Korea / Special Sits, Pairs, Index Rebalancing, Clepsydra Capital

Sanghyun Park

Korea / Special Sits, Pairs, Index Rebalancing

Clepsydra Capital

Investigate special situations, pairs, and index rebalancing trades in Korea.

Event-Driven

<p>Hyundai Oilbank has officially started the IPO process. It has reportedly sent out an RFP to local and overseas brokerages. The company is expected to pursue a listing on the KOSPI in early 2022.</p><div class="content-highlight">
<p>After stopping preparations for an IPO in 2019, it again seeks to enter the stock market after more than two years. This is the third challenge since 2012, when the first listing attempt was made.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>In 2012, the company gave up halfway due to the sharp drop in international oil prices. </strong></li>
<li><strong>In 2017, Hyundai Oilbank was designated as a company subject to accounting supervision. So the IPO was again abandoned midway.</strong></li>
</ul>
</div><p>In January 2019, Hyundai Oilbank raised an equity investment worth ₩1.37T from Saudi Aramco for a 17% stake, and as a result, officially announced the suspension of the IPO. So, the estimated IPO valuation at this point is about ₩8.1T. <strong>The Aramco investment of ₩1.37T for a 17% stake translates into an ₩8.1T valuation.</strong></p><p><em>Hyundai Oilbank recorded an operating profit of ₩412.8B in the first quarter of this year, successfully turning to black compared to the previous quarter.</em></p>

Hyundai Oilbank has officially started the IPO process. It has reportedly sent out an RFP to local and overseas brokerages. The company is expected to pursue a listing on the KOSPI in early 2022.
After stopping preparations for an IPO in 2019, it again seeks to enter the stock market after more than two years. This is the third challenge since 2012, when the first listing attempt was made.

In 2012, the company gave up halfway due to the sharp drop in international oil prices. 
In 2017, Hyundai Oilbank was designated as a company subject to accounting supervision. So the IPO was again abandoned midway.

In January 2019, Hyundai Oilbank raised an equity investment worth ₩1.37T from Saudi Aramco for a 17% stake, and as a result, officially announced the suspension of the IPO. So, the estimated IPO valuation at this point is about ₩8.1T. The Aramco investment of ₩1.37T for a 17% stake translates into an ₩8.1T valuation.Hyundai Oilbank recorded an operating profit of ₩412.8B in the first quarter of this year, successfully turning to black compared to the previous quarter.

KOSE (Long) Vs. HHI Holdings (Short) Pair Trade on Hyundai Oilbank IPO

Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

<p>We highlight several positive developments that have occurred since last week’s <em>Int’l Compass </em>report, all of which continue to support our overall constructive outlook. Last week we noted Europe’s STOXX 500 was on the cusp of a breakout above 4040; we got the breakout. WTI and Brent crude oil also broke above key multi-year resistance at $67 and $70, respectively. The MSCI ACWI, ACWI ex-US, and EAFE indexes each hit new all-time highs and remain in uptrends. The MSCI Emerging Markets index (EEM-US) bullishly inflected above short-term resistance at $55.35 and RS is reversing the downtrend. These are all bullish signals for global equities, and our constructive outlook remains appropriate.</p>

We highlight several positive developments that have occurred since last week’s Int’l Compass report, all of which continue to support our overall constructive outlook. Last week we noted Europe’s STOXX 500 was on the cusp of a breakout above 4040; we got the breakout. WTI and Brent crude oil also broke above key multi-year resistance at $67 and $70, respectively. The MSCI ACWI, ACWI ex-US, and EAFE indexes each hit new all-time highs and remain in uptrends. The MSCI Emerging Markets index (EEM-US) bullishly inflected above short-term resistance at $55.35 and RS is reversing the downtrend. These are all bullish signals for global equities, and our constructive outlook remains appropriate.

Major Breakouts For WTI and Brent Crude Oil. Actionable Themes: Energy, Manufacturing, Autos/Parts

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Cross Asset Strategy

<div class="content-highlight">
<p>NPS has been continuing to sell big in Korea in 2021. Having covered Korea for more than two decades, I do not remember NPS selling like it has been in the past two months. As of 28 February, NPS net sold KOSPI for <strong>42 consecutive days. </strong>It has been reported that NPS sold nearly 13 trillion won ($11.6 billion) of KOSPI since December 2020. The big selling by the NPS has become one of the biggest stories in the Korean stock market in 2021. </p>
<p>As of the end of 2020, the Korean equities accounted for<strong> 21.2%</strong> of NPS' total portfolio. <a href="https://finance.naver.com/news/news_read.nhn?article_id=0003341623&amp;office_id=020&amp;mode=LSS2D&amp;type=0&amp;section_id=101&amp;section_id2=258&amp;section_id3=&amp;date=20210302&amp;page=3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NPS'</a> goal is to reduce this to <strong>16.8%</strong> of its total portfolio at the end of 2021. That is a big drop. In this case, NPS could sell an additional 24 trillion won ($21.4 billion) worth of Korean stocks by the end of 2021, which is nearly twice the amount of Korean stocks that it has sold in the past two months. </p>
</div>


