The following videos are a must to watch. Its gruesome but stark reality. How we treat animals reflects on our sense of fairness, compassion and character. For those who cannot protect themselves, we should be their protector. If we numb our souls to this, we will lose our sense of priority of what's important in life, we will lose sight of our "value on earth".
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
Monday, 6 September 2010
Country Equity Markets' Performance YTD
Global stock market country's performance on a year to date basis yielded some interesting observations. The respected Bespoke Investment Group has featured the table below recently. The average year to date change for all 82 countries is 5.39%.
The S&P 500's year to date change of -1.24% is obviously below both of these. The US currently ranks 53rd out of 82 in terms of 2010 performance.
At the top of the list is Sri Lanka with a 2010 gain of 73.69%. Bangladesh ranks second at 49.37%, followed by Estonia 41.94%, Ukraine 40.86%, and Latvia 40.26%.
The bigger emerging markets have not fared so well. India has been the best performing BRIC country so far this year with a gain of 4.33%. Russia ranks second at 1.42%, Brazil ranks third at -2.43%, and China is down the most at -18.97%.
The developed markets have also fared poorly so far. Canada is currently the top G7 country with a gain of 3.26%. Germany and Britain are the other two G7 countries that are up year to date but only just, while Japan is the G7 country that is down the most year to date (-13.58%).
Overall, Bermuda has seen the biggest losses this year with a decline of 38.25%. Greece is the second worst at -24.56%.
It looks like the flow of funds indicate a benign investing environment for the bigger markets, be it emerging or developed. Its still a tug of war, a delicate balance between the bulls and the bears. To break it down, its torn between the group that thinks that most of the developed nations may still be in for a double dip or that the stimulus programs have run its course. The other group thinks that there is still immense liquidity staying on the sidelines which may flow back into equities in a big way this year.
I am in the latter camp. To me, if you think there is the likelihood of a double dip, it will still translate to a low interest rate environment or that more stimulus will be offered. Both still bullish factors.
If there is no double dip, some of the liquidity will move back to equities to get better returns. Hence it is a inherently better to be long and bullish on stocks for the rest of the year.
Malaysia, together with Thailand and Indonesia have done very well, notching 12.8%, 26.6% and 24.8% respectively.
The other fact which I find comforting is that markets are not ignorant, they have penalised Japan and China markets heavily so far this year. Japan, for further aggravating their deflationary economy. China for having to continue to tighten the taps to control over exuberance in property and indiscriminate lending.
Friday, 3 September 2010
Snippets Of Travel To Macau/HK
First time ever taking Air asia as its the only airline flying to Macau. Thought I would take that route as I have not been there since the big casinos were built. Will then take the ferry to HK. First thing first, the LCCT was efficient, sort of like a cleaner (for now) Puduraya ... but somebody should really do something about the flies.
Caught up on some business reads, came across some interesting factoids:
- Did you know that for every 100 hardcover / softcover book that Amazon sells, they sold 180 e-books of the same version. That is an amazing adoption rate (e-reader, iPad, Kindle, etc.) despite the fact that many still prefer to hold a book in their hands, flip the pages, dogear them and stack on their shelves to project the "learned reader image" ... sigh ...
- Despite the casinos, Macau is still a pretty dead town.
- When will the shoe drop??? ... According to media statistics in CHINA, they found that there are 64.5m urban electricity meters registering ZERO consumption. That is a masterful way of determining the number of finished property units without occupancy. Sixty four million homes in urban centers that are unoccupied!!! Everybody is holding on for capital gains or flipping them because you cannot seriously entertain even seeing 20% of them being rented out over the next 2 years. Something has to give soon. Property bubbles are harder to prick ... you probably need a couple of major property developers being over extended or running into trouble for a start.
The general rule of thumb is that vacancy rates in major cities in China is as high as 50%. The lack of a Shiller price index or reliable occupancy rates has led independent researchers to think of new ways to keep track of these statistics. The electricity meter thing is smart indeed.
- Fortune magazine has a nice article highlighting on current possible bubbles in the financial markets. I have rated them on the frothiness (10 being most frothy):
a) China's economy 7/10
b) China's urban property 9.9/10
c) US Treasury bonds 9/10
d) Shale stocks (rock formations below ground thought to have massive gas deposits) 6/10
e) Gold 7/10
f) Cotton 7/10
- In the meantime, do check out khanacademy.org or view some of his selfless lectures (freebie) on various subjects for all to learn. Go to you tube and search for khan academy, learn in brilliantly simple exacting ways about calculus, physics, algebra etc... he has over 1,600 tutorials reaching hundreds of thousands of students. Its not going to replace the classroom or university but an exciting way to leverage on open-university-learning to supplement the teachings. Save tons on tuition class people. Bill gates and a number of other philantropists are going to be backing him in a big way.
