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China's official manufacturing PMI contracted again in September

Workers sewing shoes at a factory in Qingdao in China's eastern Shandong province.

AFP | Getty Images

China on Monday released a closely watched indicator on its manufacturing activity.

The official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) was 49.8 in September — exceeding the 49.5 analysts polled by Reuters had expected. The official PMI data came in at 49.5 in August.

PMI readings above 50 indicate expansion, while those below that level signal contraction.

A private survey of China's manufacturing activity, the Caixin/Markit factory Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), is also scheduled for release on Monday. Analysts polled by Reuters expect the data to come in at 50.2 for September, down slightly from 50.4 in August. 

The official PMI survey typically polls a large proportion of big businesses and state-owned enterprises. The Caixin indicator features a bigger mix of small- and medium-sized firms.

The PMI is a survey of how businesses view the operating environment. Such data offer a first glimpse into what's happening in an economy, as they are usually among the first major economic indicators released each month.

The China PMI is closely watched by global investors for signs of trouble amid a domestic economic slowdown and the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute.

— This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

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China's tech ambition is 'unstoppable' — with or without the trade war, analyst says

President Donald Trump meets with China's President Xi Jinping at the start of their bilateral meeting at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019.

Kevin Lemarque | Reuters

China is closing in on the U.S. in some areas of technology and could soon even overtake America in certain respects, experts told CNBC.

The world's second-largest economy is already showing some good progress in its push on homegrown industries such as artificial intelligence and chips. 

"China is closing the technological gap with the United States, and though it may not match U.S. capabilities across the board, it will soon be one of the leading powers in technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, energy storage, fifth-generation cellular networks (5G), quantum information systems, and possibly biotechnology," U.S.-based think tank the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) said in a recent report.

It comes as Beijing gears up to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1. With much fanfare expected, the event will see the Asian giant flaunt its military prowess in a parade in Beijing and President Xi Jinping talk up the nation's progress

China's digital footprint

A big part of the nation's development has been technological.

China's digital economy accounts for over 34% of the country's gross domestic product. It's also home to some of the largest technology companies in the world, including e-commerce giant Alibaba and tech conglomerate Tencent.

That's thanks to an internet boom over the years. The number of internet users in China at the end of 2008 totaled 298 million — or just over 22% of the population at that time, according to official statistics from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC). That number rose to 854 million at the end of June this year — or over 60% of the population.

We have a technology grip from the U.S. that is actually being torn apart by China at this point.

Eoin Murray

head of investment at Hermes Investment Management

Just over 99% of Chinese web-users access the internet on their mobile devices, according to official government statistics. In the U.S. just over 92% of internet users access it on mobile, separate statistics from eMarketer show.

That mobile focus in China has helped companies roll out products quickly and on a large scale.

And China's rise is threatening America's historically strong position in technology.

"We have a technology grip from the U.S. that is actually being torn apart by China at this point," Eoin Murray, head of investment at Hermes Investment Management told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" last week.

Copycat image changing

But the rise of China's tech industry has been tarnished by allegations of intellectual property theft and claims that the country's technology companies have been copycats.

Whether it is Chinese-designed phones that look similar to Apple's iPhone, or Chinese search or e-commerce companies being compared to Silicon Valley's Google or Amazon, China has for a long time carried the image of a tech follower.

But that image is changing.

"For years, Silicon Valley looked down on China tech and believed it was only copying. But today, there is awareness that China is innovating and getting ahead in certain tech arenas," Rebecca Fannin, author of "Tech Titans of China," told CNBC.

China threat to US tech

Over the past few years, Beijing has publicly stated its ambitions to develop critical future technology, such as artificial intelligence and the next-generation of super-fast mobile networks known as 5G.

Even before the U.S.-China trade war started, Beijing said in 2017 that it wanted to become a world leader in AI by 2030. Some of China's biggest companies including Alibaba, Huawei, Tencent and Baidu, are all investing heavily in AI. Just last week, Alibaba followed Huawei's footsteps and released its own AI chip.

The US-China trade war is hurting both sides. China's ambition is unstoppable to become a global leader in tech, trade war or not.

