A new format for the newsletter today. I added buybacks, insider buys and recent IPO data. I also introduced colours to make the newsletter easier to scan quickly.

($ = behind paywall)

• I wrote a deep-dive on a Japanese karaoke equipment maker Daiichi Kosho (TSE: 7458 — US$2.0 billion) ($)

• The Circle of Competence blog on Chinese search engine Baidu (Part 2) (NASDAQ: BIDU — US$62 billion) (h/t: Aaron Pek)

• Olivier at Emergingvalue on Southeast Asia-focused holding company First Pacific (SEHK: 142 — US$1.7 billion). Over the weekend, Olivier also shared his thoughts on Twitter about three Hong Kong small-caps.

• The Calico Capital Substack on Japanese small-cap tech stock Beenos (TSE: 3328 — US$372 million)

(Largest announced as % of market cap over past 7 days; min market cap: US$50m)

• JAFCO Group: 9.3% (TSE: 8595 — US$1.8 billion)

• Hanil Networks: 7.6% (KOSDAQ: 046110 — US$66 million)

• Neowiz Holdings: 3.0% (KOSDAQ: 095660 — US$477 million)

• CK-San-Etsu: 2.7% (TSE: 5757 — US$244 million)

• Nihon Trim: 1.3% (TSE: 6788 — US$237 million)

(Largest buys over past 7 days; min market cap: US$50m)

• Xinyi Glass: US$9.7 million (HKSE: 868 — US$12 billion)

• Gelex Group: US$8.5 million (HOSE: GEX — US$841 million)

• Dong Hai: US$1.6 million (HOSE: DHC — US$289 million)

• Global Consumer PCL: US$1.2 million (SET: GLOCON — US$78 million)

• Jaymart: US$1.1 million (SET: JMART — US$363 million)

(Largest market cap past 7 days; min market cap: US$50m)

• Microtech Medical Hangzhou on 19 Oct (SEHK: 2235 — US$1.7 billion)

• Transcom Inc on 25 Oct (TPEX: 5222 — US$329 million)

• Heng Leasing and Capital on 19 Oct (SET: HENG — US$329 million)

• CHA Vaccine Institute on 22 Oct (KOSDAQ: 261780 — US$294 million)

• GI Tech on 21 Oct (SZSE: 300309 — US$1 billion+)

(estimated reading time)

• I wrote a post about the holdings of successful Asia-focused funds (9 mins)

• Bill Miller’s 3Q21 letter recommends investors to stay bullish (3 mins)

• Greenlight Capital’s 3Q21 letter is revealing frustration (11 mins)

• Excellent article by Ed Chancellor on how to inflation-proof portfolios (5 mins)

• Crescat Capital’s October 2021 letter thinks that value stocks will start to outperform (21 mins)

• The Open Insights Substack provides a quarterly update on global energy markets (14 mins)

• Rowan Street’s 3Q21 letter discussing why they’ve exited their Chinese investments (14 mins)

• A US government cable on Xi Jinping that was shared on Wikileaks (17 mins)

• An essay describing Wang Huning, a key adviser to Xi Jinping (15 mins)

• Peterson Institute: The Chinese private sector is doing just fine (4 mins)

(listening time)

• Howard Marks on markets, crypto, Fed policy (30 mins)

• Paul Tudor Jones discussing inflation pressures: Part 1, Part 2 (6 mins)

• Rob Forker of Polen Capital on investing in global small caps (25 mins)

• Defence analyst Oriana Skylar Mastro on the risk of a Taiwan conflict (31 mins)

• Vitaliy Katsenelson on why he’s invested in defence stocks (23 mins)

China H-shares trade at a 10-year record discount to their respective A-shares

Thanks for reading, and I wish you a great week ahead!

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