This week, China will be launching a groundbreaking new secondary market and trading platform that hopes to help smaller technology companies attract investment in domestic IPOs.

Small & Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) are the mainstay of the Chinese economy, as they provide the largest employment base as China moves towards a more enterprise-based economy. However, smaller companies have found it difficult to raise funding, as the large commercial banks concentrate on state owned enterprises.

Shenzen-based ChiNext, which is being hailed as a Nasdaq-style trading board, will begin trading on Friday 30th October in the hope that traded entities will be able to take advantage of excessive liquidity, especially in retail investment markets. It is believed that investors will be attracted to new opportunities to stake a claim in up and coming tech startups, but also by the more relaxed trading environment, as companies listed on ChiNext will

As we have discussed in previous articles, Brazil’s retail banking sector has been enjoying a buoyant 2009 so far. This would seem set to continue as payment card processor Redecard posts an 18% jump in financial volumes.

This should be seen as a positive for Itaú Unibanco (ITUB), which controls Redecard, as net income for the third quarter rose to BR$333M ($195M), with financial transactions across the payment platform registering BR$ 24.7Bn ($14.52Bn) and more interestingly, the debit card side rising in step by 17% to BR$12.2Bn ($7.13Bn).

Although there is general negativity on global credit card companies, particularly in Western economies, Brazil’s nascent credit sector has benefitted from a wave of bank consolidation over the last 18 months, the strength of the real versus the US dollar and one of the strongest economies to exit the finiancial crisis. Earlier this year, Visa (V) affiliate VisaNet was the

While the Chinese economy expanded 8.9% in Q3, propped up by easy credit & continued government spending programmes, Europe, US & Japan continue to flounder. The world’s 3rd largest economy has recorded 7.7% overall growth in the first 9 months of 2009, with officials saying they are confident that the much talked about annual growth target of 8% will be achieved.

Last November, as it became clear that the global economy was heading into a recessionary period, central government implemented a 4 Trillion yuan/$586 Bn stimulus package, aimed at cushioning the blow of decreasing exports on the economy whilst also improving industrial efficiency at all levels. Via this stimulus package, China has implemented a number of schemes that impact practically all sectors in the economy; real estate/construction, transportation infrastructure, agriculture, social services, industry, earthquake reconstruction, technology advancement and rural development being amongst those receiving special focus.

The strategy has

Following the digital trend in the West and with internet connectivity set to become ubiquitous via 3G launches by all the three major mobile operators in the near term, a number of domestic companies are jumping on the e-reader bandwagon, that has been rocking this year with Amazon's (AMZN) Kindle. This could be an astute move, as the Chinese market has the potential to become the largest market for the devices globally.

China Mobile (CHU) has inked deals with two companies on this, Jinke Electronics and Hanvon Corp, better known as Hanwang. Both devices are updates of existing models, with TD-SCMDA chips added to provide tha all important wireless connectivity, that has seen the Kindle gain so much traction in the US and Europe.

It would seem that Hanwang is making big bets on the China Mobile deal, as it is expected that the operator will subsidise the e-reader

Mining giant BHP Billiton has announced revised figures that significantly upgrade the reclaimable reserves for its flagship Olympic Dam operation in southern Australia.

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The new figures released by BHP (NYSE: BHP) point to a 22% increase from 284 thousand tonnes to 347.5 thousand tonnes of of U3O8, due to mineral re-classification as operational drilling taps into larger sources. BHP has correspondingly upgraded the operational lifetime of Olympic Dam from 43 to 54 years.

Olympic Dam is arguably BHP’s most valuable asset, as it is a multi-mineral source combining the world’s 4th largest copper deposit, 5th largest gold deposit & significant amounts of silver. It is also currently the world’s largest single uranium ore deposit.

With a production level of 3344tU last year, Olympic Dam is placed 4th in extraction levels for uranium, BHP is now looking to expand the size of its operations on this site.

Looking at the Latin-American market from an economic point of view, we can see that there are a number of reports and indicators coming out, particularly from Brazil, Chile and Argentina, that the continent is bouncing back from the global recession a lot quicker than it's Western counterparts.

Normally with stockpicks, I tend to focus on a single market, rather than a whole region, however, I have been looking at MercadoLibre (MELI) for the last few weeks and am bullish on its prospects going forward.

MercadoLibre is an Argentinean based Spanish-Portugese language online auction and fixed price marketplace provider across Central and Latin America, including key markets such as Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. It also runs a payments processing system called MercadoPago that is similar to Paypal. Enjoying a near monopoly in this marketplace, it also operates as e-Bay's (EBAY) exclusive partner for the region, with e-Bay holding an 18.3%

State controlled banking behemoth Banco de Brasil has been involved in a three way battle with its private peers Itau-Unibanco (ITUB) and Banco de Bradesco (BBD) for some time for dominance in the growing domestic banking sector. Having surpassed ITUB in the second quarter, mainly due to lower interest rates attracting borrowers, Banco de Brasil has now announced that it is looking to change its stance regarding international stockholders.

