PetroChina now the world’s largest:

If you needed confirmation that the Chinese stock market is over valued look no further. PetroChina tripled in value on its first day of trading in Shanghai. The company now has a market value of over $1 Trillion, the first company in history to do so making it the largest company in the world when ranked by market capitalization, larger than the market value of Exxon and GE combined.

The risk in the Chinese equity markets has gone through the roof and this latest example of extreme valuation is just another indication of the excesses in the market. As I have been saying for months, stay away for direct Chinese investments but continue to invest in companies that supply the materials required to build the industrial infrastructure and complete the modernization of the Country.

For more information go to www.campbellreport.com

Citibank cleans house:

The largest bank in United States has just accepted the resignation from CEO, Charles (Chuck) Prince, after announcing that the firm will be taking a write down of approximately $11 billion (that’s billion) due to exposure to the subprime mortgage sector. Investors are getting out in a big way as indicated by the share price decline of $2.20 or 5.85% today.

The question for all investors is have the financial companies such as Citibank and Merrill Lynch come clean on their exposure to the subprime slime they helped create? I would suggest that is not likely and that we will be seeing additional substantial write downs going forward as well. When the new CEO is appointed at Citi and Merrill you can bet there will be another write down, that has just come to light, just like a new President or Prime Minister does when taking over power, blame the last guy with as much as you can get away with.

I would stay away from financial shares until the real final number is out and that won’t happen for months.

For more information go to www.campbellreport.com