Rebecca Fannin

author of "Tech Titans of China"

Beijing has also said semiconductors will be a key area of the Made in China 2025 plan, a government initiative that aims to boost the production of higher-value products. China wants to make more of the chips it uses.

Meanwhile, Huawei, the world's largest telecommunications equipment-maker, has secured more commercial 5G contracts than its rivals Nokia and Ericsson. 5G promises super-fast data speeds and the ability to support new technologies like autonomous vehicles.

US response

Technology has been a key part of the ongoing U.S-China trade war with one company in particular, Huawei, being caught in the crosshairs.

The Chinese technology giant has been put on a U.S. blacklist known as the Entity List which restricts its access to American technology. But this has only sharpened its focus on trying to make more of the components and software it needs. The company has been releasing its own processors for smartphones and recently unveiled its own operating system, in a bid to become less reliant on the U.S.

Washington's response to the rise of China's tech industry has been about containment rather than trying to stay ahead, according to one expert.

"So far it has been primarily focused on slowing China down and preventing critical technologies from flowing to Beijing," Adam Segal, one of the authors of CFR's report, told CNBC. "While there is a growing recognition in Congress and in the White House that the U.S. needs to do more to accelerate innovation at home, the response so far has fallen short."

Segal suggested the U.S. should restore federal funding for research and development to its historical average. This would mean increasing funding from 0.7% to 1.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) annually, or from $146 billion to about $230 billion at the 2018 exchange rate, according to Segal.

Fannin echoed some of Segal's comments and said the U.S. needs a "national agenda" in key technology areas. She added that the current trade war won't stop China's rise.

"The US-China trade war is hurting both sides. China's ambition is unstoppable to become a global leader in tech, trade war or not," Fannin told CNBC.

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Constricting investments into Chinese companies could hit the US as hard as it hits China

BEIJING — Possible U.S. restrictions on investing in Chinese companies would not only have a limited effect on China — but it could also hurt the United States, analysts told CNBC.

The comments come on the back of reports that the White House is considering investment curbs on China, such as delisting Chinese stocks in the United States and limiting government pension funds' investments in the Chinese market.

Restrictions such as delisting of Chinese stocks in New York could send the message that the "U.S. is not as open as before. It's going to have a fairly far-reaching impact," Ning Zhu, professor of finance at Tsinghua University in Beijing, told CNBC in a phone interview on Sunday.

U.S. stocks closed lower on Friday after Bloomberg first reported the news. The KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF (KWEB), which tracks major Chinese internet-related companies listed in New York or Hong Kong, fell 3.8%.

Analysts say the reported restrictions could be an effort by the White House to gain leverage in the upcoming U.S.-China trade talks.

It is unclear how close, if at all, the White House is to announcing curbs on U.S. investment.

The U.S. Treasury assistant secretary for public affairs, Monica Crowley, said in a statement over the weekend that "the administration is not contemplating blocking Chinese companies from listing shares on U.S. stock exchanges at this time. We welcome investment in the United States."

The China Securities Regulatory Commission did not respond to a faxed request for comment.

Options outside the US

If the U.S. were to carry out such investment curbs, it would be difficult to implement and will negatively affect U.S. capital markets, said Zhu. "Finance is unlike military or export orders, or trade. Finance is much more difficult to trace."

Many Chinese start-ups have chosen to list in the U.S. for a boost to their brand and access to U.S. dollars.

U.S. banks, U.S. mutual fund companies will be at a clear disadvantage to their global competitors.

Ning Zhu

professor of finance at Tsinghua University

More than 200 Chinese companies, including giants like Alibaba, have raised tens of billions of dollars on U.S. capital markets through listings or American Depositary Receipts, according to an August report by analysts from research firm Gavekal Dragonomics, Andrew Batson and Lance Noble.

However, not all major Chinese companies have chosen to list in New York.

Tencent, the parent of the WeChat messaging app and a major developer of mobile games, is listed in Hong Kong. Smartphone maker Xiaomi and food delivery company Meituan-Dianping also went public in Hong Kong last year. London is another alternative, Zhu pointed out.