NPS has been continuing to sell big in Korea in 2021. Having covered Korea for more than two decades, I do not remember NPS selling like it has been in the past two months. As of 28 February, NPS net sold KOSPI for 42 consecutive days. It has been reported that NPS sold nearly 13 trillion won ($11.6 billion) of KOSPI since December 2020. The big selling by the NPS has become one of the biggest stories in the Korean stock market in 2021. 
As of the end of 2020, the Korean equities accounted for 21.2% of NPS' total portfolio. NPS' goal is to reduce this to 16.8% of its total portfolio at the end of 2021. That is a big drop. In this case, NPS could sell an additional 24 trillion won ($21.4 billion) worth of Korean stocks by the end of 2021, which is nearly twice the amount of Korean stocks that it has sold in the past two months. 


NPS Is Selling Big in Korea - Will This Lead to an Underperformance of KOSPI in 2021?

<p>Major global indexes (MSCI ACWI, ACWI ex-US, EM, and EAFE) continue to trend higher and are devoid of bearish inflections. Additionally, the US dollar (DXY) is likely headed lower, something we view as a positive risk-on signal for global equities. As a result, we remain bullish and we continue to recommend adding exposure on pullbacks.</p>

Major global indexes (MSCI ACWI, ACWI ex-US, EM, and EAFE) continue to trend higher and are devoid of bearish inflections. Additionally, the US dollar (DXY) is likely headed lower, something we view as a positive risk-on signal for global equities. As a result, we remain bullish and we continue to recommend adding exposure on pullbacks.

Japan Breaking Out; EM Remains Leadership

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One, Periscope Analytics

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Quantitative Analysis

<div><p>The Asia Short Interest weekly looks at moves in market wide short interest and highlights movements in stock specific short interest across Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan using the last available data published by the relevant authorities.</p></div><div><p>Hong Kong saw shorts rise on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/smoore-international" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28241:1" rel="noopener">Smoore International (6969 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26:1" rel="noopener">Tencent Holdings (700 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/jd-com-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29043:1" rel="noopener">JD.com (HK) (9618 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/haidilao-international-holding-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27044:1" rel="noopener">Haidilao (6862 HK)</a> while there was short covering on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ping-an-insurance-grp-co-of-china-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12880:1" rel="noopener">Ping An Insurance (H) (2318 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/semiconductor-manufacturing-international-corp-smic" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:14231:1" rel="noopener">Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) (981 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-mobile-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27:1" rel="noopener">China Mobile (941 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hsbc-holdings-plc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:516:1" rel="noopener">HSBC Holdings (5 HK)</a>. Shorts increased on Real Estate, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples and Materials, and decreased on Financials , Information Technology, Health Care and Communication Services.</p></div><div><p>In Japan, stocks that saw the most shorts were <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/itochu-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18448:1" rel="noopener">Itochu Corp (8001 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/trend-micro-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13172:1" rel="noopener">Trend Micro Inc (4704 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/seiko-epson-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:16793:1" rel="noopener">Seiko Epson (6724 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/bank-of-kyoto-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5248:1" rel="noopener">Bank Of Kyoto (8369 JP)</a> while shorts decreased on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/honda-motor-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:154:1" rel="noopener">Honda Motor (7267 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ana-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5308:1" rel="noopener">Ana Holdings (9202 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kao-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12933:1" rel="noopener">Kao Corp (4452 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kubota-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12926:1" rel="noopener">Kubota Corp (6326 JP)</a>. Sectorally, shorts increased on Information Technology and Financials, while decreasing on Consumer Discretionary,  Industrials, Consumer Staples and Real Estate.</p></div><div><p>In Korea, there were short positions put on in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/samsung-electronics-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:191:1" rel="noopener">Samsung Electronics (005930 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hyundai-motor-co" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:155:1" rel="noopener">Hyundai Motor Co (005380 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kakao-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15002:1" rel="noopener">Kakao Corp (035720 KS)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lg-display-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7145:1" rel="noopener">LG Display (034220 KS)</a> while shorts were covered in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/s-oil-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1667:1" rel="noopener">S Oil Corp (010950 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/mirae-asset-daewoo-co-ltd-b50c4d95-1687-46cb-9b58-f79ce0e72670" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12061:1" rel="noopener">Mirae Asset Daewoo (006800 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hanwha-life-insurance-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:2163:1" rel="noopener">Hanwha Life Insurance (088350 KS)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/doosan-infracore-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3982:1" rel="noopener">Doosan Infracore (042670 KS)</a>. </p></div><div><p>Stocks in Taiwan that saw the highest increase in shorts were <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/pegatron-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12852:1" rel="noopener">Pegatron Corp (4938 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/foxconn-technology-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:11950:1" rel="noopener">Foxconn Technology (2354 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/yageo-corporation" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13212:1" rel="noopener">Yageo Corporation (2327 TT)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/unimicron-technology-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18778:1" rel="noopener">Unimicron Technology (3037 TT)</a> while shorts were covered on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/united-microelectronics-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6450:1" rel="noopener">United Microelectronics Corp (2303 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/taiwan-semiconductor-manufacturing-company" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:11230:1" rel="noopener">TSMC (2330 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/evergreen-marine-corp-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15428:1" rel="noopener">Evergreen Marine Corp (2603 TT)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/delta-electronics-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12688:1" rel="noopener">Delta Electronics (2308 TT)</a>.</p></div>

