IPO MAY SOUND BETTER THAN OPEN SESAME
(…but keep in mind that in the story…Alibaba…headed up a gang of forty thieves)

Wall Street is all a-twitter by the prospect of playing host to the largest IPO ever offered by it to ravenous hoards of investors looking for some luscious profits.

Google-ites, in particular, are probably drooling at the prospect since it, reportedly, holds a 25% interest in China’s Alibaba gigantic conglomerate. Yes, IPO may sound better than open sesame…but keep in mind that in the story…Alibaba…headed up a gang of forty thieves, and, while China’s offering of an “open sesame” to a vast treasure house of potential profits, actually cashing in on such potentials may end up not being as easy as some might think.

China’s internal market is indeed, vast, mainly due to the sheer size of its population. In this case size…does matter…because a large segment of that population pool has managed to achieve sufficient means, if not wealth, to sustain a very active consumer-driven economy. How long that can last, however, is anyone’s guess, thus, caveat emptor, is probably the best investing guideline here.

Alibaba is more than just a conglomerate empire with fingers in a multitude of business pies. For all practical purposes it’s a monopoly with little or no effective outside competition, and you can bet that many of its principals are connected in some way to the PLA’s and the Party’s tentacles. Nor should one overlook the fact that China’s overall economic health has shown some problems recently, suggesting it might even be more of an economic house of cards than the world thinks.

Well, since that treasure cave is being opened, a quick in and out of it, with whatever can be grabbed before those forty thieves catch on, and close it back up again, may be the best and wisest thing to do with this offering.

CENTURION