Thursday, 2 September 2010
Tsai Ming Liang, Asian Filmaker of the Year
September 02, 2010
The Pusan International Film Festival praised Tsai’s (picture) work over the past three decades for pioneering unexplored areas that overcome the limitations of the art film industry.
“His 30-year-long devotion to filmmaking has greatly influenced Asian cinema and made considerable contributions to enhance the global status of Asian cinema,” it said in a statement.
“He is renowned for seeking fresh ways of communicating with his audience... We can find the root of his endless spirit of challenging himself and the borderlines of art in his earlier works in the 1990s.”
Sarawak-born Tsai is best known for “Vive L’Amour” that won the Golden Lion (best picture) award at the Venice Film Festival in 1994, and “The River” that won the Silver Bear/Special Jury Prize at the 1997 Berlin International Film Festival.
The 52-year-old has also won numerous awards with other films.
He is considered a leading exponent of the “Second New Wave” — a group of Taiwanese directors in the 1990s who produced films with realistic and sympathetic portrayals of life rather than melodramas or action pictures.
The festival, held in the southern port city of Busan since 1996, will be staged from October 7-15 this year. — AFP-Relaxnews
Saturday, 28 August 2010
Marketocracy Portfolio As At 27 August 2010
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S&P 500
DJIA
Nasdaq
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| Close Date | Type | Symbol | Shares | Net Avg. Price | Net |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 17, 2010 | Sell | POT | 1,000 | $140.3169 | $140,316.93 |
| Aug 12, 2010 | Buy | F | 8,000 | $12.4259 | $99,407.51 |
| Jul 29, 2010 | Sell | NVDA | 9,000 | $9.1826 | $82,643.21 |
| Jul 22, 2010 | Sell | C | 5,000 | $4.0199 | $20,099.65 |
| Jul 22, 2010 | Buy | UCO | 6,000 | $10.2768 | $61,660.69 |
| Jul 12, 2010 | Sell | BP | 1,750 | $36.6356 | $64,112.22 |
| Jun 25, 2010 | Buy | BP | 800 | $27.55 | $22,040.00 |
| Jun 14, 2010 | Buy | BP | 1,500 | $31.4431 | $47,164.65 |
| Jun 11, 2010 | Buy | BP | 2,000 | $34.1535 | $68,306.95 |
| Jun 11, 2010 | Sell | GS | 700 | $133.7412 | $93,618.86 |
| Jun 11, 2010 | Buy | BP | 450 | $34.05 | $15,322.50 |
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Tanah Pusaka by The Solianos
Readers of this blog will be aware of my strong support for Leslie from pop pop music label. His stable of artists have churned out excellent audiophile recordings by JZ8, 2V1G, Roger Wang and Gina Panizales. I have been a fan of The Solianos through the years, but mainly listening to their interpretations of jazz standards and the occasional Malay songs.
Don't get me wrong, I love Gadis Idaman Ku, which was composed brilliantly by Alfonso Soliano. During a night session at No Black Tie, I heard them play Tudung Periuk, followed by Gadis Idaman Ku, and a few songs later Tanah Pusaka. It clicked in me that this is a great concept of an album. For my life, I never could fathom why The Solianos never got an album out.
I dragged Leslie to their next gig and he was sold. Pure talented slogging Malaysian musicians with such a storied family, which has contributed immensely to the very fabric and development of modern Malaysian music culture and legacy. I said this album must be an all Malay songs album. There is certainly room for a great jazzy Malay album that reflects their talent and heritage.
Hence their song list below has a few songs composed by Alfonso Soliano, and the rest given the special Solianos treatment. The harmonies and virtuosity of The Solianos shine through the grand guidance of Ador as well.