The Chinese government would also like to keep its largest companies at home, and launched a new stock board in July in an effort to create a better environment for technology companies to go public.

Missed opportunities

On the other hand, foreign investment in mainland-listed Chinese stocks remains limited, even as Beijing tries to open its markets further to overseas investors. Since the domestic stock market is dominated by retail investors, authorities are trying to attract more stable inflows from institutional investors.

Global stock index provider MSCI has also been gradually adding some mainland Chinese A-shares to its key emerging markets index, and more than $1.9 trillion in assets were included in the benchmark index as of the end of 2017.

In April, the Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Index started adding Chinese bonds. J.P. Morgan also announced it would include Chinese debt in its benchmark bond index early next year.

Full inclusion of Chinese assets in these stock and bond indexes would mean that many Americans would be indirect investors in Chinese capital markets through mutual funds and other widely held investment products.

If such U.S. investments were banned, American investors would miss out on what many analysts expect will be a long-term growth story.

"While there may be other political reasons for restricting US capital flows to China, Washington should understand that the implications for the trade imbalance are the opposite of what they want," Michael Pettis, finance professor at the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University, said in an email.

"If American capital that would have gone to China stays home, that means inevitably that the net American imports of capital will rise, and with that so will the American current account deficit — not with China, but overall," Pettis explained.

In addition to encouraging greater foreign participation in its capital markets, China is trying to increase foreign access to its financial services industry. Some announcements in the last 18 months include allowing a foreign bank to take majority ownership of its local securities joint venture.

If this trend continues, regardless of how slowly, being prohibited from China would mean "U.S. banks, U.S. mutual fund companies will be at a clear disadvantage to their global competitors," Zhu said.

Fraud, transparency concerns

One of the reasons the White House may be considering the investment restriction is reportedly to protect U.S. investors from excessive risk due to lack of regulatory supervision of Chinese companies.

"There's a kernel of legitimacy in this," said James Early, CEO of investment research firm Stansberry China. He pointed out that many Chinese companies that were able to access U.S. public markets around 2010 received no consequences for fraudulent behavior.

Mainland China's capital markets are among the largest in the world, but often fall short of the governance and liquidity levels of more developed markets.

Last week, FTSE Russell decided not to add China to its widely tracked government bond index due to issues such as lack of trading activity and long settlement periods, according to Reuters.

Analysis by New York-based research provider Rhodium, released in the fall of 2018, also found that 65% of Chinese companies included in the MSCI emerging markets index at that time were ultimately controlled by the state.

At that time, MSCI said in a statement to CNBC it did not comment on third party reports.

"The presence of SOEs (state-owned enterprises) is not an unique phenomenon in China but common to many emerging markets ... All companies, including SOEs, are treated equally as long as they meet the index eligibility criteria," the statement said.

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Friday, September 27, 2019

Winter, again? 今週の仮想通貨市場、6兆円吹き飛ぶ|ビットコインは8000ドル割れ イーサやXRP(リップル)にも打撃 - コインテレグラフ・ジャパン(ビットコイン、仮想通貨、ブロックチェーンのニュース)

  1. Winter, again? 今週の仮想通貨市場、6兆円吹き飛ぶ|ビットコインは8000ドル割れ イーサやXRP(リップル)にも打撃  コインテレグラフ・ジャパン(ビットコイン、仮想通貨、ブロックチェーンのニュース)
  2. 主要アルトコインほぼ全て、6カ月間の最安値更新 ― ビットコイン急落を受けて  コインデスク・ジャパン
  3. ビットコインが一時8000ドル割れ、6月以来-5日続落で  ブルームバーグ
  4. 急落は何だったのか?仮想通貨ビットコインのハッシュレート、過去最高を更新  コインテレグラフ・ジャパン(ビットコイン、仮想通貨、ブロックチェーンのニュース)
  5. 日本の仮想通貨トレーダーの約52%が取引にスマホやタブレットを使用  仮想通貨 Watch
  6. Google ニュースですべての記事を表示