Yesterday, a spokeswoman for the company revealed that the bank is now looking to double the potential foreign ownership in Bovespa traded shares from the current 11% by raising its free float of shares to 25%.

On the same call, she also advised that the bank has appointed an advisory bank regards launching an ADR offering on the NYSE, similar to its two biggest rivals, and the programme could be launched by the end of this year.

“We are talking

Now that Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) has agreed to come on board the Gorgon LNG project in Australia, it seems that it's full steam ahead for majority partner Chevron (CVX), as it signs long term supply agreements with four leading Asian energy providers.

As we reported previously, the Gorgon liquefied natural gas facility is expected to ramp up to annual capacity of around 15 million tonnes per year on Barrow Island, doubling Australia's natural gas output in one fell swoop, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd described Gorgon as Australia's biggest-ever resource development which would generate AU$300 billion in export earnings over the next 20 years. Gorgon is operated by Chevron (50%) in a joint venture with ExxonMobil (XOM) (25%) and Shell (25%).

Chevron Corporation has now announced that Australian subsidiaries of Chevron have signed three binding long-term Sales and Purchase Agreements for Chevron’s share of liquefied natural gas (LNG)

With this year's iron ore contract prices still up in the air, many Chinese steelmakers are taking a different approach, rather than wait on Rio Tinto (RTP), BHP Billiton (BHP) and Vale (VALE) to make an accord with the China Iron and Steel Association. The alternate route is to find small and medium-sized Australian miners for equity cooperation to enable them to avoid having much to do with the world's three monster iron ore providers.

Business data provider Dealogic says that Chinese companies' planned and completed investment in Australian mining firms has reached $9.7 billion so far in 2009, about triple that in 2008, and the trend is gathering pace. Most small and medium-sized iron ore projects in Australia are open to foreign investment, and are now under increasing Chinese scrutiny. China's steel firms have technological advantages and attractive demand, but it is their solid finances that these mining

Like many sectors of the Malaysian economy, the country's transport industry has experienced a decline in activity due to the global recession. Though there are some signs that Malaysia's transporters are again moving in the right direction, other signals suggest a full recovery is still some time off.

There was mixed news for the transport sector in data released by the Department of Statistics on August 26, which showed that while still in recession, the rate of negative growth in the Malaysian economy is slowing.

Having declined by 6.2% in the first quarter of 2009, GDP contracted by 3.9% in the second, the curve being smoothed out due to increased public spending and positive growth in private consumption. This should be encouraging for the transport sector, which has seen productivity fall as demand for moving cargo locally and internationally plunged.

Less equivocal data indicating an improvement in the sector

Russia has been hard hit by the current economic crisis and especially by the decline in oil prices this year. According to Economics Ministry data, Russia's GDP declined by 9.3% in July 2009 year-on-year and 10.2% in the first seven months of the year. Energy products, including crude oil and natural gas, accounted for 65.5% of exports in the first half, while metals made up 12.1%.

According to Finance Minister, Alexei Kudrin, the Russian economy will be on the rise again as early as in the third quarter of 2009.

"We still do not have the final data for the second quarter, but we expect Russia's economy to grow in the third quarter compared to the second quarter, and the third quarter will mark the end of recession," Kudrin told a news conference whilst in London attending the G20 summit

Russia has recently raised forecasts for the

According to the Economic Times of India, domestic U.S. telecom giant AT&T is in talks with state controlled Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) regarding placing an investment, that would see the company make a comeback in one of the fastest growing telecoms sectors. With mobile penetration advancing from 2% in 2005 to over 40% in 2009, still leaving plenty of room for growth.

AT&T (NYSE: T), which has been expanding its mobile business globally, quit the Indian mobile sector in 2005, selling its 33% stake in Idea Cellular following its merger with Cingular Wireless. It received around $250 million from the stake in Idea. That stake would now be valued at around $3.5 billion. That turned out to be a strategic mistake, which the New Jersey based company looks keen to repair. CEO Randall Stephenson spent much of 2008 in acquisition talks with Reliance, Idea and Aircel Cellular

Brazilian banks have been on a tear this year, with both Itau-Unibanco (ITUB) and Banco de Bradesca (BBD) returning more than 100% year to date. Economists think Brazil is coming out of its recession, with The Economist stating that the country could see a return to 4%-5% in 2010, as Brazil is less dependent on the US as an export market and is forging ties in Asia, notably with China, on energy accords.

Over the last month however, ITUB and Bradesco, respectively the number 1 and 2 private banks, have been dragging, due to overall negative sentiment on Brazil in August, which has not been helped by President Lula's much discussed plan for the government to take greater control of oil reserves via the worlds fourth largest oil company Petrobras (PBR), which has seen some investors pulling back on Brazilian ADRs.

