Guess I Can Forget about Alibaba

All my efforts were wasted as November 6th came and went and my money is still sitting in my E-Trade account.

Last night I logged into my account and tried to see if I could buy 1688.HK when the stock was at HK$29.90 though I knew it was almost impossible because of the rule. And indeed I got an error saying the stock isn’t available at this time, no 40-day period was mentioned, but I was certain that’s the reason.

Then the stock surged to close its first trading day at HK$39.50, making Alibaba.com the second largest internet company in Asia, only after Yahoo Japan (Bloomberg.com). At 155 times 2008 earning estimate, Alibaba’s share price could fell in the coming days (currently at HK$35.35 in Hong Kong trading), but what will happen after the 40-day waiting period is over is anybody’s guess. In the long term, however, investors buy this stock for its growth potentials (the company indicated that proceeds from the IPO will be used for expand the company’s user base). Another high-flying Chinese internet stock, Baidu.com (BIDU) is currently traded at nearly 200 times of forward earning estimate.

Let me see if I can afford some on December 17th. I am not very optimistic though.

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