Winter, again? 今週の仮想通貨市場、6兆円吹き飛ぶ|ビットコインは8000ドル割れ イーサやXRP(リップル)にも打撃 - コインテレグラフ・ジャパン(ビットコイン、仮想通貨、ブロックチェーンのニュース)
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Winter, again? 今週の仮想通貨市場、6兆円吹き飛ぶ|ビットコインは8000ドル割れ イーサやXRP(リップル)にも打撃 - コインテレグラフ・ジャパン(ビットコイン、仮想通貨、ブロックチェーンのニュース)

  1. Winter, again? 今週の仮想通貨市場、6兆円吹き飛ぶ|ビットコインは8000ドル割れ イーサやXRP(リップル)にも打撃  コインテレグラフ・ジャパン(ビットコイン、仮想通貨、ブロックチェーンのニュース)
  2. 主要アルトコインほぼ全て、6カ月間の最安値更新 ― ビットコイン急落を受けて  コインデスク・ジャパン
  3. ビットコインが一時8000ドル割れ、6月以来-5日続落で  ブルームバーグ
  4. 急落は何だったのか?仮想通貨ビットコインのハッシュレート、過去最高を更新  コインテレグラフ・ジャパン(ビットコイン、仮想通貨、ブロックチェーンのニュース)
  5. 日本の仮想通貨トレーダーの約52%が取引にスマホやタブレットを使用  仮想通貨 Watch
  6. Google ニュースですべての記事を表示

Winter, again? 今週の仮想通貨市場、6兆円吹き飛ぶ|ビットコインは8000ドル割れ イーサやXRP(リップル)にも打撃 - コインテレグラフ・ジャパン(ビットコイン、仮想通貨、ブロックチェーンのニュース)
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Everything Jim Cramer said on 'Mad Money,' including investing next week, foreign drug stocks

CNBC's Jim Cramer reacts to the Trump administration's move to consider stopping U.S. investors from investing into China's businesses and debriefs the 2019 class of IPOs. The "Mad Money" host makes recommendations for investors who are worried about the future of the American health care system. He holds an interview with the CEO of CNBC Disruptor honoree GoodRx.

Cramer takes a look at the week ahead in investing

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

The stock market got hit with a double whammy on Friday coming from a glut of new public offerings and a threat from the White House to limit U.S. investments in China, Cramer said.

The host said "busted deals" such as , , Lyft and Uber are happening too often and have contributed to a number of down days on Wall Street.

In the midst of an ongoing trade war between the world's largest economies, the public also learned during the day that Trump administration officials are looking at ways to deter U.S. companies from investing in Chinese companies, a move that Cramer supports.

"Turns out ... it's not as sweeping or as negative as the market seems to believe," he said. "The administration doesn't want Chinese listings that lack the same kind of transparency as American companies, and it would prefer investors not to buy the shares of companies with opaque financials."

The lost more than 70 points, or 0.26%, while the pulled back 0.53% and the dropped 1.13%.

"I know it's been rough, but last week this market was really overbought still, and when you're overbought you tend to get hit with sell-offs … especially when we're being flooded with shoddy IPO merchandise," Cramer said. "I think we need some more downside before I'm really ready to get more positive."

Cramer also gave his game plan for next week

Foreign pharmaceutical stocks are more assuring for worried investors

Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Cramer said investors who are worried about domestic drug stocks have a good chance picking among foreign ones.

He called AstraZeneca in the United Kingdom, GlaxoSmithKline in the U.K. and Novartis in Switzerland buys.

"If you want big pharma exposure, with fewer headaches related to U.S. politics, you could always buy a well-run foreign drug company," he said, because they are not so dependent on the American market.

Conagra reported a mixed quarter — it's not what you think

ConAgra Foods

Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Cramer explained why Conagra's mixed quarter it reported on Thursday was not quite the usual suspect. The packaged foods company was able to make notable progress in one of its most important segments, he said.

"The comeback in their legacy Pinnacle business is starting to remind me of what Dollar Tree did with its ailing Family Dollar business earlier this year," Cramer explained. "I bet Conagra can deliver the same kind of turnaround. These guys are too seasoned to not get it right."

