Governments around the world treat health infections differently and what is good in one country is not so good in another. In the US, information is relative free flowing and it is possible to receive information from the government to learn what the government is thinking. In China and other countries, they try to limit the information flowing when things are not going as well as expected. Then you need other methods to verify what the government is doing or not doing.

In an article from Reuters, one of Apple’s suppliers in the Quanta Shanghai Manufacturing City is having problems delivering on the goods needed by Apple. The reason, the government of China locked down the City of Shanghai over COVID concerns. If you wish to you can watch the containers being loaded to ships on You Tube – the scale is very large and impressive. When the city is locked down, the container ships are not being loaded which means supply issues will be a topic in the near future. It is not surprising China’s retail and factory activity fell 2.9% (for years China had shown growth and often in the double digits). Recent reports suggest China will open up Shanghai on June 1.

Shanghai has over 25 million people and China has locked down another 35 million people over the spread of COVID. The Quanta plant puts together abut 3/4’s of Apple’s global MacBook production and manufacturers computer circuit boards for Tesla.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, information is important and the expectation for dividend paying companies, they will file information on a timely basis. The deadlines for regulatory bodies will be met and information will be in the financial press. If that does not happen, it is time to seek alternatives very quickly.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.