[freeier]

huh? FTSE Xinhua25 index is legitimate. FTSE has 2 indices, one is based on H shares that is HSCEI equivalent, the other based on A shares.
liquidity could be an issue but as a retail investor i don't think one would have difficulty getting in and out of 5 or 10 contracts.

[DougieB]

So the local retail buyers lost out a little and A shares did well
Hope no one managed to put the shorting into place - depends on the dates I suppose but this doesn't fit the expected model.
I think its also true to say that the March global downward ripple did not repeat so if China sneexes the rest of the globe will not catch a cold - not sure how much of the MCSI emerging market index is China, but cool heads have spotted that its not that large.
As for correlated trades, surely some of the Oz mineral/metal producers are pretty exposed.
Oh yes hello everyone. I grew up in HK many moons ago -Stanley my stomping ground - and I am angling to return, but who knows?

[philippe]

Xinhua A50 is up nearly 80% YTD.
I made roughly 40% so far with my A shares.
Looking at a YTD chart I don't see how anyone could have made any money shorting the A50 up to now (unless going after specific stocks).
The chart is "flat" around $120 til April before slowly rising to $176. There is just one bit of a correction in early June ($160 down to $140) but catching it would have been a tough call IMHO in terms of timing.

Before shorting the China market, one may consider tracking the number of new brokerage accounts being opened in China everyday (a bit like tracking the number of new mobile phone users before buying/selling China Mobile shares).

Happy Investing!