Monday morning links
Xi Jinping has picked his right-hand man Liu He to lead China’s chip-making ambitions.
China has approved another $10 billion in yearly outflows, perhaps to manage the appreciation of its currency.
In the latest IMD World Competitiveness Ranking, Singapore and HK dropped while China and Taiwan rose in their relative rankings.
Hong Kong opposition newspaper Apple Daily has had its assets frozen and will most likely go bankrupt within the next few weeks.
Li Ka-Shing’s son Richard Li’s insurance roll-up “FWD” is planning a US IPO.
Japan is easing some COVID restrictions ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.
South Korea will open up its border to Chinese tourists as long as they have been vaccinated.
Philippines Rodrigo Duterte confirmed that he might be open to becoming Vice President following the election in 2022.
More than 350 doctors and medical workers in Indonesia caught COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated with Sinovac. Meanwhile, more than 50 medical workers in Vietnam were also infected despite being vaccinated with AstraZeneca.
Indonesia is planning a massive boost in defence spending as China tensions rise.
Company-specific reports
NipponNuggets on Japanese software stock Albert (TSE:3906 — US$236 million)
Long-form writing
I wrote an overview of the most important buyback programs that have been initiated in Asia over the past six months ($)
I wrote an essay about Samsung Electronics’ history and leadership transition
Nikkei discussing the changes happening in Korean semiconductor boomtown Pyeongtaek where Samsung Electronics is building massive new fabs ($)
The Economist: “The Hard Truth about SoftBank” ($)
Swen Lorenz with another report on frontier market investing: this time focusing on Uzbekistan
Capital Economics: Can there be a commodity supercycle if China is not pedalling?
WSJ about how Xi Jinping has launched a mass-education drive in the run-up to the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party in July ($)
Kalani Scarrott with an excellent overview of emerging market investing literature
A very in-depth report from CNA Insider about our experience here in Singapore battling the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2
Bloomberg on Thailand’s plan to open up international tourism ($)
“I’m an EV expert and I’m sceptical about how quickly EVs will go mainstream”
Open Insights are making the case that oil production will have to increase to meet a recovering demand for oil
Quick and effective summary of oil expert Michael Kao’s interview on RealVision
David Tepper: “Oil stocks are cheap because people hate them”
Podcasts and videos
A rare interview with Point72’s Steve Cohen (43 mins)
Marc Faber on the countries and asset classes that he sees value in (26 mins)
Mark Mobius discussing Indian equities (19 mins)
New York Times on how Apple has become dependent on China (33 mins)
Dan David interviews Crocker Coulson, who in a previous life brought many Chinese companies to US markets through reverse take-overs (1:22 hours)
Asianometry YouTube channel on China’s battery giant CATL (20 mins)
Chart of the week – BofA survey: long commodities has become the most crowded trade
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Thanks for reading, and I wish you a great week ahead!