Here’s Why These Five Stocks Are Trending Today

Chinese Regulator Announce More Consumer Friendly Rules

Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU) is slightly lower after China’s internet regulator issued new rules requiring ‘objective, fair and authoritative results’. The rules strongly suggest that internet search companies label paid ads and organic links separately, and also urge internet search providers to limit the total number of paid ads on any given page. Baidu has said the company will comply fully with the laws and regulations outlined by the regulator. Although Baidu has the lion’s share of the lucrative search market in China, the company needs to be in the good graces of the government for shareholders to do well. The number of funds tracked by us with holdings in Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU) rose by 17 quarter-over-quarter to 72 at the end of March.

BHP Billiton to Invest More in Exploration

Although commodity prices haven’t recovered strongly, BHP Billiton Limited (ADR) (NYSE:BHP) is nevertheless planning for the future. According to Reuters, the commodity giant is planning to raise its exploration spend by 29% for its next year and to dedicate almost all of the budget to finding new reserves of copper and crude oil. Although crude and copper prices are still substantially lower than two years ago, BHP’s management believes demand for the two commodities will remain robust enough to justify the additional investment. The added exploration spend could mean that the probability of BHP getting involved in a big M&A deal in the near future might be lower. A total of 12 funds from our database were long BHP Billiton Limited (ADR) (NYSE:BHP) at the end of the first quarter, up by two funds from the previous quarter.

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