Its 1929 In China—-Here’s The Chapter And Verse
I’ve mentioned the Chinese stock market mania here briefly in recent weeks. I’ve now compiled a fair amount of data along with some interesting anecdotes that show just how crazy it’s gotten so I thought I’d spend this week’s market comment laying it all out for you.
U.S. Dot-Com Bubble Was Nothing Compared to Today’s China Prices http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-07/u-s-dot-com-bubble-was-nothing-compared-to-today-s-china-prices … $FXI $PEK
The first thing I like to focus on is valuations. If the dot-com bubble is the gold standard, then China is a bona fide financial bubble. According to Bloomberg:
Valuations in China are now higher than those in the U.S. at the height of the dot-com bubble just about any way you slice them. The average Chinese technology stock has a price-to-earnings ratio 41 percent above that of U.S. peers in 2000, while the median valuation is twice as expensive and the market capitalization-weighted average is 12 percent higher, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Another way to look at it is to compare current valuations around the world:
One of these bars doesn’t belong. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-16/real-cost-of-china-stocks-dwarfs-2007-bubble-as-valuations-jump …
I’ve made the case that US stocks are more overvalued than they appear due to the fact that the median stock is now more highly valued than ever. There’s now a very similar but far more dramatic situation going on in China. Again, from Bloomberg:
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
The problem with the Shanghai Composite is that 94 percent of Chinese stocks trade at higher valuations than the index, a consequence of its heavy weighting toward low-priced banks. Use average or median multiples instead and a different picture emerges: Chinese shares are almost twice as expensive as they were when the Shanghai Composite peaked in October 2007 and more than three times pricier than any of the world’s top 10 markets.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
