china

Now we have round two. The US has imposed import duties of up to 99% on $2.6 billion dollars of Chinese pipe imports.

The ruling is temporary, however, US Customs will start collecting cash or bond deposits on imports. A final ruling will be made in March. Meanwhile, President Obama plans his first visit to China within a few weeks.

Slowly, developing countries are shifting their reserves away from the dollar into the euro and yen. Neil Mellor, strategist at Bank of New York Mellon Corp (NYSE: BK), which has some $20 trillion dollars in assets under custody said: "I don't think there will be an imminent move, but it is quite clear there's a plan to shift reserves to a more balanced portfolio."

Barclays Capital Research reported that central banks placed 63% of new cash in non US currencies between April and July.

Bloomberg News took a recent poll of its subscribers. Here are some highlights of the survey:

• Only 31% of investors saw investment opportunities in the stock market, down from 35% in the July survey.
• Worldwide, investors see the U.S. as the weakest link in the world economy. Twenty five percent of respondents see an unemployment rate of 11% in the U.S. next year.
• Respondents see China and India as the most promising markets and commodities are the asset of choice.
• Real Estate and bonds are out of favor, with 40% saying that bonds will have the worst returns over the next year.

"We're adding Brazil's Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE), the world's leading iron ore producer, to our model growth portfolio," says growth stock expert Stephen Leeb.

In his The Complete Investor, he explains, "This outstanding company offers investors simultaneous stakes in two key areas: iron ore-a commodity essential to any and all infrastructure projects-and Brazil's appreciating currency, the real.

"When it comes to understanding the importance of a commodity such as iron ore, the tale starts with China. Even with China's GDP growth again approaching double digits, the Chinese government continues to aggressively promote growth, offering consumers incentives to buy cars and investing in infrastructure, from roads to bridges to sewers to energy plants.

Export orders were on the rise in October in China, suggesting a strengthening recovery and an opportunity to cut back on stimulus spending. The manufacturing measure grew at its fastest rate in the past year and a half, according to the HSBC (NYSE: HBC) purchasing managers' index. It increased to a seasonally adjusted 55.4 from 55 in September.

If you're looking for a reason behind the gain, it's all in the flow of capital. In addition to the government's economic stimulus package, $1.27 trillion in new loans were written to help deliver the country from the global financial crisis.

It all started when President Obama, under pressure from U.S. unions, slapped a 35% tariff on tire imports from China. This move angered Beijing to no end, and to the point that China is challenging the action with the World Trade Organization.

China, in retaliation, has said that it would launch an "antidumping" policy against U.S. car exports to China. U.S. car makers export only about 9,000 vehicles to China at present. However, China is now the leading auto maker in the world, and barring U.S. imports would hamper the U.S. auto export market.

"Shanda Interactive, a Chinese purveyor of interactive entertainment and media technology, offered U.S. investors a piece of its video game business, Shanda Games (NASDAQ: GAME)," notes Brandon Clay.

In his Invest with an Edge, he explains, "Shanda Games has its risks but also packs a lot of potential, especially as a speculative China play.

"GAME was one of the most widely-anticipated IPOs of 2009. The buzz surrounding Shanda Games was so intense that the company raised the offering from 63 million to 83.5 million shares just to meet demand.

"Highly leveraged casinos were among the first to be locked out of credit markets last year," says Elliott Gue, noting that one company that suffered greatly from credit conditions was Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS).

Now, however, he see "strong propsects" for a recovery in the casino operator's future; he is particularly optimistic on the firm's Asian projects. Here's his review from Personal Finance.

"The economic downturn meant consumers reined in spending on leisure travel and gambling. Meanwhile, declining real estate prices near Las Vegas hit the local economy hard. Gaming revenues declined, and occupancy at Sin City's massive hotels plummeted.

The US Airways (NYSE: LCC) ticker symbol says it all: LCC = Low Cost Carrier. With its latest announcement, the airline may want to change it to LEC -- Low Expense Carrier. In an attempt to keep pace with the plunging travel market, US Airways is cutting 1,000 jobs next year, shoving almost all its flying to its three hubs (Philadelphia, Phoenix and Charlotte) and Washington. Several international routes are being cut.

The airline reports that routes from its hubs have been profitable. Currently, US Airways pushes 93% of its flights through these airports, a rate it seeks to push up to 99% in 2010.

"We're still adding to our Chinese portfolio, and expect to be doing so for some time; this is where significant opportunities exist," says Richard Schimit.

In The Stellar Stock Alert, he reviews E-House (NYSE: EJ), noting, "While American real estate is still struggling to regain its footing, Chinese real estate hasn't experienced the same breaking bubble.

"In fact, it hasn't experienced a bubble yet. But Chinese real estate is definitely gaining in value. And the companies that know the market can really profit.

True entrepreneurs will go to any length to get their companies off the ground. And, they're known for accepting the consequences of the risks they take. Some businesses never make it to launch, never bring in a dime, never lead to that killer IPO. In even rarer cases, these adventures can put two people behind the defendants' table on charges of corporate espionage. Lan Lee, an American, and Yuefei Ge, a Chinese citizen, allegedly swiped computer chip blueprints and tried to gain Chinese government support for a startup using these illicit goods. Now, they could face up to 65 years on charges of corporate espionage.

In The Asia Stock Alert, he explains, "The best way to profit from this Chinese milk boom, in my opinion, is to invest in China-based American Dairy (NYSE: ADY)." Here's the advisor's review.

"The Chinese currently consumes 24 pounds of dairy products per person each year versus a world average of almost 220 pounds annually.

Soft drink giant Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) reported its third quarter numbers this morning, and managed to beat out analyst estimates, but shares are still selling off in early morning trading.

The reason why the market is punishing the stock is because its revenues were softer than analysts had been expecting to see. For the quarter, revenues came in at $8.04 billion, which was shy of the $8.11 billion that Wall Street was expecting to see from the company.

"Chinese markets have been absolutely soaring this year," says long-standing income expert Carla Pasternak.

In her High Yield Investing advisory, she suggests, "The China Fund (NYSE: CHN) - ranked in the top 1% of funds in the Pacific/Asia ex-Japan category for the latest ten-year period -- should be an excellent way to play this growth story over the long term."

"China's massive stimulus spending and interest rate reductions have succeeded in igniting domestic demand.