There are reasons

Following my post last week "What goes up must come down", in which I looked at the two largest producers of copper, Chile’s Codelco and also the American firm Freeport McMoRan (FCX), I spent some time over the weekend researching the copper market to see if I could find any more signals that would show market direction.

Re-capping on the trade, FCX saw some very significant selling volumes from the open on Friday and the trade triggered as FCX fell through the 65 mark, where I committed to 50% of my planned exposure; the remaining 50% was then entered at 64.25 and I rode this down to 63.06. I am looking to repeat this trade as a swing this week and here are some of the reasons why.

As previously stated on Freeport McMoRan, the company has scaled back copper production and has increased

Copper prices are at an all time high, coming off of deep lows in December 2008 of $1.25 lb. 3 month delivery is currently trading in Shanghai at $2.90 lb / $7,431 per tonne, extending the metal's five week winning run. Shanghai copper looks to end the week almost 8.5% up, its strongest 5 day performance in more than two months. But are there stormy times ahead? Chilean mining giant Codelco, which is the world's largest producer of the red metal, has just announced results for H1 2009.

Copper production including output from its 49% stake in El Abra rose 16% to 822,000 tonnes in the first half of 2009, from 715 000 tons in the same period in 2008. However, it seems all is not as sunny as the production figures would lead us to believe. Codelco has seen its profits sink by 82% in the first

Ukraine’s telecommunications sector is potentially in line for a major shake up, with plans to privatize a controlling stake in state-owned landline operator Ukrtelecom. Proposals to sell off Ukrtelecom have been around since the 1990s, with different formulas and percentages being floated at various times, along with varying assessments of the company’s net worth.

In the latest version of the plan to privatize Ukrtelecom, an open joint-stock company that holds a 70% market share of local landline operations, the government has proposed selling off its block stake of 67.79% of Ukrtelecom’s shares. Currently, the state has a 92.79% stake in the company, with the company’s employees holding a further 7.14%.

The government’s plan, announced in February by the State Property Fund (SPF), initially foresaw the privatization process beginning in March, though this did not take place, casting some doubt on the timeframe for the sale.

Although it

Last week Vodafone Group (VOD) released an interim management statement that, considering the current economic climate, I consider to be pretty upbeat. I have been a long term holder of Vodafone stock on the London Stock Exchange and have over the last year traded the NYSE ADR up and down on swings. However with the current market, I am now looking for some growth and value plays. Looking a little closer at the report and doing some quick analysis of some of the major themes contained, I am now quite bullish on VOD going forward and will be picking up some shares for my investment portfolio. As of writing Vodafone was trading at £121.00 in London and $19.64 in New York.

Comment from Vittorio Colao, Chief Executive

“In the first quarter the service revenue trend in Europe was consistent with the previous quarter and we continued to see good

Sociedad Qumica y Minera de Chile (SQM), has not been in the news of late, and so has been off of my radar. Having some spare time this weekend, I have been revisiting a few old friends and this stock has caught my eye for a couple of reasons.

• It's the fourth largest holding in the iShares MSCI Chile Index (ECH).
• That index has performed very well and looks to continue its steady upwards trace.
• At the end of April, SQM reported some surprising figures year on year (Q1 2009 v 2008): net revenue increase of 33% on 2008, with the NYSE traded ADRs providing earnings of $0.33 per share, compared to $0.25 share in Q1 2008. As if that wasn’t enough, to round off this bullish performance, SQM also showed a 39% increase in operating income.

For those that are not familiar with SQM, it is primarily

This post (China informs Australia that proof is irrefutable) from China News wrap is significant, as it's sourced locally from International Financial News, which is a Party owned newspaper.

Basically the Chinese authorities are not going to back off, having been snubbed over the Chinalco deal. I reckon this will run and be very detrimental for both Rio (VALE) and BHP Billiton (BHP). Anyone else noticed that both firms have been talking up inventories being built up elsewhere?

The real deal is in the second to last paragraph of the story :

At the same time, although Rio Tinto (RTP) had made statements last week emphasizing that it would ‘continue its iron-ore operations in China’, the actual situation does not seem to reflect this. The overseas media yesterday reported that shipments of spot market iron-ore from Brazil to China soared to record highs in July, which could be

Much was recently made of China’s physical gold stock revelation & rightly so. On a number of boards & blogs, I have stated my view that China is trying desperately to move away from USD denominated debt & will look at a multitude of ways of doing this.

To recall, the 540 tonnes of gold that China has managed to stash was bought from national producers, therefore it did not need to spend a dime on the international markets to acquire it. By acquiring gold internally, it is free to hoard physical stocks almost anonymously & help drive the price of the yellow stuff up.

Chinese officials have said that they want to be at 5,000 tonnes in the near future, which at a price of $900 per ounce would by value be around 10% of its total foreign currency holdings. Obviously this won’t happen overnight, however, as far