BNP, which largely escaped the subprime crisis, has upgraded mainland equities to 'overweight' because 'maximum bearishness is priced in with H shares having fallen 75 per cent in 12 months'.

The French call came on the 79th anniversary of Black Monday, the Wall Street crash that heralded the Depression, but also coincided with a strong rebound around the world this week.

While most analysts at investment houses have been revising down listed companies' earnings, BNP's Charles Huang and Erwin Sanft built their case around how far mainland equities are from their historic bottom.

In the Asian financial crisis, the H-share index fell 86 per cent from August 1997 to September 1998. In terms of valuation, H shares are trading at a price-earnings ratio of about 6.3, compared with a trough of 6.2 times in 2001, while the dividend yield is 5.7 per cent, compared with 6.8 per cent in 2001.

In other words, we might be quite close to the bottom.

Under the headline 'Attack is the best form of defence', BNP advises its clients to change their investment strategy to become bullish about mainland telecoms, branded consumer plays and counter-cyclicals in such areas as the internet, health care, alternative energy and railway construction. However, the bank still has its bear hat on when it comes to mainland financials, commodities and over-geared properties.

Must have been a bull frog

Have you heard the one about two women walking through the woods when a frog called out to them.

'Help me, ladies,' it said. 'I am a stockbroker who, through an evil witch's curse, has been transformed into a frog. If one of you will kiss me, I'll be returned to my former state.'

One of the women took out her handbag, grabbed the frog and stuffed it inside.

'Didn't you hear him? If you kiss him, he'll turn into a stockbroker,' her companion said.

The woman replied: 'Sure, but these days a talking frog is worth a lot more than a stockbroker!'

NYSE eyes China

New York Stock Exchange chief executive Duncan Niederauer could be in for a bit of a shock when he visits the mainland soon.

He told the National Committee on US-China Relations annual gala in New York last week that nearly 60 mainland companies were listed in the city and he looked forward to a day in the near future when NYSE Euronext would be listed on the 'Beijing stock exchange'.

He said he would be visiting China soon to meet companies listed in New York. We hope he has time to go to Shanghai and Shenzhen.

Discomfort food

There's a restaurant flyer doing the rounds on the internet offering the 'financial tsunami' Chinese set meal.

Top of the bill is crabs (investors who sit on their loss-making stocks), followed by bitter melon soup, melamine-tainted milk, malachite green mushrooms and minibond pie.

Price? HK$700 billion, a figure familiar to taxpayers as the cost of a government bailout.

Setting it straight

Lai See's meal today includes a couple of pieces of humble pie.

The first involves our item on Noble Group issuing an announcement about how well the company is doing in such troubled times.

The news came after the Singapore market closed last Friday and after the stock had fallen 18 per cent. We wrongly said the stock fell 18 per cent on Monday when the market was closed for a public holiday.

It actually shot up 26 per cent when the market reopened on Tuesday.

Likewise, an item on David Webb's portfolio mixed up his Christmas picks. Fujikon Industrial Holdings was the pick of 2005, not 2007. Last year's pick was Shinhint Acoustic Link.

Also, we are glad to learn that Mr Webb will be making a Christmas pick this year.