| Headline: Asia's bubble -wrapped hi-tech future Source: Euromoney Date: July 2000 Author: Matthew Montagu-Pollock Can Singapore learn to take more risks? The crash in Asia's tech stocks in April had its benefits. For a start, it could signal a return to realistic valuations and analysis of fundamentals. It certainly doesn't mean the boom is over. Matthew Montagu-Pollock, in an article that first appeared in Asiamoney, asks why Asia reacted so strongly to Nasdaq's fall and where the market is likely to head next. The CLSA conference is perhaps the region's largest and most glittering annual fund managers' conference. It is designed to impress, to entertain, and occasionally to educate. Tellingly, the dominant theme at this year's conference at Hong Kong's Grand Hyatt was ­ you've guessed ­ the internet. CLSA's stage was flanked by two enormous screens. Each showed huge bubbles slowly, majestically, floating upward until they reached the sky. It was a subtly ironic commentary, an indirect dig at the inflated valuations of many of the region's internet and technology stocks. There was certainly worry in the room. The scrum of fund managers barging their way to ensure a seat at presentations was matched only in intensity by the dozens more crammed in the corridor outside, straining to hear. |