China – Page 4 – The Contrarian Investor Podcast

China Unrest: A Synopsis

Published November 28, 2022

The following is an amended version of the Nov. 28 Daily Contrarian. This briefing and accompanying podcast are released to premium subscribers each market day morning by 0700. To subscribe, visit our Substack or Supercast.

This weekend saw numerous protests in China as anger spread over the country’s strict Covid lockdown policies. The catalyst was a deadly fire at an apartment building in Urumqi, in the country’s far-western Xinjiang region. Apparently the Covid policies hampered rescue efforts. It quickly spread to other regions. Demonstrators in Shanghai clashed with police yesterday. In Beijing, protests apparently went all night and took demonstrators near the infamous Tiananmen Square, where officials still insist nothing happened in June 1989.

Economically, the damage has been pretty limited so far. The People’s Bank of China said it would cut the reserve ratio for banks (effectively the country’s interest rate). The Chinese yuan weakened against the US dollar. Stocks in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong all sold off but not terribly (down ~1% each).

The Latest Round of China Protests

Protests are nothing new to China. Nor are protests over the country’s Covid policies. What is new is that Xi Jinping is being specifically targeted and even urged to step down. Some talk of how this is the biggest deal since Tiananmen, but pretty sure we’ve heard that before. And Tiananmen didn’t just materialize overnight like this, but followed what were literally months of protests. So the safe bet here is probably that this will fade away in a few days or weeks, tops.

It still bears watching of course, especially on a day when there is little else in terms of known events that will move markets. Friendly reminder not to believe everything you hear on Twitter or in the western media. Yes, the regime in Beijing definitely has its friends in the western press (cough) but there is just as likely to be disinformation; for example about this being pro-democracy protests that will bring down Xi and the CCP. Both are extreme long shots, at least at this point.

Inflation Will Ease, Fed Hikes Will Not: Richard Excell (Szn 4, Ep 24)

Published September 14, 2022

Richard Excell, former prop trader and portfolio manager and currently a professor of finance at Gies College of Business, joined the podcast to discuss his outlook on the economy, inflation, Federal Reserve interest rate policy, and more.

Content Highlights

The outlook on inflation: 5% by December, but don’t expect the Fed to ease off of rate hikes (7:14);
Can the Fed engineer a soft landing? It has succeeded just three of the last 14 times it hiked rates… (9:34);
We may not see a housing price decline on a national basis anytime soon (14:05);
Expect a 75 basis point rate hike at the next FOMC meeting on Sept. 20 — and again at the subsequent meeting in November, even though the economy should not start to brake until next year (16:11);
Background on the guest (22:02);
Views on asset allocation: more constructive for bonds than equities at present (27:03);
A recession will happen. The good news: it may be mild… (32:30);
How much of a concern are global issues in Europe and China? (35:40).

More Information on the Guest

Website: GiesBusiness.Illinois.edu;
Substack: Stay Vigilant;
CommonStock: Stay Vigilant;
Twitter: @ExcellRichard,

Quick Highlights From Our YouTube Channel

China Concerns Cloud Retail Earnings Week

Published August 15, 2022

The following is an amended form of the Aug. 15 Daily Contrarian. This briefing and accompanying podcast are released to premium subscribers each market day morning by 0700. To subscribe, visit our Substack.

Some bad economic news out of China has weighed on risk sentiment overnight. The country’s central bank responded with a surprise rate cut. The impact is mostly limited to commodities so far, with WTI crude oil down 4% and copper off 2% in early Monday trading.

Starting tomorrow (Tuesday), the big box retailers will report earnings, with the likes of Walmart (WMT) and Home Depot (HD) up first. Wednesday we’ll get Lowe’s (LOW), Target (TGT), and TJX (TJX).

Tag: China