Ideas
John Lee
President and Chief Marketing Officer, Samsung Electronics
3:50
Kospi has more upside to 6000
The KOSPI has crossed President Lee's 5,000 target and is not expensive versus emerging-market valuations; market participants see it reaching 6,000, helped by AI and memory-price tailwinds, though narrow breadth and a limited buyer pool are risks.
China tech hardware upgraded to overweight
AI-related demand is moving through China's tech supply chain, with upstream hardware companies seeing double-digit revenue growth, capacity expansion, hiring, and strong order visibility; she upgraded China tech hardware from market weight to overweight because visibility is higher upstream even as downstream monetization remains uncertain.
Anti-involution helps China internet margins
Anti-involution and competition policy that pushes platforms to stop competing mainly on price should be positive for margins, and while some company-specific regulatory risk remains, she is not too concerned about sector-wide tightening of the private economy.
Hong Kong equities attract southbound inflows
She is optimistic on Hong Kong equities because southbound inflows are strong, insurers are encouraged to raise equity allocations, a solid IPO pipeline with tech supply-chain names should attract global and mainland investors, and long-only foreign investors are returning to China.
China small caps benefit retail allocation
Chinese household deposits and wealth-management products are hugely under-allocated to equities relative to other countries, so small caps could benefit as retail participation increases and domestic investors allocate trillions of RMB annually to stocks.
MSCI China earnings growth supports upside
Goldman forecasts 14% earnings growth for MSCI China this year and next, driven by the going-global trend, anti-involution policies, and AI, supporting a constructive MSCI China view and the 100 target.
HKEX benefits from IPO diversification
The IPO pipeline is solid with 350-plus public filings and more confidential filings, 11 IPOs already raised $4 billion year-to-date, and investors' desire to diversify away from concentrated US exposure is making Asia/China listings and Hong Kong more attractive; HKEX should benefit as a listing venue.
China equities attractive on resilient innovation
He is more positive on China than in recent years because Chinese companies have been stress-tested and are resilient, innovation such as DeepSeek and life sciences is impressive, and global LP sentiment toward China is improving.
China life sciences sector taking off
China's life-science sector is taking off as part of the country's broader innovation wave, with biotech/life sciences among the examples that have impressed global investors.
Chinese consumption remains resilient and bullish
He is very bullish on Chinese consumption because it is a vast, resilient market with more potential even though it is growing more slowly than before.
OpenAI boosts global tech AI euphoria
OpenAI's reported Middle East funding talks and potential IPO, with valuation around $800 billion, add fresh euphoria to the AI/tech theme; as OpenAI's valuation rises, it lifts the mood and valuations across the global tech and AI space, especially before earnings season.
JGB pressure resumes without BOJ action
The JGB market is severely dislocated with evaporated liquidity, so small flows cause disproportionate price moves; unless the BOJ announces new measures to stabilize the long end, she expects selling pressure and yield pressure to resume, especially as the market may be underpricing Japan's terminal rate.
Short USD/KRW toward 1400
She finds current USD/KRW attractive for downside and targets 1,400 in 12 months, citing concrete Korean measures: potential NPS hedging changes worth $20-50 billion, WGBI inclusion inflows around $50 billion, tax exemptions for investment accounts, and a terms-of-trade boost from semiconductors/memory prices.
Gold bullish, buy dips toward 5000
She is structurally bullish gold with a $5,000 forecast, assuming central-bank buying continues near last year's pace and ETF demand is conservative; any geopolitical pullback is a buying opportunity, and diversification away from the dollar adds upside.
Aussie dollar favored by carry diversification
The Australian dollar is supported by the desire to diversify away from the dollar, its restored high-carry status, and the fact that hedging Aussie upside is now zero-cost for Australian super funds, making it attractive for investment and hedging.
New World past peak pessimism
New World Development may have passed peak pessimism: its bonds have rallied above $0.75, out of distressed territory, its stock is up sharply, and the company is aiming to sell at least one major asset by June to meet its $3.5 billion sales target and generate positive cash flow; near-term default concerns have eased even though long-term structure questions remain.
USD/JPY falls if BOJ hikes
If the BOJ raises rates as he expects, with the next opportunity in April after wage negotiations and a terminal rate of at least 1.5%, USD/JPY should trade in a 145-155 range, implying yen strength from current levels.
Mizuho benefits from Japan rate hikes
Japan's fiscal and corporate conditions are improving, BOJ rate hikes toward at least a 1.5% terminal rate should support bank profitability, and Mizuho's concentration on four business areas plus acquisitions such as Greenhill, Augusta, and Avantis should drive growth; he sees after-tax profit of ¥1.4-1.5 trillion and PVR around 1.75-2.2 as ambitious targets.
BHP copper project supported by US
The Trump administration is strongly supporting US mining and critical-minerals supply-chain resilience, and BHP's Resolution copper project in Arizona could supply 25% of US copper demand for decades and is one of the best undeveloped copper deposits globally; it is one of four major copper growth projects in BHP's portfolio.
This Bloomberg Markets video, published January 22, 2026,
features John Lee, Si Fu, Bonnie Chan, Frank Tang, Mark Cranfield, Trang Le, Trista Shealy Law, Masahiro Kihara, Mike Henry
discussing EWY, China tech hardware sector, KWEB, Hong Kong equities, ECNS, MCHI, 0388.HK, FXI, KURE, CHIQ, IXN, Japanese government bonds, USD/KRW, GLD, AUD, 0017.HK, New World Development bonds, USD/JPY, MFG, BHP.
19 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.
Speakers:
John Lee,
Si Fu,
Bonnie Chan,
Frank Tang,
Mark Cranfield,
Trang Le,
Trista Shealy Law,
Masahiro Kihara,
Mike Henry
· Tickers:
EWY,
China tech hardware sector,
KWEB,
Hong Kong equities,
ECNS,
MCHI,
0388.HK,
FXI,
KURE,
CHIQ,
IXN,
Japanese government bonds,
USD/KRW,
GLD,
AUD,
0017.HK,
New World Development bonds,
USD/JPY,
MFG,
BHP
