Monday morning links
Japan’s defence spending pledge: Japan’s ruling party LDP pledged to increase defence spending to 2% of GDP - twice the current level. That would be a boon to defence contractors such as Mitsubishi Heavy and Kawasaki Heavy. I have previously written about Japanese defence companies here.
Japan booster shots: Japan’s new LDP leader Fumio Kishida announced that the government would begin administer third booster shots to the elderly population In December. This bolsters the Japanese recovery thesis.
DRAM supply glut: Taiwanese memory chip market research firm TrendForce predicted a new DRAM down-cycle next year due to shortages of processors and driver integrated circuits.
Hong Kong’s semi-reopening: From Wednesday 13 October 2021, residents from Macau and China’s Guangdong province can now travel quarantine-free to Hong Kong. But since quarantine is still required on the way back to mainland China, mainland tourism to Hong Kong is expected to remain muted.
Company-specific reports
(estimated reading time)
Drawbridge Research wrote yet another instalment of its Sony deep-dive - this time about Sony’s console gaming segment (TSE: 6758 — US$140 billion)
Macro Ops on Japanese crowdfunding platform Makuake (TSE: 4479 — US$521 million)
Long-form writing
(estimated reading time) ($ = behind a paywall)
I disclosed my own recently-set up Asian portfolio, with details about what stocks I own and why I’ve decided to invest in them ($) (26 mins)
UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index 2021 report shows that housing prices have continued to climb throughout the pandemic (summary: 4 mins; full report: 56 mins)
US EIA International Energy Outlook 2021 expects global oil consumption to rise until 2050 in all future scenarios (8 mins)
NielsenIQ’s new report Local Brands on the Rise about trends in Indonesia’s consumer goods sector (12 mins)
Thoughtful commentary from the Stratechery blog about the The death and birth of technological revolutions (17 mins)
The Net Interest Substack discussing Robin Wigglesworth’s new book Trillions on the rise of passive investing (14 mins)
Short-seller Jim Chanos believes that China’s leveraged prosperity model is doomed (13 mins)
Wall Street Journal on how Xi Jinping is scrutinising Chinese financial institutions’ ties with private firms in a major crack-down (9 mins) ($)
Nikkei Asia details how Chinese tech firms are starting to dismantle their walled gardens - great news for consumers but not so much for the tech giants (3 mins) ($)
An article from Asia Times about how Chinese firms are trying to build Indonesia into an EV powerhouse, specifically in terms of raw materials for batteries (11 mins)
Podcasts and videos
(listening time)
Bill Miller discussing his investment philosophy (1:14 hours)
Fireside chat between David Einhorn and Mike Green (1:00 hours)
Daniel Yergin predicts oil could hit $90/bbl (8 mins)
Asia Matters Podcast discussing Asia’s battle with COVID-19 (35 mins)
Michael Pettis on what Evergrande’s bankruptcy means for China (53 mins)
Fergus Ryan of Australian Strategic Policy Institute on China’s tech giants (35 mins)
China-based tech analyst Michael Norris on Chinese tech (56 mins)
The Friendly Bear on Chinese stock scams on US exchanges (1:24 hours)
Chart of the week – Singapore sector P/Es today vs their 5-year averages: consumer stocks are cheaper than before
Thanks for reading, and I wish you a great week ahead!
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