From the Wall Street Journal’s "U.S. Stock Futures, Chinese Stocks Fall" posted early Monday:
U.S. stock futures fell, oil prices declined and Chinese stocks suffered their worst selloff in more than two years as Beijing sticks to its zero-Covid strategy while faced with increasing cases in major cities...
Investors are worried that strict policies China has in place to combat Covid-19 will further disrupt global supply chains. Continued disruptions to manufacturing and the movement of goods since the start of the pandemic have contributed to U.S. inflation reaching a four-decade high. New lockdowns in China and Russia’s war against Ukraine are likely to add to price increases...
“The problem with inflation is it can get embedded and we see inflation getting quite sticky,” said Sebastian Mackay, a multiasset fund manager at Invesco. “What we’re seeing is a combination of the war in Ukraine and the lockdown in China causing supply issues.”
Charts: Yahoo!Finance sees a bearish commodity channel index pattern. Max pain has jumped to $172.50 from $167.50 with a call mountain at $175 and an even taller put peak at $165.
There’s little doubt in my mind that in China, as in much of the world, a critical ideological debate is occurring. The importance of that debate in China, however, cannot be overstated. If it goes one direction, China will step towards the West. If it goes the other, China will step towards the East. IMHO, it will be catastrophic for the world if China makes the wrong choice. And, I might add, no choice is also likely to end up being a choice as well.
The impact on Apple will of course be profound, but not moreso than the impact on the world as a whole. But Apple’s presence in China is actually a crucial part of why there even is a choice in the first place. Apple has been China’s friend, and remains China’s friend. Not the friend of any selfish dictatorial powers, but the friend of China’s people.
That’s a good thing, no matter how this turns out.