According to the Financial Times, the Chinese Ministry of Information and Industry Technology called for a crackdown "on illegal VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) telephone services" and is collecting evidence for legal cases against them.

China is a big player in most markets; however, when it comes to technology, powerful local companies hold sway. Last year Google (GOOG) fought a battle to keep its website in China. A couple of years ago, China set rules whereby all Internet content had to pass through censors before being approved.

Continue reading Skype Could Face Charges in China

Skype Could Face Charges in China originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 02 Jan 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Serious Money: Buying the Super Caps, Part 6 -- Conclusions

Serious Money: Buying the Super Caps, Part 6 -- Conclusions originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 25 May 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The market continues to be very volatile and trending down. When the seas are this turbulent you want to be on the biggest ships and thus I continue my review of the super cap stocks. This time, I'm going to examine return-on-equity (ROE) and return on-invested-capital (ROIC).

I started with the 12 highest valued companies but remained with 10 after running them through several screens. Among those 10 super, caps the company that is producing the highest returns is Microsoft (MSFT).

Continue reading Serious Money: Buying the Super Caps, Part 5 -- ROE, ROIC

Serious Money: Buying the Super Caps, Part 5 -- ROE, ROIC originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 24 May 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's a cliché but it rings so true: just show me the money! In the case of stocks that's profits and distributions, or dividends.

The super cap review, in which I examine large cap stocks through different valuation methods, started with the 12 stocks with the highest capitalization and through several stock screens has been trimmed to just 10 stocks.

It has been widely reported that dividends contribute as much as 40% of the market stock appreciation on long term holdings. All things being equal, a diversified basket of dividend paying stocks should outperform a similarly diversified portfolio that does not.

Continue reading Serious Money: Buying the Super Caps, Part 4 -- the Dividend

Serious Money: Buying the Super Caps, Part 4 -- the Dividend originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 May 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Over the years I have referred to "my pal Warren" (Warren Buffet) on many occasions. He has taught me a great deal. I have learned a few things from Sir John Templeton (RIP) as well. But when I think about the price-to-earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratios, it is Peter Lynch who stands tall.

Lynch has been retired for many years and has been generous enough to share some of his thoughts in a couple of worthy books: One Up on Wall Street and Beating the Street. I highly recommend these best sellers to anyone that wants to expand their knowledge of value investing or manage their own finances.

Continue reading Serious Money: Buying the Super Caps, Part 3

Serious Money: Buying the Super Caps, Part 3 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 May 2010 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In my search for value investments among the top twelve stocks by capitalization -- the "super caps" -- I began by reviewing the price-to-earnings and price-to-sales ratios. Today we will move on to examine price-to-book (P/B) and price-to-cash flow (P/CF).

If you are one of the lucky ones that benefited from the market's long rise from the depths of Hades and are now looking to rotate into less volatile positions, or you still remain apprehensive and want to stake out a new position, some of these super caps may be just for you.

Continue reading Serious Money: Buying the Super Caps, Part 2

Serious Money: Buying the Super Caps, Part 2 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 18 May 2010 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Since early last fall, the majority of pundits have been saying that there would be a rotation from small cap stocks to the safety of large cap stocks in the new year. So far, the small cap stocks have maintained the lead, but a shift is taking place and the longer the bull runs and the worse global news becomes, the more this is likely to continue.

I have decided to examine the largest of the large cap stocks; lets call them the "super" caps; the top twelve as of May 13, 2010. Over the course of this series, the order will change and the bottom few may fade in and out as the market activity dictates. I may update the order, but for simplicity's sake will not change the stocks from the current list.

Continue reading Serious Money: Buying the Super Caps

Serious Money: Buying the Super Caps originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 17 May 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In terms of subscribers, China Mobile (CHL) is the largest mobile carrier (the base is more than 500 million). But of course, the company wants to become even bigger.

And one of the most promising markets is mobile payment. However, it can be difficult to pull this off. So, China Mobile has agreed to pay $5.83 billion for a 20% stake in Shanghai Pudong Development Bank. The transaction was priced at a 13% discount.

Continue reading China Mobile Bets $5.8 Billion on Mobile Banking

China Mobile Bets $5.8 Billion on Mobile Banking originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The contributing editor to UnCommon Wisdom explains, "The Lunar New Year is considered to be a combination of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's all rolled into an elaborate celebration of reflection, gratitude, renewal and hope. It is the single most celebrated holiday in China.

Continue reading Seven Buys for the Chinese New Year

Seven Buys for the Chinese New Year originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

China Mobile (CHL) closed at $48.01. CHL February put option implied volatility is at 24, June puts are at 30, versus its 26-week average of 33, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

China-Unicom (CHU) closed at $13.04. CHU February option implied volatility is at 33; April is at 37; below its 26-week average of 50, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

PetroChina (PTR) closed at $130.51. WTI Crude Futures are recently up 1.40% to $83.91 according to Bloomberg. PTR February put option implied volatility is at 31, March puts are at 30; below its 26-week average of 37 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Options Update: Major Chinese Conglomerates Volatility Low originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of a special report, Top Picks for 2010, the 27th annual survey in which TheStockAdvisors.com asks the nation's leading advisors for their single favorite stock for the new year. See all 80 stocks listed here.

Validea is an intriguing advisory that bases its stock selections on the known investment criteria of legendary stock market investors.

John Reese explains, "China Mobile Ltd. (CHL) is one of the rare stocks to get approval from three of tour Guru Strategy computer models; it earns top marks from my Warren Buffett-, Peter Lynch-, and James O'Shaughnessy-based models."

