Monday morning links
The biggest story of the week is China considering turning tutoring companies into non-profits. Beijing also ordered Tencent to end its exclusive music licensing deals and fined Alibaba and Tencent for distributing sexually suggestive emoji stickers. Beijing also signalled an “unprecedented” penalty for Didi’s IPO missteps.
China’s state council rolled out further measures to encourage people to have more children, with more details about the three-child policy here.
COVID news: A top HK government adviser said that HK might not fully re-open until mid-2022 despite being on track for a 70% vaccination rate by October. After this year’s Delta wave, 68% of Indians now have COVID-19 antibodies.
Japan Olympics began last Friday, though with many athletes dropping out due to forced self-isolation, and Shinzo Abe did not attend the opening ceremony.
Company-specific reports
I did a deep-dive on Japanese household products and industrial materials producer Okamoto Industries, best known for its premium condoms (TSE: 5122 — US$700 million)
Wedgewood Partners 2Q21 letter discussing portfolio holding TSMC (TWSE: 2330 — US$541 billion)
Ensemble Fund’s 2Q21 letter discussing Nintendo (TSE: 7974 — US$64 billion)
A merger arb idea in SOHO China (SEHK: 410 — US$2.7 billion)
The Offshore Strat Substack wrote a post on Indonesian herbal medicine manufacturer SIDO (IDX: SIDO — US$1.6 billion)
Nippon Nuggets on Japanese online marketplace Makuake (TSE: 4479 — US$752 million)
The shortest write-up ever: I wrote a tweet with 45 words on HK restaurant operator Tang Palace (SEHK: 1181 — US$120 million)
Long-form writing
I wrote an introduction to Asia’s toll road industry (reading time 16 mins) ($)
Wickhams Hill’s “Under-the-Radar” report dated 23 July 2021 (28 mins)
Lazard’s July 2021 outlook for emerging markets (26 mins)
AFC Asia Frontier Fund’s July 2021 investor presentation (9 mins)
Pangolin Aviation Recovery Fund on the prospects for a travel recovery (7 mins)
Semi-Literate Substack: Spotting the next big thing in semis (11 mins)
ValueChain Substack: introduction to the biotech industry, part 1 (7 mins) and part 2 (6 mins)
Marc Rubinstein on the implosion of developer China Evergrande (13 mins)
New York Times: What China expects from business: total surrender (8 mins) ($)
Economist Intelligence Unit: Asia’s transition away from “zero COVID” (10 mins)
How Malaysian political party UMNO’s influence is waning (8 mins)
Podcasts and videos
A rare interview with Steve Mandel on his investment strategy (1:10 hours)
Stan Druckenmiller warns of dire consequences of fiscal deficits (8 mins)
Russell Napier on his new book about the Asian Financial Crisis (53 mins)
Maurits Pot of Dawn Global on investing in emerging markets (34 mins)
Economist editor Mike Bird discussing politics and China / HK property (51 mins)
Short-seller Dan David on China’s crackdown on its tech companies (7 mins)
Oil expert Daniel Yergin on the prospects for oil in the next century (56 mins)
Chart of the week – Billionaires by country in Asia from 1996 to 2015
Picture of the week - Sunny Singapore
Thanks for reading, and I wish you a great week ahead!
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