Here is the map of today's bloodbath. As predicted, CNOOC Ltd. (CEO) is hit the hardest - ADR lost $7.35 by mid afternoon. As we predicted in the morning before the bell, Chinese solar companies plunged, too. We argued that the sector is considered risky based on trading characteristics - and the fall of TSL, SDK and JASO clearly underlines our uneasiness of the sector.

News that Freddie Mae and Freddie Mac will be taken over sent American indices soaring for the day. Strong market sentiment spilled over to Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges. But just how much they rallied - or which ones made investors cheer or cry - is summed up by the following table. This table is designed to sort Chinese ADRs based on their performance measured by change in dollars. The best stock was Baidu.com (BIDU), China's search engine giant, adding $3.72 to Friday's close. The stock is way oversold and is seen by many as a possible come back kid. Stronger dollar pushed Asian refiners higher as oil fell. Sinopec (SNP), China's largest refiner gained $.74 followed closely by Petrochina's (PTR) $.36 gain.

Chinese ADRs are trading mixed today with Baidu.com (BIDU) taking the lead and Sohu.com (SOHU) taking a beating. Easing oil prices helped spur the DJIA to 11,315.00 points by 1:00 P.M. Lowering demand for the black gold became obvious today when statistics showed that U.S. drivers drove 3.5% less miles than last year, the biggest ever drop for the measure during the busy summer holiday season. Customs data showed that demand for oil dropped by 891,000 barrels in June vs. May, a sign that high price of oil is unsustainable. Many expect crude to come back to the $100 level within reasonable time. The greenback strengthened against both the Euro and the yen, adding fuel for the slide in the oil price. Looking at the U.S. listed Chinese stock universe, Baidu.com is shining the brightest today so far. China's premium search engine company is up $4.06 or 1.21% by 1:00 P.M., continuing a rally that seems to have no end. The price of the stock is up 17.8% since June 23 (chart here) when the company announced better then expected second quarter results plus a positive guidance for the upcoming quarter.

U.S. listed Chinese stocks came back strongly by the end of the day, NYSE names in particular. China Mobile (CHL), China's largest mobile operator came back especially strong by gaining $2.67 or 3.75 percent on Friday to finish at $77.39. Some of the institutional investors made use of the opportunity to pick up good quality stocks.

U.S. listed Chinese ADRs plunged on Thursday, suffering their worst two-day fall. As the following table shows, the "China ADR Index" (CAI) is down by -12.28% year-to-date (YTD), the "China NYSE Index" (CYI) is down by -11.95% YTD, and the "China NASDAQ Index" (CQI) is down by -21.0% YTD. These indices are market cap weighted and are set at 1,000 as of January 1, 2008.

A near 20 percent correction in four weeks has wiped $700 billion off the Shanghai Stock Exchange, making global investors nervous about a possible China meltdown. Considering the 132% run of the Shanghai Composite in 2006 and a subsequent 125 percent run in 2007 before the current pullback, a bubble theory has ample room to develop. The question is this. Is there a bubble and if so how to hedge against that?

Can’t help but to start with a quote from the previous Newsletter, saying “Based on our cautious but still bullish outlook for the U.S. markets, coupled with our strong outlook for the China stock universe, we think October can potentially be another great month for China ADR investors”. And indeed, October turned out to be another great month—only for the smart investor! Chinavestor picked stock of the month, China Life Insurance (LFC), is trading above $100 vs. $88 at the beginning of the month. Plus Growth and Conservative Portfolios (Update on Page5) are ahead 13.8% and 11.0% , respectively.