Continue reading Top Picks for 2010: China Mobile (CHL)

Top Picks for 2010: China Mobile (CHL) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This is the third screening to find value among Fortune's 25 corporate world leaders that have demonstrated an ability to regenerate themselves from within. The list has been cut to 18 and will be cut further here.

The methodology of using basic stock data points to identify potential value investments only sets the stage for success -- it assures nothing. While it is true that paying less is better than paying more and getting a higher yield is better than less, this gives you a scant picture of what is in people's hearts and minds, and that is harder to judge. Like the weather, no matter the predictions, you may not find out it is raining until you are standing in it. Regardless, it should be advantageous to start with good stock (pun intended) before you take to whittlin', and that we have.

Continue reading Serious Money: Fortune's 25 leaders, 18 remain

Serious Money: Fortune's 25 leaders, 18 remain originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yesterday I started a review of 25 companies that Fortune deemed most successful according to their peers in developing quality leadership. Today I review the remaining 20, searching to find the ones that might be worth investing in.

Price-to-book (from 11/27/09) was used as the first value screen. The theory being from a value investor's perspective that buying for a price at or near the break-up value of the company provides downside protection. Of course that is easier said than done.

Continue reading Serious Money: Fortune's 25 leaders, now 20

Serious Money: Fortune's 25 leaders, now 20 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The recent issue of Fortune magazine discusses how the best of the best train, guide and nurture top managers to become the leaders that will propel their corporations successfully forward. They list the top 25 companies, which I have used as the basis of a new review to see how they would fair against common metric screens.

In the past few months, many articles have posited that large-cap stocks should excel in the coming year based on their lagging the market behind smaller, more volatile stocks flying out of the March lows. I do not believe this is universally true. Plenty of large-cap stocks did well, such as Anadarko Petroleum (APC), Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG), while many small caps went nowhere. Even among the large caps included in Fortune's "Leadership 25," some have doubled.

Continue reading Serious Money: Fortune's 25 leaders among leaders

Serious Money: Fortune's 25 leaders among leaders originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"We're seeing tremendous opportunities in China, which should move up regardless of U.S. market gyrations," says Richard Schmidt. In Stellar Stock Alert, he offers his current favorite China plays.

In addition, Jim Trippon, editor of The China Stock Alert, discusses the latest addition to his model portfolio, China's largest life insurance company -- and one with large exposure to Chinese equities.

And finally, fund expert Jim Lowell -- editor of Fidelity Investor -- says, "Investors should be buying Chinese stocks, Hong Kong real estate and Taiwanese technology." He offers some favorite funds for China region exposure.

Continue reading China stocks and funds: Top picks from three advisors

China stocks and funds: Top picks from three advisors originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"China is the world's biggest market for telecom services," notes Geoffrey Seiler, in an in-depth review of the leading Chinese telecom and wireless phone companies.

In his BullMarket.com, he looks at "China Mobile (NYSE: CHL), China Unicom (NYSE: CHU), and China Telecom (NYSE: CHA) noting,"There is still a lot of wireless growth potential in the world's most populated country. As such, we would expect all three to continue to grow for the foreseeable future."

Seiler explains, "China Mobile is the undisputed king of mobile from a subscriber base standpoint. Through the end of June, the company boasted 493 million subscribers. The company boasts 70% of the Chinese market.

Continue reading Investing in China telecoms: A trio of wireless plays

Investing in China telecoms: A trio of wireless plays originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

U.S. stock markets are poised to rise today as more and more positive data convinces Wall Street that the economic recovery is for real.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq Composite Index and the S&P 500 Index were all indicated higher following a rally in overseas markets. Germany's Dax, France's CAC-40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 all posted strong gains. Japan's Nikkei 25 also rose while China's Hang Seng declined.

For those looking for silver linings, there are plenty to choose.

Continue reading Before the bell: Stocks continue rally as investors bet recovery is for real

Before the bell: Stocks continue rally as investors bet recovery is for real originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 28 Aug 2009 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"One trend that we do know is already in place is China; not only is it growing, but it has a phenomenal amount of resources -- including its population," says Richard Schmidt.

In his Stellar Stock Alert., he states, "To increase our holdings of Chinese-based companies, we are now adding China Mobile Limited (NYSE: CHL) to our growth stock buy list."

"With one of the world's largest populations, China has all the human resources it needs to continue to expand.

Continue reading China Mobile (CHL) A 'stellar' idea

China Mobile (CHL) A 'stellar' idea originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Inflationary fears and the desire to generate higher returns in non-dollar assets should boost BRIC stocks (Brazil, Russia, India and China)," says Chuck Carlson in his The DRIP Investor.

"Despite the run-up this year, BRIC stock markets are still reasonably valued. Russia, India, and Brazil all trade at price/earnings ratios similar to the U.S.

"And while China's stock market does trade at a premium to the U.S., China's economic growth will swamp that of the U.S. this year and for the foreseeable future.

Continue reading 'Compelling case' for China and India

'Compelling case' for China and India originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of a 12-article feature on the best bets for investing in China. To see all the other recommendations in this special report, click here.

"Holding both of China's largest wireless carriers -- China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) and China Unicom (NYSE: CHU) gives investors something of a hedge in the event that one company takes a large amount of business from the other," says China expert Jim Trippon.

In his The China Stock Alert, he adds, "Although this is a safety measure for investors, we don't expect massive erosion in either company's subscriber base as the telecom sector and 3G service continue to expand in China.

Continue reading China expert calls on wireless

China expert calls on wireless originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 May 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.