As an appetiser, they have released a video of their superb recording of Tanah Pusaka, which will be in the album, but is brought forward to all ahead of Merdeka Day. We all love our country, we may hate the politics or some of its policies now and then, but let's be clear, most of us love our country. We all know in our hearts we really want a 1Malaysia, the one that is promulgated is still "in the works it seems", but we know the vision of the one we want in our hearts. Happy Merdeka everyone ...
p/s please do post / link / embed the video onto your blogs and facebook ... knowing that many offices have banned youtube, we have added the megavideo link as well ha-ha.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkKb9EaPirs
http://www.megavideo.com/?v=NH3LC8HG
This will be in a series of articles on The Solianos Project. Why them? Although I begged Leslie to have a listen to The Solianos, although it seems like I "discovered" them as a recording potential, the truth is not so exceptional on my side. How do you discover a group that has been around for twenty thirty years?
Listening to the live, doing these 3 songs convinced me that there is something "big" ... Tudung Periuk, Tanah Pusaka and Gadis Idaman Ku. The Solianos have been plying their trade at various venues and even corporate events, and while most of their repertoire were in English jazz standards, I was convinced they had to do a Malay album which will totally encapsulate their brilliance, musicality, musicianship and melodious harmonies. It had to be a Malay album because it reflects their heritage perfectly (Alfonso Soliano and Tony Soliano).
The final song list is equally distributed with numbers composed by Alfonso Soliano and emblematic Malay songs through the years (with the Solianos treatment, they were given a fresh breath of vibrancy again - you didn't know that some Malay songs could actually sound so good).
In many ways, The Solianos represent the music culture for the past 60 years and the Pusaka album is more "1Malaysia" than anything I can imagine. If you are between 35-75 you will really feel that you lived through these songs, in your own country, cause nowhere else on earth will you get an album like this or get to appreciate one like this.
Both Tony and Alfonso were greats in their own rights. Alfonso was behind many artistes in the 70s, in fact he was the music arranger / director for Sharifah Aini's Pasir Roboh, Damak Ku Sayang, Serampang Laut, Dodoi Si Dodoi, etc... and thats just one artiste. I like Kartina Dahari a lot, and she also sang one of Alfonso's composition, Tunas Kasih. Tunku Abdul Rahman sought help from Radio Malaysia – Alfonso Soliano, Lanthall, Croft, Bert Read, Dol Ramli and Datuk Ahmad Merican to create the national anthem, Negaraku from a love song, Terang Bulan. Alfonso was always top of the list even then.
Alfonso's better known compositions include: Gadis Idaman Ku and Airmata Berderai. Hence the album which they are doing has almost half of them songs that linked the Soliano name to this group of talented musicians.
This great article was written by errol de cruz for NST and was published on merdeka day august 31, 2007,
IF there's one family that stands above all others in Malaysian music-making, it must be the Soliano clan.
There's an often-used joke which says that if you don't want to become a millionaire, all you need do is become a jazz musician. It's probably what used to happen in the early 1900s what with so many talented jazz and blues musicians succumbing to "occupational hazards".
In today's musical climate, however, jazz musicians have come a long way and several have made a big name for themselves, the Malaysian list includes Michael Veerapen, Lewis Pragasam, Andy Peterson, David Ah Wah, Julian Chan, Vincent Ong, Josie Thomas, David Gomes and many others.
Jazz itself has come a long way, finding its way into pop, rock and ethnic fusion; it's not surprising to find pop artistes who have matured, so to speak, turning back to their roots and hitting jazz joints with sets that include songs by Cole Porter, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Ray Charles, Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone and Antonio Carlos Jobim.
Last week, for example, at popular jazz joint No Black Tie, patrons were pleasantly surprised to find evergreen artiste Khatijah Ibrahim at the mike, belting out her own originals and also jazz standards like Don't Rain On My Parade, Luck Be My Lady Tonight and Fever.
Accompanying her was an ensemble starring a renowned music family - the Solianos, arguably the only family in Malaysian showbiz who can claim a heritage of jazz that dates back well into the nation's history, well past the inaugural Merdeka celebrations, thanks to their forefathers, the legendary Alfonso and Tony Soliano.
The Soliano name hails back to the days of the British occupation, when Rufino Soliano and Dominado Tirona were brought in from the Philippines to play in the Constabulary Band.
Later, Alfonso and his nephew Tony came into the picture. Alfonso was the serious one, leading and writing for the orchestras of the time, while Tony was happy being the live wire, leading local musicians in one jazz ensemble or another on both sides of the Causeway, and in the heady Bangkok scene, too.
"Those were the days," many say, "when we had talented artistes like Ahmad Wan Yet, Zain Azman and Julie Sudiro entertaining us."
Alfonso and Tony died, months apart, in 1990, and it has been up to their children and families to keep things going.