The Asia Short Interest weekly looks at moves in market wide short interest and highlights movements in stock specific short interest across Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan using the last available data published by the relevant authorities.Hong Kong saw shorts rise on Smoore International (6969 HK), Tencent Holdings (700 HK), JD.com (HK) (9618 HK) and Haidilao (6862 HK) while there was short covering on Ping An Insurance (H) (2318 HK), Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) (981 HK), China Mobile (941 HK) and HSBC Holdings (5 HK). Shorts increased on Real Estate, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples and Materials, and decreased on Financials , Information Technology, Health Care and Communication Services.In Japan, stocks that saw the most shorts were Itochu Corp (8001 JP), Trend Micro Inc (4704 JP), Seiko Epson (6724 JP) and Bank Of Kyoto (8369 JP) while shorts decreased on Honda Motor (7267 JP), Ana Holdings (9202 JP), Kao Corp (4452 JP) and Kubota Corp (6326 JP). Sectorally, shorts increased on Information Technology and Financials, while decreasing on Consumer Discretionary,  Industrials, Consumer Staples and Real Estate.In Korea, there were short positions put on in Samsung Electronics (005930 KS), Hyundai Motor Co (005380 KS), Kakao Corp (035720 KS) and LG Display (034220 KS) while shorts were covered in S Oil Corp (010950 KS), Mirae Asset Daewoo (006800 KS), Hanwha Life Insurance (088350 KS) and Doosan Infracore (042670 KS). Stocks in Taiwan that saw the highest increase in shorts were Pegatron Corp (4938 TT), Foxconn Technology (2354 TT), Yageo Corporation (2327 TT) and Unimicron Technology (3037 TT) while shorts were covered on United Microelectronics Corp (2303 TT), TSMC (2330 TT), Evergreen Marine Corp (2603 TT) and Delta Electronics (2308 TT).

Asia Short Interest: Smoore, JD, SMIC, China Mobile, Itochu, Honda, Ana, Samsung, Pegatron, TSMC

South Korea

S-Oil Corporation refines crude oil and sells petroleum and its related products.  The Company mainly focuses on petroleum refining, petrochemical, and lubricant business. S-Oil's major products are gasoline, bunker oil, kerosene, naphtha, lubricants, benzene, toluene, and xylene.

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S Oil Corp (010950 KS)

KOSE (Long) Vs. HHI Holdings (Short) Pair Trade on Hyundai Oilbank IPO

Hyundai Oilbank has started the IPO process, likely acting as a discount factor on HHIH's share price. So, from a swing trade perspective, Long...

Sanghyun Park

Major Breakouts For WTI and Brent Crude Oil. Actionable Themes: Energy, Manufacturing, Autos/Parts

Today we highlight several positive developments that have occurred since last week’s Int’l Compass report, all of which continue to support our...

Vermilion Research

NPS Is Selling Big in Korea - Will This Lead to an Underperformance of KOSPI in 2021?

As of 28 February, NPS net sold KOSPI for 42 consecutive days. NPS could sell an additional 24 trillion won ($21.4 billion) worth of Korean stocks...

Douglas Kim

Japan Breaking Out; EM Remains Leadership

Major global indexes continue to trend higher and are devoid of bearish inflections. As a result, we remain bullish and we continue to recommend...

Vermilion Research

Asia Short Interest: Smoore, JD, SMIC, China Mobile, Itochu, Honda, Ana, Samsung, Pegatron, TSMC

The Insight looks at large short interest movements across HK, Japan, Korea and Taiwan stocks and highlights large increases/decreases in shorts to...

Brian Freitas

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