Asia

Two weeks ago, we discussed Algebris Investments’ analysis of the world’s biggest asset bubbles. Portfolio manager, Alberto Gallo, noted that “It’s not just about valuation, it’s about irrational behaviour” and used variety of measures to identify the latter including ”Sky is the limit”, “Bidding wars” and “The trend is your friend”. Gallo listed what in his opinion were the fourteen biggest bubbles across the globe which included Hong Kong property, obviously.

A new medical breakthrough in southern Russia could hold the key in solving America’s opioid epidemic.

Scientists at Volgograd Sate Medical University are launching clinical trials into a pain-killing drug which outperforms morphine, and does not cause addiction. This would be a big step in the right direction, as the crisis in the United States spirals out-of-control.

Late last night, Reuters published an "exclusive" report which was undoubtedly intended to be a "gotcha" hit piece on Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, courtesy of some disgruntled Obama/Clinton holdovers at the State Department.  The report from Reuters came after they got their hands on a confidential "dissent" memo, signed by " a dozen U.S. State Department officials" accusing Tillerson of violating the "Child Soldiers Prevention Act."  Here's a summary from Reuters:

Authored by John Mauldin via MauldinEconomics.com,

Billionaire founder of top hedge fund Bridgewater Associates Ray Dalio got where he is by having keen insight into both human nature and economic trends.

Occasionally, he shares some of his wisdom publicly.

In one of his recent articles, Dalio argues that it is a serious mistake to think you can analyze or understand “the” economy because we now have two of them.

If we’re going to discuss Asian equities in the context of “awesome”, we should begin with Tencent. Tencent, which has more than doubled this year, drove Asian stocks higher during Tuesday’s trading session. Trading on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange hit a 28-month high of HK$157 billion with one fifth of it in only two stocks – Tencent (HK$21.7 billion) and Ping An Insurance (HK$9.4 billion). It was hardly surprising that shares in Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing also had a good day, rising 5.5%, the most in more than a year. Tencent’s 2.4% rise pushed it market cap.