Today's Soliano clan remembers the days of yore well, especially Valentino "Tinoy" Soliano who was the only one who performed with his father Alfonso. "I was the lucky one and yes, those were the days," he said.
"If you went to any of our homes after he passed away, there'd be a portrait of him above the piano and as we practised, we'd get that echo that said: "No bluffing, ah."
"Dad's talent was his wealth," Tinoy said. "He'd always bring himself down to the playing level of other musicians and make them sound good."
The Soliano Brothers picked up the flag from Alfonso and performed all over the country for more than 15 years, until individual talent and creativity nudged them into forming their own groups.
Now, instead of just one family ensemble plying the trade, there are at least six outfits pushing the Soliano envelope, from Langkawi to Singapore.
* Tinoy's sister, Isabella, leads one band at the Datai in Langkawi, with Conrado playing trumpet.
* Brother Rizal and niece Rachel have two bands, now performing at No Black Tie.
* Sister Irene sings with the Soliano Brothers whenever she can.
* Cousin Daniel Guerzo leads his Nine Lives in Langkawi.
* Tony Soliano Jr has a band in Johor Baru.
* Cousin Louis Tan Soliano plays drums at Jazz At Southbridge in Singapore.
* Older brother Remy had an accident recently and is currently bed-ridden.
* Tinoy and Tristano are session musicians. "We're the family mercenaries," Tano laughed.
The entire family gets together at Christmas and last year, they more or less took over Langkawi island for two whole weeks. And when they do get together, it's Salvador Guerzo who leads them.
Ado, pianist Rachel's dad, is the elder that the Solianos look up to nowadays. Like Alfonso in his time, Ado writes and arranges for the RTM Orchestra and also plays as often as he can with any of the Soliano outfits. Another "mercenary", yes, but this saxophonist is rather devoted to his daughter's band.
"Times have changed," Rachel chipped in. "I used to follow him; now it's the other way around."
It's a tough job, leading the entire clan when they get together, but Ado wears the mantle well, and his big hope is that he will one day be instrumental in making some Soliano dreams come true.
Rachel has plans to organise the Alfonso Soliano Jazz Festival and is hoping to acquire enough sponsorship over the next two years, and Ado wants to establish what they would all like to see - the Soliano School of Music.
"These are our dreams," Ado said, "and I know we can do it if we put our heads and talent together."
In this case, however, Rachel has the level-headed voice. "What we really need is someone with the business acumen to run it."
Considering the reputation the Soliano clan has earned over half a century and more, the realisation of such dreams would only be fitting.
Or as Rizal put it: "Dad didn't leave us any wealth because making music was more important than making money. But he did leave us with a big name, and it's up to us to do something with it."
Don't get me wrong, I love Gadis Idaman Ku, which was composed brilliantly by Alfonso Soliano. During a night session at No Black Tie, I heard them play Tudung Periuk, followed by Gadis Idaman Ku, and a few songs later Tanah Pusaka. It clicked in me that this is a great concept of an album. For my life, I never could fathom why The Solianos never got an album out.
I dragged Leslie to their next gig and he was sold. Pure talented slogging Malaysian musicians with such a storied family, which has contributed immensely to the very fabric and development of modern Malaysian music culture and legacy. I said this album must be an all Malay songs album. There is certainly room for a great jazzy Malay album that reflects their talent and heritage.
Hence their song list below has a few songs composed by Alfonso Soliano, and the rest given the special Solianos treatment. The harmonies and virtuosity of The Solianos shine through the grand guidance of Ador as well.
As an appetiser, they have released a video of their superb recording of Tanah Pusaka, which will be in the album, but is brought forward to all ahead of Merdeka Day. We all love our country, we may hate the politics or some of its policies now and then, but let's be clear, most of us love our country. We all know in our hearts we really want a 1Malaysia, the one that is promulgated is still "in the works it seems", but we know the vision of the one we want in our hearts. Happy Merdeka everyone ...
p/s please do post / link / embed the video onto your blogs and facebook ... knowing that many offices have banned youtube, we have added the megavideo link as well ha-ha.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkKb9EaPirs
http://www.megavideo.com/?v=NH3LC8HG
The Solianos Project - Why!!!???
