Posted on 02/08/2010 9:45:33 AM PST by Palter
Flush with cash despite the global economic downturn, China’s sovereign wealth fund quietly snapped up more than $9 billion worth of shares last year in some of the biggest American corporations, including Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Citigroup.
Although most of the stakes were small, China Investment Corp., the government’s $300 billion investment fund, now owns stock in some of the best-known American brands, including Apple, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Motorola and Visa.
The detailed list, which contained holdings totaling $9.6 billion as of Dec. 31, was disclosed Friday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; it lists stakes only in companies traded in the United States.
The filing offers a glimpse of how China is trying to diversify its more than $2 trillion in foreign currency holdings with stock, rather than investing almost entirely in U.S. Treasury bonds and other debt securities issued by governments and by government-sponsored enterprises like Fannie Mae.
Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China and other officials have repeatedly expressed worry about how the country’s holdings of U.S. Treasury securities could be hurt by inflation or by mounting U.S. debt. By buying the securities of international companies, China is trying to spread its fast-growing wealth more widely. It is also seeking to acquire strategic stakes in companies that could feed its hungry economy with a wide range of commodities.
C.I.C., already one of the world’s largest sovereign funds, was formed in 2007 with about $200 billion. It now has assets of nearly $300 billion and, according to state-run news media, is expecting another large injection of funds.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
And I'm not limiting that comment to this treasonous administration....the prior one was more than happy with the ChiComs.
Where did I hear that China would also own California, oreogn, Washington and Idaho if we default on payment on our debt to her? As Obama increases the debt, why stop with Idaho? Bursting at the seams, is she also planning to move into all those empty apartment complexes paving overwhat used to be good farm land? And there suddenly seems to be a big demand for American Chinese to learn the Chinese language!
Not worried. Remember; the Japanese bought into American corporations and got badly burned 30-40 years ago.
Uh-oh, ya know what this means? China is about to dump all of its dollar-based securities and currency holdings. /sarc
Thanks Palter.
....the prior two or three were more than happy with the ChiComs.
The dollars we’re shipping overseas are coming back to buy us out. Current account deficit for 3rd quarter of 2009, $108 billion. Market cap of Johnson and Johnson, $173 billion.
You beat me to it.
Anyone remember Loral Guidance Systems selling our secrets to the Chinese? The CEO just happened to be a VERY LARGE contributor to the Clintoon’s campaign. The Communists can now put their missiles right where they want them. They’ve already threatened Los Angeles. Before this “transaction” they couldn’t hit the ocean if they fired one off the beach.
I must admit that it DOES look like we will be buying the rope we hang ourselves with from the Communists.
We have lost all sense of good judgement to allow ourselves to depend on parts for our weapons systems (fighter jets etc.) to be manufactured by our enemy (China).
Is it too late for America to wake the hell up?
American corporations can be owned by foreigners, thus allowing foreigners undo influence in our electoral process.
But even if this were not the case: this is supposed to be a country of one man, one vote. If I own the largest share of a particular corporation then I can direct all of its profits to my favorite government causes. That is not one man one vote. That is one share, one vote.
ping for interest.
heh heh. They're new at capitalism and they're not too good at it yet.
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