Shopping around for affordable medical care services

Doug Hirsch, Co-Founder and C0-CEO of GoodRx.

Heidi Petty | CNBC

Digital pharmacy GoodRx is now helping patients do more than just price shop for prescription drugs, co-founder and co-CEO Doug Hirsch told Cramer.

It's going directly into the world of medical services by launching GoodRx Care, which allows people to see a board-certified physician for a number of conditions, starting at just $20.

"We wanted to just have an easy solution that anyone could use to get quick care of the most pressing things that affect millions and millions of Americans, so they can stay healthy and stay out of the hospital," Hirsch said in an interview.

-Reporting by Kevin Stankiewicz

Where to invest in this overbought market

Karen Bleier | AFP | Getty Images

Cramer noted that the market has slowly but surely made a bad turn, but stocks are still near their highs, making it tough to add more to the portfolio.

"If you're looking for the ideal kind of stock to start buying in this difficult environment, look no further than American Express," the host said.

Cramer's lightning round

: "No. Come on, man. We can't!"

Planet Fitness: "We got to stay away from Planet Fitness, you know why? Because 's stinking up the joint and we don't want to go near that ... until all the sellers of Peloton are done, and then we can circle back to Planet Fitness."

Disclosure: Cramer's charitable trust owns shares of Novartis.

Questions for Cramer?
Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC

Want to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up!
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Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com

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Amid controversy, Kurt Volker, Trump's envoy to Ukraine, resigns, sources say

Kurt Volker, US Department Special Representative for Ukraine speaks during a press conference about US-Ukrainian relations in Kiev. The US delegation headed by the Special Representative of the United States Department of State for Ukraine, Kurt Volker on a working visit to the village of Stanytsia Luhanska in Luhansk region East of Ukraine. (Photo by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Pavlo Gonchar | LightRocket | Getty Images

President Donald Trump's special representative for Ukraine, Kurt Volker, resigned on Friday, sources familiar with the situation said.

A whistleblower complaint from within the intelligence community, released publicly on Thursday, described Volker as trying to "contain the damage" from efforts by Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani to press Ukraine to investigate Democrats.

Volker, who had served in the position on a part-time, unpaid basis since 2017, had sought to help Ukraine's government resolve its confrontation with Russia-sponsored separatists.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, who are conducting an impeachment investigation of Trump, have sought testimony from Volker relating to a July 25 phone call in which Trump encouraged Ukraine's president to investigate Joe Biden, a political rival.

Volker's resignation was first reported by the State Press, a student-run publication at Arizona State University, which backs a think tank where Volker serves as executive director.

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Winter, again? 今週の仮想通貨市場、6兆円吹き飛ぶ|ビットコインは8000ドル割れ イーサやXRP(リップル)にも打撃 - コインテレグラフ・ジャパン(ビットコイン、仮想通貨、ブロックチェーンのニュース)

  1. Winter, again? 今週の仮想通貨市場、6兆円吹き飛ぶ|ビットコインは8000ドル割れ イーサやXRP(リップル)にも打撃  コインテレグラフ・ジャパン(ビットコイン、仮想通貨、ブロックチェーンのニュース)
  2. 主要アルトコインほぼ全て、6カ月間の最安値更新 ― ビットコイン急落を受けて  コインデスク・ジャパン
  3. ビットコインが一時8000ドル割れ、6月以来-5日続落で  ブルームバーグ
  4. 急落は何だったのか?仮想通貨ビットコインのハッシュレート、過去最高を更新  コインテレグラフ・ジャパン(ビットコイン、仮想通貨、ブロックチェーンのニュース)
  5. 日本の仮想通貨トレーダーの約52%が取引にスマホやタブレットを使用  仮想通貨 Watch
  6. Google ニュースですべての記事を表示

Winter, again? 今週の仮想通貨市場、6兆円吹き飛ぶ|ビットコインは8000ドル割れ イーサやXRP(リップル)にも打撃 - コインテレグラフ・ジャパン(ビットコイン、仮想通貨、ブロックチェーンのニュース)
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