Travis Johnson

Reduce Your Chinese Holdings Before the National Party Congress Begins

Interesting perspective, I'm glad to hear it -- but I also don't see much that's similar between the Chinese stock market in 1997 and 2002 and the situation in 2007. In 2002 and 2003, the overall market performance was generally quite weak, the shares ran up nicely in 2000-2001, but fell off for the next couple years.

Though there may be an impact from the party Congress, either positive or negative, I would hesitate from this small sample to say that those changes were caused by the Congress, especially since I have no idea what the news flow was around that time. And I would definitely be careful about comparing the impact on a stagnant and tiny market in 1997 and 2002 to the impact on a much larger, wildly booming market in 2007. Compared to the period from January 2006 to the present, as I read the chart, the entire previous history of the Chinese stock market might as well be a flat line. This Congress might have a short term impact, as you're implying is possible, but probably the announcements made at the Congress, whether positive or negative, will have a far larger impact on this much more news-focused, momentum-driven market ... all just a guess on my part, of course.