Listening to the live, doing these 3 songs convinced me that there is something "big" ... Tudung Periuk, Tanah Pusaka and Gadis Idaman Ku. The Solianos have been plying their trade at various venues and even corporate events, and while most of their repertoire were in English jazz standards, I was convinced they had to do a Malay album which will totally encapsulate their brilliance, musicality, musicianship and melodious harmonies. It had to be a Malay album because it reflects their heritage perfectly (Alfonso Soliano and Tony Soliano).
The final song list is equally distributed with numbers composed by Alfonso Soliano and emblematic Malay songs through the years (with the Solianos treatment, they were given a fresh breath of vibrancy again - you didn't know that some Malay songs could actually sound so good).
In many ways, The Solianos represent the music culture for the past 60 years and the Pusaka album is more "1Malaysia" than anything I can imagine. If you are between 35-75 you will really feel that you lived through these songs, in your own country, cause nowhere else on earth will you get an album like this or get to appreciate one like this.
Both Tony and Alfonso were greats in their own rights. Alfonso was behind many artistes in the 70s, in fact he was the music arranger / director for Sharifah Aini's Pasir Roboh, Damak Ku Sayang, Serampang Laut, Dodoi Si Dodoi, etc... and thats just one artiste. I like Kartina Dahari a lot, and she also sang one of Alfonso's composition, Tunas Kasih. Tunku Abdul Rahman sought help from Radio Malaysia – Alfonso Soliano, Lanthall, Croft, Bert Read, Dol Ramli and Datuk Ahmad Merican to create the national anthem, Negaraku from a love song, Terang Bulan. Alfonso was always top of the list even then.
Alfonso's better known compositions include: Gadis Idaman Ku and Airmata Berderai. Hence the album which they are doing has almost half of them songs that linked the Soliano name to this group of talented musicians.
This great article was written by errol de cruz for NST and was published on merdeka day august 31, 2007,
IF there's one family that stands above all others in Malaysian music-making, it must be the Soliano clan.
There's an often-used joke which says that if you don't want to become a millionaire, all you need do is become a jazz musician. It's probably what used to happen in the early 1900s what with so many talented jazz and blues musicians succumbing to "occupational hazards".
In today's musical climate, however, jazz musicians have come a long way and several have made a big name for themselves, the Malaysian list includes Michael Veerapen, Lewis Pragasam, Andy Peterson, David Ah Wah, Julian Chan, Vincent Ong, Josie Thomas, David Gomes and many others.
Jazz itself has come a long way, finding its way into pop, rock and ethnic fusion; it's not surprising to find pop artistes who have matured, so to speak, turning back to their roots and hitting jazz joints with sets that include songs by Cole Porter, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Ray Charles, Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone and Antonio Carlos Jobim.
Last week, for example, at popular jazz joint No Black Tie, patrons were pleasantly surprised to find evergreen artiste Khatijah Ibrahim at the mike, belting out her own originals and also jazz standards like Don't Rain On My Parade, Luck Be My Lady Tonight and Fever.
Accompanying her was an ensemble starring a renowned music family - the Solianos, arguably the only family in Malaysian showbiz who can claim a heritage of jazz that dates back well into the nation's history, well past the inaugural Merdeka celebrations, thanks to their forefathers, the legendary Alfonso and Tony Soliano.
The Soliano name hails back to the days of the British occupation, when Rufino Soliano and Dominado Tirona were brought in from the Philippines to play in the Constabulary Band.
Later, Alfonso and his nephew Tony came into the picture. Alfonso was the serious one, leading and writing for the orchestras of the time, while Tony was happy being the live wire, leading local musicians in one jazz ensemble or another on both sides of the Causeway, and in the heady Bangkok scene, too.
"Those were the days," many say, "when we had talented artistes like Ahmad Wan Yet, Zain Azman and Julie Sudiro entertaining us."
Alfonso and Tony died, months apart, in 1990, and it has been up to their children and families to keep things going.
Today's Soliano clan remembers the days of yore well, especially Valentino "Tinoy" Soliano who was the only one who performed with his father Alfonso. "I was the lucky one and yes, those were the days," he said.
"If you went to any of our homes after he passed away, there'd be a portrait of him above the piano and as we practised, we'd get that echo that said: "No bluffing, ah."
"Dad's talent was his wealth," Tinoy said. "He'd always bring himself down to the playing level of other musicians and make them sound good."
The Soliano Brothers picked up the flag from Alfonso and performed all over the country for more than 15 years, until individual talent and creativity nudged them into forming their own groups.
Now, instead of just one family ensemble plying the trade, there are at least six outfits pushing the Soliano envelope, from Langkawi to Singapore.
