Book Review: China Inc

Book: China Inc.: China, Inc.: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World
Author: Ted C. Fishman

Synopsis
This book explores the Chinese economy and everything that has shaped and drives it. It touches on the influences of the Chinese Cultural Revolution and Communism on China's booming economy, explores the subcultures of various Chinese cities and districts, examines the various industries affecting global trade, foreign policy, and pollution. This book goes further than a mere analysis of China's economy, its a 360 degree panorama of Chinese society.

Favorite Part
This book paints the Chinese as a billion caged dragons all struggling to break out and make their mark on the world stage. This drive has given the Chinese a penchant for defying accepted western economic theories. One of the more interesting theories they've destroyed involves private ownership. Most western economists once believed that private property needed to be guaranteed in order for entrepreneurs to borrow money and invest in new ventures.

This book proves them all dead wrong. China Inc. points out that China's free market economy grew from poor farmers who had absolutely nothing, not even the small plots of land they harvested. The book goes on to explain the sometimes literally grass roots efforts to raise capital and invest in new businesses that the rural poor made.

This book is well written and absolutely necessary for any westerner thinking of doing business with or in China. Its also filled with a lot of interesting and useful culture tips that might help a would be businessman avoid getting himself into an embarrassing situation.

recommendation: Buy

Stock Quote Guide

This is one for the beginners.

When I was starting out I wish somebody could have showed me how to make sense of a stock quote. I’ve posted a screen capture of Google’s stock quote from Yahoo! Finance. I’ll break down and define everything right here.

Typical Stock Quote Chart

Google: The name of the company. If you had requested a quote for YHOO it would have brought up the stock quote for Yahoo!.

After Hours: This shows how the stock traded after the official closing of the markets. Markets officially close at 5 P.M. sharp every weekday except holidays. This price reflects activity after the closing bell.

Last Trade: Last price the stock was sold for during market hours.

Trade Time: The most recent day a stock was traded.

Change: Indicates the change in a stock’s price. When the market is open, this changes as the stocks price changes. After closing, this stays the same until the markets open again.

Prev Close: Stands for previous close. The price a stock last traded for after the most recent market close. (EX: A stock closes on Tuesday for $30 a share then Wednesday’s Previous Close would be $30.)

Open: The price of stock at the opening bell. (EX: A stock could settle at $50 a share on Thursday at closing and have an opening price of $51 if After Hours Trading pushed up the price of a stock.) This price would change the next time the markets opened.

Bid: Price a potential buyer is willing to pay for a stock at a specific time.
Ask: Asking price for a specific stock.

1y Target Est.: A stock’s estimated per share value.

Day’s Range: Price range a stock traded in during the current or most recent trading session. EX: A stock that opens at $10, rises to $25, and falls to $5 by the end of the session has a Day’s Range of $5 - $25.

52wk Range: Stands for 52 week or year range. The highest and lowest point a stock has traded at for the past year. EX: A stock opens at $50 in December, falls to $1 in July, and rises to $67 the following December has a 52 Week Range of $1 - $67.

Volume: Actual amount of shares traded during the current or previous trading session.
AVG Volume: Stands for Average Volume. The average amount of shares usually traded during a trading session.

Market Cap: How much a company’s stock is worth. EX: A company has 10,000,000 shares available for purchase; each share is worth $10. This company’s market capitalization would be $100,000,000.

P/E: Stands for Price / Earnings. Indicates how much investors are willing to pay for every for a company’s profits. P/E is calculated by taking the price of a share and dividing it by a company’s earnings per share.

EPS: Earnings per share. The profits of a company divided by its outstanding shares. (Net Profit – Dividends / Outstanding Shares) Div & Yield: The dividend a company pays its shareholders. (Typically on a quarterly basis.)

Disclaimer

I'm an amateur. I have no professional experience in the stock market. I have no schooling in business except for an economics class at a local community college and high school. (Both of which I aced.)

All my articles/statements/advice are filled by and large with personal opinions and my judgements may or may not be based on fact. The articles and information on this site are for informational purposes only. Just because I endorse a company, stock, investment opportunity does not guarantee success. Verify everything I say on this site with several independent sources including buy not limited to other financial sites / blogs, your personal financial consultant, and newspapers.

I take no responsibility for you investing money based on any of the information, articles, suggestions contained on this site. All risks you take are your responsibility.

I make the best attempts I can to provide accurate information.

My Guarantee
The only thing I guarantee is that when I say I own a stock, I own a stock. When I say something, I believe it. (I've let several job opportunities go because I am honest.) I also guarantee that I'm not a professional with any qualifications other than I have a Sharebuilder account.

Hello World!

I've been trying to find something I can blog about confidently and passionately. I found 2 things: Nintendo and Investing. (By the way, I do think Nintendo (NTDOY.PK) stock is worth checking out.)

My Credentials
I've been investing in the stock market and other business ventures since I was as young as 10. I've had a business oriented mind since as long as I can remember. When I was about 10 I really started getting into how to make money because it was something I found interesting. (And something my parents were bad at doing.) When we went into restaurants I would look at how many people were at the counter ordering food and sitting down. I would then add up the costs of their orders, (Yes, I spied.) and came up with a high and low estimate for their revenue per hour, day, week, month, and year.

My first experience and worst experience with stocks came when I was about 11 or 12 and I heard some new money talking about the investments they made in companies like GE (GE) and Philips (ADR). As soon as he was done making his point I said with an unknowing smile "Philips? The screwdriver?" and everybody laughed!

I was camping then, and in the morning I ran to the camp store to buy a newspaper. I scrounged up a few shower quarters and bought a Ventura County Star newspaper and ripped it apart searching for the business section. I read the entire business section cover to cover and remember reading something about the now defunct Enron. Thus began my infatuation with the stock market.

In High School I made enough money off the golden years of the dot com age and even more money when it all went bust! (Sadly, those days are gone.) I earned money to invest by not eating lunch, doing odd jobs for my grandparents, and anything else that would make me a buck. I took nearly everything I had and invested it in the stock market. (I used Sharebuilder, which is in my opinion, the absolute best brokerage on the internet for young, new, and aspiring investors.

After graduating high school, I had enough money to take a really nice trip and I did. I went to Japan for a month and I toured the country side. (Unfortunately I liquidated most of my assets to do it.) I stayed in the nicest hotels, bought expensive gadgets, and ate $100 fruit.

Now I work full time for an online retailer, earning a teaching credential for U.S. History and Economics, and of course follow the markets.

This Blog
The primary function of this blog is to have a place to track my progress and justify my investing strategies. The real goal of this blog is to build up a reader base that will critique me on things I overlook, correct me when I’m wrong, and ecourage me when I’m right. There will also be a book review or two here of course. (I’m currently reading China Inc. and recommend The Art of War to anyone interested in making money.