đź”’ Alec Hogg: Fresh Gupta-related heat on HSBC

Chinese regulators last night scrambled to contain the plunge in Hong Kong-based tech stocks, helping Tencent regain around a third of the past week’s price plunge. The piece from the Financial Times provides detail of the secretive conference call with 12 of Wall Street’s finest including BlackRock, Fidelity, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan.

As a direct result, share prices rebounded in Hong Kong this morning. Leaving aside the obvious issue of insider trading, the real question is whether the call was sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party’s hierarchy – and if so, whether Beijing is willing or even able to reverse its escalating attack on internal capitalists. After reading in the WSJ this morning how an outspoken Chinese industrialist was yesterday sentenced to 18 years in jail for speaking up for farmers and rural businesses, I doubt it.

We sold China-related Naspers and Discovery out of the BizNews Share portfolio at this month’s update on Tuesday, a decision with which I remain comfortable despite yesterday’s bounce. The fundamentals have changed for investors in China. Not so for Spotify, which last night reported quarterly results. Mr Market focused on Spotify’s slower growth in new users rather than a doubling in ad revenue – knocking the shares back 6%. A buying opportunity for long-term investors.
___STEADY_PAYWALL___

With rugby uppermost in many SA minds ahead of the Second Test against the Lions on Saturday, the sport’s challenges look set to escalate after a UK study showed 23% of elite adult players had brain abnormalities. Similar research in the US led to a massive change in American Football where, unlike rugby, players’ brains have always been protected by helmets. Medicalbrief has the story – click here. 

Another must-read SA-related story is in The Guardian this morning, focusing on allegations that HSBC covered up the money laundering exploits of the Guptas – a drum Lord Peter Hain has been beating with growing success. Some 92 HSBC accounts in Hong Kong, which received $4.2bn in payments, have been identified.

Finally, had a fascinating interview with PANDA co-founder Nick Hudson yesterday. To watch, click here.

NB FOR YOUR WALL STREET JOURNAL ACCESS…

As a Premium subscriber you are entitled to full membership of wsj.com (normal price $29 a month). Be sure to action your access through the Premium link on the BizNews website. Because of The Wall Street Journal’s credential requirements, be sure to create a password which has at least 8 characters and includes at least one letter and one number – NB it MAY NOT contain any special characters (ie #, !, @ etc). To maintain access to WSJ.com, you MUST enter our partner’s website via BizNews Premium at least once a month. A final PS, if you had previously signed up for WSJ you’ll need to clear the cookies from your device. Our help desk can assist – [email protected].

Visited 2,833 times, 1 visit(s) today