* Tinoy's sister, Isabella, leads one band at the Datai in Langkawi, with Conrado playing trumpet.
* Brother Rizal and niece Rachel have two bands, now performing at No Black Tie.
* Sister Irene sings with the Soliano Brothers whenever she can.
* Cousin Daniel Guerzo leads his Nine Lives in Langkawi.
* Tony Soliano Jr has a band in Johor Baru.
* Cousin Louis Tan Soliano plays drums at Jazz At Southbridge in Singapore.
* Older brother Remy had an accident recently and is currently bed-ridden.
* Tinoy and Tristano are session musicians. "We're the family mercenaries," Tano laughed.
The entire family gets together at Christmas and last year, they more or less took over Langkawi island for two whole weeks. And when they do get together, it's Salvador Guerzo who leads them.
Ado, pianist Rachel's dad, is the elder that the Solianos look up to nowadays. Like Alfonso in his time, Ado writes and arranges for the RTM Orchestra and also plays as often as he can with any of the Soliano outfits. Another "mercenary", yes, but this saxophonist is rather devoted to his daughter's band.
"Times have changed," Rachel chipped in. "I used to follow him; now it's the other way around."
It's a tough job, leading the entire clan when they get together, but Ado wears the mantle well, and his big hope is that he will one day be instrumental in making some Soliano dreams come true.
Rachel has plans to organise the Alfonso Soliano Jazz Festival and is hoping to acquire enough sponsorship over the next two years, and Ado wants to establish what they would all like to see - the Soliano School of Music.
"These are our dreams," Ado said, "and I know we can do it if we put our heads and talent together."
In this case, however, Rachel has the level-headed voice. "What we really need is someone with the business acumen to run it."
Considering the reputation the Soliano clan has earned over half a century and more, the realisation of such dreams would only be fitting.
Or as Rizal put it: "Dad didn't leave us any wealth because making music was more important than making money. But he did leave us with a big name, and it's up to us to do something with it."
Country Market Cap As A Measure
It is popularly known that emerging markets as a percentage of total listed market cap in the world was a dismal figure. I don't have the exact number but I believe it was under 30% 10 years ago. That figure has been rising steadily as emerging markets got bigger, and more companies get listed in emerging markets.
Just think, as emerging markets companies grow bigger, and thanks to the last couple of financial crisis, emerging markets have made more inroads into that equation. The other factor is the recycling of petrodollar and massive trade surpluses - much of that went into buying big banks and mining firms.
It is foreseeable within the next 10 years that the BRICs plus another 10 emerging markets should overtake the old guard (US, Europe) in terms of percentage of market cap. It is almost inevitable, they keep spending beyond their means, and the trade surpluses keep going the other way. The main way to pay down their debts is actually via these emerging markets to buy out large stakes of their companies, as that would recycle back the funds.
Bespoke Investment Group:
Just think, as emerging markets companies grow bigger, and thanks to the last couple of financial crisis, emerging markets have made more inroads into that equation. The other factor is the recycling of petrodollar and massive trade surpluses - much of that went into buying big banks and mining firms.It is foreseeable within the next 10 years that the BRICs plus another 10 emerging markets should overtake the old guard (US, Europe) in terms of percentage of market cap. It is almost inevitable, they keep spending beyond their means, and the trade surpluses keep going the other way. The main way to pay down their debts is actually via these emerging markets to buy out large stakes of their companies, as that would recycle back the funds.
Bespoke Investment Group:
One of the main headlines on The Drudge Report this morning is that China has overtaken Japan as the world's second biggest economy. Looking at Bloomberg numbers of equity market caps for countries, China is getting very close to second biggest as well.
As shown below, Japan's stock market capitalization is currently 7.97% of world market cap. China ranks second at 6.89%. Five years ago, Japan accounted for 10.34% of world market cap, while China accounted for just 1.10%. Back in 2005, China ranked just 17th in terms of market cap, behind countries like Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, South Korea, Taiwan, India, and the Netherlands. Now with the world's second biggest economy and third biggest stock market, it's hard to classify China as an emerging market, but it is indeed still emerging in terms of growth.
In the bottom chart we highlight the change in percent of world market cap over the last five years. As shown, China has had the biggest growth in percentage points, while the US has had the biggest fall. Hong Kong, India, and Brazil have seen pretty big increases in share, while the UK, France, and Japan have all lost the most ground after the US. It will be interesting to see how things look in another five years.
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