, later, when he saw Shanghai’s newly reopened stock exchange (which looked like an OTB office). In the decades that followed - especially in recent years, with the easing of Communist party financial dictates - the facts speak for themselves:
- The Chinese economy’s growth rate has averaged 9 percent since the start of the 1980s.
- China’s savings rate is over 35 percent (in America, it’s 2 percent).
- 40 percent of China’s output goes to exports (so there’s no crippling foreign debt).
- $60 billion a year in direct foreign investment, combined with a trade surplus, has brought Beijing’s foreign currency reserves to over $1 trillion.
- China’s fixed assets - ports, bridges, and roads - double every two and a half years.
In short, if projections hold, China will surpass the United States as the world’s largest economy in as little as twenty years. But the time to act is now. In A Bull in China, you’ll learn what industries offer the newest and best opportunities, from power, energy, and agriculture to tourism, water, and infrastructure. In his trademark down-to-earth style, Rogers demystifies the state policies that are driving earnings and innovation, takes the intimidation factor out of the A-shares, B-shares, and ADRs of Chinese offerings, and encourages any reader to trust his or her own expertise (if you’re a car mechanic, check out their auto industry).
A Bull in China also features fascinating profiles of “Red Chip” companies, such as Yantu Changyu, China’s largest winemaker, which sells a “Healthy Liquor” line mixed with herbal medicines. Plus, if you want to export something to China yourself - or even buy land there - Rogers tells you the steps you need to take.
No other book - and no other author - can better help you benefit from the new Chinese revolution. Jim Rogers shows you how to make the “amazing energy, potential, and entrepreneurial spirit of a billion people” work for you.
|
Sur (MSL quote), USA
<2007-12-17 00:00>
I have lot of respect for Jim Rogers. He is widely respected in China and I read an article in WSJ where he was invited by an investor for a lunch at $50,000 ofcourse for his tips as well.
The book is very well written with respect to investing in China and covers almost all the segments with the strong points and weak points as of now and for the coming years. It also highlights some chinese stocks and their overall progress and annual returns. Overall a good book especially if one doesn't have insight into China. Some of the major chinese stocks for 2007 with great returns were Baidu, Ctrip, China Mobile and ofcourse the solar stocks like the first solar FSLR, Suntech power holdings STP which are on a more than healthy bull run. In the last month or so the chinese stock market Index has been into a little bit of bear market with correction of more than 20% compared to 10% correction in US market which ended in US on Dec 1. Yet the above stocks have held well. In any market whether domestic or international one needs to hold onto good fundamental and technical stocks.
Good luck to all the investors ! |
Joanna (MSL quote), USA
<2007-12-17 00:00>
Rogers' books are always entertaining and this one does not fail on that score. The best chapter (chapter nine) - at least in terms of longer-term trends - is very thought provoking, not only for China but for other "emerging" or "frontier" markets. It was also instructive to read Rogers' take on some of the risks of investing in China, and his reference to the work by the PRS Group and the International Country Risk Guide is appropriate. Unfortunately, he cited only the risks to China's balance sheet (which there are relatively few) and left some of the other, more significant political risks aside. |
BigCityChicken (MSL quote), USA
<2007-12-17 00:00>
Jim Rogers is one of the few guys I respect on Wall Street. A Yankee brain with an Alabama soul devoid of the usual B.S. found in the world of finance. His writing style is lucid, concise and down-to-earth. This book drives home the impact China will have on the brave new world. You can look forward to your grandchildren dating Jackie Chan look-alikes. And if the Chinese government chooses to cash in it's immense American holdings, your gonna wish you were born in a rice paddy.
My only qualm with the book is that the majority of Asian stocks mentioned within cannot be purchased in the U.S. stock exchanges. One must seek out the Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore exchanges or the Pink Sheets to purchase shares. Then, usually, these Asian shares must be purchased in predetermined bulk lots. Not an easy task (and expensive) for the regular-Joe investors out there. Hopefully in the near future, the ability to complete foreign stock transactions will become simpler and less expensive. Any brokerages listening? |
|
|
|
|
