emerging markets

An epic infographic explaining Alibaba

In a recent US poll, 88% of respondents said that they had never heard of Alibaba. If you are one of those who don't know the Chinese e-commerce giant, then you can have a quick primer with this epic infographic from 16best.net. Here are a few interesting facts before you dive in:

  • Alibaba has a market capitalization of $511 billion as of 3/16/18, just a hair less than Facebook's $535 billion.
  • Alibaba has 528 million mobile active users.
  • Interestingly 11.1% of Alibaba's visitors are from the US.
  • CEO/Founder Jack Ma set up Alibaba with $60k that he borrowed from 18 people. At the end of 2017, the company employed over 50,000 people.
  • The company sold over $25 billion in just one day on Singles Day.

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GSAM: bullish on stocks, especially emerging markets

On Thursday, I had the pleasure of returning to the New York Stock Exchange for the second time in a week. Last Tuesday was for opening bell and this time it was closing bell with the Aussies ringing the bell for Australia Day. Thanks to Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) for the invite and the insights on their market outlook for 2018. Their tag line for this year is “Pro-growth, Pro-equity, Pro-reality.” They share our view that global growth will continue in 2018 and given the low interest rate environment that means investors should favor stocks over bonds. GSAM is advising its clients that the emerging market bull market is still in the early innings.

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China policy to reshape 21st century economy

Back in 2013, China's President Xi Jinping announced the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative to modernize infrastructure along the ancient Silk Road trading routes. This policy is poised to reshaped the 21st century economy. The project is a potential win win for China and its surrounding neighbors. For China, it seeks to create trade and investment opportunity in infrastructure and construction providing China with a new channel to broaden its export market. For its neighbors, they will benefit from modernized roads and power plants which will help their economies flourish and grow. This rising tide should lift all boats!

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China’s Single’s Day shatters records as the biggest sales day anywhere on the planet

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are famous in the US for the big discounts and therefore big spending. In China, they created their own version called Single's Day — on November 11 or 11/11, which began as a protest of sorts against Valentine's Day, propelled by college students in the 1990s. To show the incredible buying power of the Chinese consumer, in just the first two minutes of shopping, over $1 billion was spent at Alibaba alone and by the end of the 24 hours, Alibaba's sales hit a record of $25.3 billion, more than 40 percent higher than Singles Day 2016. Yes 40 percent growth! JD.com, the #2 retailer in China, sold $19.1 billion!

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