This is the final day of the Forbes cruise. We are actually pulling into Hong Kong at the moment. I see a lot of mountains and many beautiful tall buildings. I will spend one more night on the ship then fly back to New York tomorrow afternoon.
Jim Michaels, former Editor of Forbes magazine, moderated a spirited discussion yesterday about the merits of investing in China and India. John Dessauer, who travels to China frequently, was not keen on investing there. He thinks there is insufficient transparency. He would not even recommend buying ADRs of Chinese companies. He prefers to invest in large U.S. conglomerates such as Citigroup and Wal-Mart that are conducting business in China. But Arjuna Mahendran was willing to pick a few Chinese stocks. He particularly favors oil company CNOOC. Warren Buffett also likes Chinese oil, but he prefers PetroChina.
Despite all the excitement over China, Jim Michaels thinks India offers better opportunities for investors. He said the Chinese are focused on manufacturing low-cost items, but the Indians are specializing in high-skilled services.
