âBubble of Beliefâ in China Economy Seen Bursting: Chart of Day
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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aN5ok_FbkeQw
By David Wilson
June 17 (Bloomberg) -- Rallies in commodity prices and mining-company shares stem from a âbubble of beliefâ in Chinaâs economy that is likely to burst, according to Albert Edwards, a strategist at Societe Generale.
âI believe we will look back on the Chinese economic miracle as the sickest joke yet played on investors,â Edwards wrote yesterday in a report. To support his argument, he cited falling earnings at the countryâs industrial companies.
The CHART OF THE DAY shows year-over-year percentage changes in profits, as compiled by Chinaâs National Bureau of Statistics. The chart combines monthly data from 2005 and 2006 with a quarterly index, started in 2007, that tracks companies in 22 provinces. This quarterâs report is set for June 26.
Commodity prices climbed 21 percent this year through yesterday, according to the UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index. Mining stocks paced a 23 percent gain in the MSCI World Materials Index, the yearâs top performer among 10 industry groups in the MSCI World Index.
While the Chinese economy expanded 6.1 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, Edwards wrote that he was skeptical about its ability to sustain that level of growth during a global recession.
âThe bullish group-think on China is just as vulnerable to massive disappointment as any other extreme example of bubble- nonsense I have seen over the last two decades,â his report said. âThe fall to earth will be equally as shocking.â
(To save a copy of the chart, click here.)
To contact the reporter on this story: David Wilson in New York at dwilson@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: June 17, 2009 10:18 EDT
Share | Email | Print | A A A
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aN5ok_FbkeQw
By David Wilson
June 17 (Bloomberg) -- Rallies in commodity prices and mining-company shares stem from a âbubble of beliefâ in Chinaâs economy that is likely to burst, according to Albert Edwards, a strategist at Societe Generale.
âI believe we will look back on the Chinese economic miracle as the sickest joke yet played on investors,â Edwards wrote yesterday in a report. To support his argument, he cited falling earnings at the countryâs industrial companies.
The CHART OF THE DAY shows year-over-year percentage changes in profits, as compiled by Chinaâs National Bureau of Statistics. The chart combines monthly data from 2005 and 2006 with a quarterly index, started in 2007, that tracks companies in 22 provinces. This quarterâs report is set for June 26.
Commodity prices climbed 21 percent this year through yesterday, according to the UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index. Mining stocks paced a 23 percent gain in the MSCI World Materials Index, the yearâs top performer among 10 industry groups in the MSCI World Index.
While the Chinese economy expanded 6.1 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, Edwards wrote that he was skeptical about its ability to sustain that level of growth during a global recession.
âThe bullish group-think on China is just as vulnerable to massive disappointment as any other extreme example of bubble- nonsense I have seen over the last two decades,â his report said. âThe fall to earth will be equally as shocking.â
(To save a copy of the chart, click here.)
To contact the reporter on this story: David Wilson in New York at dwilson@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: June 17, 2009 10:18 EDT