Chinese reconfiguration of economy and preparation for cultural export

Chinese programmes and media corporations have greatly filled their coffers these past few years with their tremendously popular song competition programmes which have seen influence in South Asia.

take a look at the scale of these programmes

and these are done on weekly basis.

So recently, there has been a bit of restrictions from the authorities, clamping down on the impressions that these shows will make on the youths.

https://www.zhihu.com/question/50167758

去年7月，广电总局曾就发出了《关于加强真人秀节目管理的通知》，要求真人秀节目避免过度明星化，摒弃“靠明星博收视”的错误认识，不能把节目变成拼明星和炫富的场所，并提出真人秀节目应注意加强对未成年人的保护，尽量减少未成年人参与。

That's not all. Culture is one of the biggest export a country has. In fact, without cultural export, you can forget about Margin. This is also one of the reasons Japanese and Korean exports have reversed positions over the past 17 years.

Previously Japanese cultural export via their anime, manga, movies, songs has tremendous benefit and supports their exports of other products. In recent decades, they have been taken over by Korea. You can see this effect on your supermarket selves or cosmetic products.

China, it seems, realizes this:
http://baike.baidu.com/item/%E9%99%90%E9%9F%A9%E4%BB%A4

随着萨德系统的部署，传言中国政府限制韩国艺人和节目的举措全面开启，中国广电总局的禁令包含：禁止Bigbang、EXO等团体中国演出；停止新的韩国文化产业公司投资；停止韩国偶像团体面向1万名以上观众演出；禁止新签韩国电视剧、综艺节目合作项目；禁止韩国演员出演电视剧在电视台播放等多项规定的措施已经传达到各电视台，并要求在9月1日开始实施。
2016年11月，有韩国媒体不断炒作中国发布“限韩令”的消息。中国外交部发言人耿爽已在21日的例行记者会上表示，没有听说所谓的“限韩令”。[1] 2016年12月6日，上海市文化广播影视管理局日前批准韩国双人组合乐童音乐家在上海举办演唱会。这是自2016年10月以来中方首次批准韩国歌手在华举办演唱会

Price dictates sentiment and vice versa

Price dictates sentiment and vice versa, reflexivity at play.

Fundamentals change all the time and the only ones who are in the know are insiders who can calculate the various metrics and even They know that their calculations could change any time.

besides, their opinions are reflected in their buying/selling in the markets.

Not saying fundamentals aren't important, just that they matter more significantly only in the longest timeframe:forever.



http://thereformedbroker.com/2016/08/30/everyone-is-a-closet-technician-2/

 But above all, technicians respect the power of sentiment more than their fundamentalist counterparts. And sentiment, after all, is how valuations actually come to be – the P in the PE Ratio or the PEG Ratio or the P/B calculation. In the real equation, the only one that counts, the P is what pays, not the E, not the EG and certainly not the B. Buffett would tell you the B (book value) is what pays over time (the market going from a voting machine to a weighing machine). But Buffett can afford to ride it out, having permanent capital under management and an ocean of insurance premiums sloshing in over the transom every hour of the day. Most market players do not.

Japanese government to force companies to pay higher wages

this higher minimum wage move is a dangerous policy. yet they are running out of alternatives.

ever easing monetary policy to give companies money to spend on investment and infrastructure has backfired onto reversing yen devaluation, almost back to 2011 values.
meanwhile, companies have stayed put.

and they have now to juggle both the effects of high debt, strong yen and cushioning both the JGBs and Nikkei stock markets.

their targeting has been off course for a while.

giving money to companies helmed by older people (who had ever only thrift on their minds with their elder ages and experiences in post war Japan) only inspires more caution.

giving money(rising yen!!!) to people/companies who are good at asset allocation means people like Masayoshi Son buys foreign assets, like Sprint and ARM, not reflating the economy.

They need to give money to the rising younger Japanese innovators with conditions.
They might hit something.

Higher minimum wage might still work. But foreign orders and companies in primary industries might move on. (already moved to Taiwan at one point with the taiwanese firms absorbing smartphone components manufacturing orders from Japanese firms culminating in Foxconn buying Sharp. until Xiaomi came along and brought orders to Sharp up until the recent yen strength from 2015)





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But rather than employing it to try to contain salary and price pressures -- as U.S. leaders did in the 1970s -- the IMF wants Japan to use moral suasion, tax breaks and, as a last resort, penalties to prod companies into granting bigger pay gains and thus promote higher inflation.
“We need policies to support wage increases in Japan,” Luc Everaert, IMF mission chief for the country, told reporters on Aug. 2 after completion of the agency’s annual consultation with the world’s third-largest economy.
The IMF’s backing of such an unorthodox approach is an acknowledgment of how entrenched Japan’s “deflationary mindset” has become and how resistant it’s been to a more traditional mix of policies.
It’s also the lending agency’s answer to exhortations by some economists that Japan launch so-called helicopter money -- direct central bank financing of the government’s budget deficit -- a strategy Everaert said has “very large risks.”

