Scaling the great wall

Finally, there is some competition in the global stock market and, this time, from Asia. No, it is not achche-din India that we are talking about but sleeping dragon China, which finally seems to be breathing fire. With the Shanghai Composite Index closing above the 5,000 level, the combined value of the companies listed on the index is estimated to be about $9.7 trillion, as compared with $4.8 trillion at the end of 2014. The index has jumped almost 150% over the past year, and currently trades at 25X earnings. If all these mind-boggling facts were not enough, consider this fact — just about a year ago, the index was at its lowest since 1998.