Three cheers for the U.S. House of Representatives for passing a bill that could kick out Chinese companies listed on American exchanges. The tens of thousands of financial worker bees who have built their careers trading and servicing behemoths like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and JD.com Inc. can finally get some sleep at night.
Nearly a decade ago, I started my journalism career with Barron’s, the financial investment magazine. Based in Hong Kong, I would work well into the night calling emerging markets fund managers in New York, asking them for their views on China and their stock picks. Often, I went to bed at 2 AM.
I was no exception. Ringing the Nasdaq bell used to be every Chinese tech company’s Holy Grail and hundreds have managed to snag a prestigious listing in one U.S. exchange or another. But that meant that Asia-based investors had to be vigilant at night in their quest to buy into the "China dream” being traded in the U.S. daytime. The time zones are halfway around the world from each other. Few went to sleep before New York trading began, and some habitually woke up in the middle of the night checking markets on their phones.