Foxconn bought Sharp - Taiwanese takes smartphone orders from Japan and now their company(ies?)

nice move. good synergy and currency play.

Terry Gou is one sharp dude.

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Foxconn and Sharp Corp (6753.T) on Saturday formally signed a long-awaited deal that would see the Taiwan firm take control of the Japanese display maker, as executives sought to dispel lingering doubts over whether Sharp can turn around its ebbing fortunes.

At a packed news conference following the signing of the $3.5 billion deal, Foxconn CEO Terry Gou ducked questions about how - and when - Sharp would become profitable again, but expressed confidence in the Japanese company's ability to bounce back with its highly regarded technology.

Gou pointed to Sharp's proprietary know-how to mass-produce the advanced IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide) display technology as a standout, calling it superior to the popular OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology. IGZO technology is used in products such as Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iPad.

"Everybody is saying OLED," Gou said at the event held at Foxconn and Sharp's jointly owned liquid crystal display factory in Sakai, western Japan. "If I was an engineer, I would choose IGZO," he said, noting that they were more energy-efficient than OLEDs.

Masayoshi at it again, first Sprint, now T-Mobile

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SoftBank Group Corp.’s Masayoshi Son has a 300-year plan, so if combining Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc. takes a few years longer than he hoped, that’s OK.
Son, who became one of the world’s wealthiest men by turning Tokyo-based SoftBank into a telecommunications and technology powerhouse, still would like to merge the U.S. wireless providers, according to people familiar with his thinking. SoftBank owns more than 80 percent of Sprint after acquiring the majority stake in 2013, part of Son’s famed plan to build a business empire that can endure through the centuries.
Son considered buying T-Mobile in 2014, before abandoning the effort when officials at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and Justice Department signaled they were against a theoretical merger. There’s a key figure who will determine if Son makes another run at T-Mobile: the yet-to-be named new head of the FCC. If Son feels that person is more amenable to a combination to take on market leaders AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., he will probably try again, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter is private.

Insurtech is one of the leading innovation frontiers of fintech

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Enter one of FinLeap’s existing portfolio companies, Clark, which operates in the insurance space with an app to help you stay on top of your various insurance products. Today the Berlin/Frankfurt startup is announcing it’s closed €13.2 million in Series A funding, made up of both equity and media-for-equity financing.FinLeap is investing “several million Euros” once again, while additional investors include yabeo Capital, Kulczyk Investments, HitFox, TA Ventures, Tenderloin Ventures, along with various unnamed business angels.Media investment, which I understand will mostly be in the form of TV advertising but will also include some online and print, comes from SevenVentures (the venture arm of the ProSiebenSat.1 Group), Axel Springer, and media investor GMPVC. The split between equity financing and media-for-equity financing is roughly 75 per cent to 25 per cent.(Noteworthy is that FinLeap, which itself raised €21 million in new funding this June, is backed by institutional investors from the insurance industry, including Hannover Re, the third largest worldwide reinsurer.)Calling itself an “insurance­ robo-­advisor,” Clark’s iOS and Android apps let you manage and purchase various insurance products. Specifically, it uses algorithms to analyze your current insurance situation and automatically propose opportunities to improve your coverage or the deal you are currently on. The startup’s insurance experts are also on-hand via the app to help with more bespoke insurance questions.
Since the start of the year, Clark claims to have increased the volume of its managed insurance premiums five-fold, to 30 million Euros. The startup employs close to 20 people, most of whom are software developers.Competitors include Knip, Getsafe and Financefox, but Clark reckons it differs in the way it uses robo-advisors (ie a more automated approach) to assess each user’s insurance situation and to send chat-messages to alert you to insurance opportunities.“In addition, all clients have access to an in-app insurance cockpit,” the German startup says. “This works similar to fitness apps like runtastic or Nike running, i.e. the client can easily understand his ‘insurance fitness.'”

Tencent overtakes Alibaba, both probably still undervalued

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Brent Lewin | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Tencent, the owner of popular social messaging app WeChat, on Thursday overtook e-commerce giant Alibaba to become China's most valuable technology company after posting a strong set of earnings.
Data compiled by spreadbettor IG showed Tencent's market capitalization was at 1910.3 billion Hong Kong dollars ($246.35 billion) as of 10:40 a.m. HK/SIN, compared with Alibaba's market capitalization of $242.04 billion. 
The Chinese gaming and social network company announced its second quarter and first half 2016 earnings on Wednesday, reporting strong growth in mobile gaming and advertising.
Total revenue for the second quarter came in at 35.69 billion yuan ($5.38 billion), registering a 52 percent on-year increase. Operating profit was at 14.33 billion yuan, which was 43 percent higher from the same period a year earlier.
The bulk of revenue for the quarter came from online gaming, which grew by 32 percent on-year to 17.124 billion yuan, driven particularly by smartphone games. 
Monthly active user accounts on Tencent's social WeChat/Weixin platform were 806 million, registering a 34 percent on-year increase. 
In June, Tencent deepened its presence in the mobile gaming space by leading a consortium to acquire a majority equity stake in Finnish gamemaker Supercell, which produced popular titles such as Clash of Clans and Clash Royale. 
Hong Kong-listed shares of Tencent climbed 5.08 percent in morning trade on Thursday.
Representatives from Tencent and Alibaba did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comments.

Consolidation in Brokerage industry

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The first thing we would have expected to happen in any other market is that Interactive Brokers would sell its client book to one of the remaining players in the market. Both OANDA and GAIN Capital could use the added market share to effectively match the size of FXCM, and TD Ameritrade could almost double the client assets of its forex branch.
The problem is that neither Interactive Brokers nor any of the other brokers has so far announced that any deal is in the works. While it is possible that such an announcement will come soon, we need to consider that the situation in the American market might prevent this option from materializing.
The U.S. market has been contracting for years now under the heavy weight of compliance with NFA regulations. From feedback Finance Magnates received from firms that left American shores for greener pastures, it seems that the costs of operating in the US outweigh the benefits. Some even say that the only reason for brokers to remain in the U.S. at this point is branding – being an American player means that you stand in some of the stricter regulatory environments in the world, something that carries weight in unregulated markets such as China.

changing business - apple

Source: Weebly

Facebook ARPU

Source: Re/code

Buy and hold, until it is no longer sensible to do so - Yahoo an example

Vietnam launching digital visas, very bullish

if this is not bullish, i don't know what is.

http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/vietnam-to-launch-digital-visas-next-year-116081000630_1.html#.V63vabIUTHU.twitter

Vietnam is working on a scheme to grant electronic visas for foreign visitors from next year, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said.
The government had allocated some 200 billion Vietnamese dong ($8.97 million) to speed up the implementation of the scheme so that the e-visa system can be launched on January 1 next year, Xinhua news agency quoted Phuc as saying on Tuesday.
Last month, in an attempt to attract more visitors, Vietnam renewed the 15-day visa waiver policy for citizens of Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Italy for another year.
By 2020, Vietnam targets to attract 10 million to 10.5 million international visitors with tourism revenue reaching $18 billion to $19 billion each year.

Fail More, Fail Faster, Fail Better & Uniqlo Boss Tadashi Yanai

Don't be afraid to fail. Fail More, Fail Faster, Fail Better.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/i-understand-failure/3034912.html

When asked why he was not satisfied with being second or third, Mr Yanai retorted: “There's no option for us to say that at the Olympics, we're just aiming for the bronze medal. We don’t say that.

“We want to do our very best to get the gold medal,” he added. 

 Citing the UK as an example, Mr Yanai said that the 10 Uniqlo stores in London now have been doing “exceptionally well” and are “all making profits”. He points to Asia’s economic boom as the greatest stimulator for the company’s growth, adding: “What the Chinese (did) could also happen in Southeast Asia.”  

 “Right now, I don't need a successor who is like me,”
Mr Yanai said. “A job like this can't be done alone. Therefore, ideally, I would want to form a team to split all this work up with a good CEO, and this person will continue to direct operations,” he added.
And he is anxious to get them started working as a team. “I want to know if my team of successors can do a good job as soon as possible. I hope they could assume the role of protecting the company's interests.”

Consumer brands mega infographic

could someone give me a version of the chinese companies?
and the rest of asia?
thanks.

http://www.visualcapitalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/consumer-brands-full-size.html

New type of mall activities - Pokemon

http://infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/CL_NewRelease_PokemonSTAR_6Aug2016.ashx?App=Announcement&FileID=416030

#PokemonSTAR - Reward, Redeem, Recharge From 6 to 10 August 2016, CapitaLand will be running #PokemonSTAR, a first-of-its-kind O2O campaign that weaves together augmented reality with CapitaLand's physical properties in Singapore as well as its digital and social media platforms. Members of CAPITASTAR, CapitaLand's multi-mall, multi-store cashless rewards programme, will be rewarded with over 2 million STAR$® through #PokemonSTAR, a snap-and-reward Instagram activity that comes with a daily capture component and two bonus stages – the additional #PokemonSTAR of the Day Challenge and the #CatchEmAllAtCapitaLandMalls Grand Bonus.

http://mothership.sg/2016/08/ion-orchard-is-suddenly-a-pokestop-in-spore/

Barely a few hours after Pokémon Go launched in Singapore on Aug. 6, 2016, ION Orchard has become the first PokeStop here.
A PokeStop is a landmark or place of interest where players get to “catch” virtual Pokemon that are attracted by lures released at these locations.
Lures can be purchased by anyone, and in this case, ION Orchard most probably did.
Because from Aug. 6 to 21, ION Orchard will be releasing hundreds of Lures during designated hours as part of Pokemon Go @ ION Orchard, a marketing campaign to draw Pokemon players.

Facebook moving into ecommerce

Facebook moving into ecommerce.


http://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-emergingmarkets-idUSKCN10E1HT

Facebook Inc is to let small businesses in emerging markets sell to customers for free through their Facebook pages, the social media company said on Wednesday, marking a new effort to build up potential advertisers in its fastest-growing regions.
The move is Facebook's latest foray onto online commerce in emerging markets. The company launched a service last year allowing some merchants to sell items through paid ads on Facebook's app. The latest service will instead be free, and users can view products through merchants' own Facebook pages.

Chinese are buying from Japan via apps and amazon japan

amazing, the spillover from chinese demand for hongkong consumer goods seems to be overflowing into japan.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-01/china-s-new-killer-app-a-princess-a-pea-and-a-way-around-japan

The app with the fairy tale name, called Wandou in Chinese, uses about 50 professional shoppers in Japan to procure everything from toilet-seat covers to toothpaste for consumers over in China. For Chen, it’s a way of getting safe and reliable everyday items without having to leave her home or the country, and shipping is free for orders over 300 yuan ($45).
Chinese have been flocking to Japan for electronics, luxury and consumer goods for years, perceiving them to be better and more luxurious than what they can buy at home. Five million Chinese tourists shelled out 1.4 trillion yen ($13.7 billion) there last year, a 154 percent increase from 2014, Japan’s tourism agency says.
Amazon Inc. recently added Chinese language to its Japanese website, lowered the cost of shipping to China and enabled shoppers in China to pay with local currency in response to demand for goods ranging from health and personal care products to cosmetics, Amazon Japan President Jasper Cheung said in a July 27 interview.
Wandou users can make purchases from among more than 3,000 items -- from Lion Corp. toothpaste and Kao Corp. sanitary pad to Calbee Inc.’s potato snacks -- stocked in a 20,000 square-foot warehouse near Tokyo’s Haneda airport. Orders are shipped to China through the company’s own logistics system.
“I want to use made-in-Japan products even if they cost me extra money since I’m scared of Chinese goods,” said Chen. “There are a lot of people like me. Whenever I get good stuff delivered from Japan and introduce them to my friends, they want to buy them right away.”

M&As deal makers for Japan's ageing business owners

amazing. with the ageing population in Japan, maybe the consolidations and M&As will just increase?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-01/the-tinder-for-aging-japanese-ceos-posts-a-1-170-stock-gain

Enter Nihon M&A Center Inc., a rare deal-advisory boutique in Japan, which introduced Takeuchi to a young company president on the other side of the country who wanted a foothold in the Tokyo software market. Months later, Takeuchi sold. It was just one of 110 deals Nihon M&A facilitated that year, a number that’s been increasing since it went public in 2006. Helping small-business owners find successors has sent its shares up almost 13-fold since listing.

Automated fish slicing fascinating!

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2016-06-20/your-fish-sticks-may-have-been-sliced-by-this-algorithm

Yahoo sold to Verizon, what a discount?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-24/verizon-said-to-announce-4-8-billion-deal-to-buy-yahoo-tomorrow

Verizon Communications Inc. will announce its plans to buy Yahoo! Inc. for about $4.8 billion on Monday, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation.
The takeover is expected to be announced before the market opens, the person said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public. The deal includes Yahoo real estate assets, while intellectual property assets are expected to be sold separately, the person said.
Yahoo will keep its stakes in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Yahoo Japan Corp.