Shorting U.S.-listed Chinese companies is so yesterday. That’s the opinion of some hedge fund managers who’ve made money and are struggling to place fresh bets.

　　做空赴美上市的中国公司已经过时。这是一些曾经赚到钱但再次做空遇到困难的对冲基金经理所持的观点。

　　Chinese firms listed in the U.S. have made headlines in recent months amid allegations of fraud and a clampdown by regulators. By the Securities and Exchange Commission’s account, more than two dozen Chinese firms listed in the U.S. in March and April alone announced auditor resignations or other major accounting travails.

　　因被指欺诈并受到监管机构整顿，赴美上市的中国公司在近几个月成为媒体关注的焦点。根据美国证券交易委员会(Securities and Exchange Commission)的说法，仅在3月份和4月份，就有20多家在美国上市的中国公司宣布审计机构退出或出现其他重大会计问题。

　　Hedge funds have been circling Chinese stocks they want to bet against and focusing on those which listed through a backdoor process known as a “reverse merger” or “reverse takeover” that requires them to disclose less information to investors than a traditional initial public offering.

　　Reuters/Sukree Sukplan投资银行Kerrisdale Capital Management LLC.的阿德朗吉说，这种情况一登上财经报纸头版，很多人马上就开始效仿，生意全都做不下去了。对冲基金一直逡巡于它们希望做空的中国概念股周围，并盯上了那些通过“反向并购”实现借壳上市的公司。相比进行传统的首次公开募股(IPO)，通过反向并购上市的公司按要求需要向投资者披露的信息更少。

　　“As soon as the story hits the front pages of the financial newspapers then a lot more people start piling in,” said Sahm Adrangi at Kerrisdale Capital Management LLC. “Every trade comes to an end.”

　　投资银行Kerrisdale Capital Management LLC.的阿德朗吉(Sahm Adrangi)说，这种情况一登上财经报纸头版，很多人马上就开始效仿，生意全都做不下去了。

　　According to a letter to Kerrisdale investors, the New York based investment firm gained 73% in the first quarter, net of fees, one of the best-performing hedge funds globally. Short bets on Chinese companies were a big reason for its success.

　　Kerrisdale致投资者信显示，一季度这家纽约投行除去管理费后实现了73%的收益，成为全球业绩最好的对冲基金之一。做空中国公司股票是它取得成功的一个重要原因。

　　However, “this trade’s becoming more crowded and the opportunity is not as exciting as it was six months ago,” he said.

　　但他说，做这种交易的人越来越多，现在的时机已经不像六个月以前那样激动人心。

　　John Hempton, chief investment officer at hedge fund Bronte Capital, based in a suburb of Sydney, Australia, agrees. He has about half of his short positions in Chinese stocks. In a letter to clients in May Bronte Capital said one of its accounts was up 65% in the year to date.

　　位于澳大利亚悉尼郊区的对冲基金Bronte Capital首席投资长汉普顿(John Hempton)也是这样认为。他一半左右的空头头寸都押在了中国公司股上面。Bronte Capital在5月份致信客户说，它的一个账户今年以来已增值65%。

　　“This year lots of frauds we have been aware of for some time have imploded. We have been working hard to find the next trade but the competition is much harder and the obvious frauds are already beaten up and have high short interest,” he said.

　　汉普顿说，我们在一段时间以前就已经知晓的很多欺诈行为已在今年败露；我们一直在努力寻找下一笔生意，但竞争已经比原来激烈得多，而明显的欺诈行为已经暴露无遗，并且相关股票的卖空比例已经很高。

　　In the past, he could quickly study the financial statements of a Chinese company, work out relatively quickly that something looked odd and short the stock. “That gig is up,” he said.

　　在过去，他可以快速地研究某家中国公司的财务报表，相对快地发现某些地方不对劲，然后做空该股。他说，这样的情况现在已经不复存在了。

　　Shorting Chinese stocks has always been tricky and demand has been growing fast in recent years. Hedge fund managers can’t sell stocks in China’s A-share market directly. Many have turned to selling Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong known as H-shares. However, even though the number of stocks available for shorting has grown rapidly since 2007, bankers servicing hedge funds say demand often outstrips supply.

　　做空中国股票一直不易，这方面的需求在最近几年也一直快速增长。对冲基金经理无法直接在中国A股市场出售股票，于是很多人改为出售在香港上市的中国股，也就是H股。不过，虽然2007年可用于做空的股票数量已经快速增加，但为对冲基金服务的银行人士说，需求常常超过了供给。

　　U.S.-listed Chinese stocks have generally been easier to short, but now that space is getting very crowded.

　　一般来讲，在美国上市的中国股更方便做空，但现在这个领域已经变得非常拥挤。

　　One prime brokerage banker said that hedge funds can only borrow stock to sell short in about 10% of Chinese companies that listed in the U.S. via a reverse takeover, due to supply constraints. Demand from hedge funds grew sharply in the first few months of the year. “Everything’s exhausted and dried up,” he said.

　　一位一级经纪行人士说，由于供应受限，通过反向收购在美国上市的中国公司中，只有大约10%的公司股票可以被对冲基金借去做空。今年头几个月对冲基金的需求大幅增加。他说，所有一切都一干二净。

　　In many such stocks, about 20% to 40% of the market capitalization is already out on loan to short sellers. In the case of one stock, Puda Coal Inc., 73% of the free float is out on loan, he said. Generally if the percentage on loan reaches double-digits that is widely considered significant short interest.

　　在很多这类股票当中，占各自公司市值20%到40%的股票都已经被借给了空头。他说，普大煤业(Puda Coal Inc.)73%的流通股都已经被借了出去。一般来讲，如果借出股票占比达到10%以上，那么该股就被认为存在很大的卖空比例。

　　Investors who want to short shares borrow the stock and then sell it, betting that the price of the shares will fall and that they can buy them back at a lower price, for return to the lender, usually a broker. In order to borrow the shares, the investors have to pay the owner a fee, normally an annualized percentage of the stock’s value.

　　想要做空股票的投资者会借入股票并卖出，押注股价将会下跌，然后就可以用更低的价格把这些股票买回来还给出借方。出借方常常是一家经纪行。为借入股票，投资者要向股票所有人支付一笔费用，这笔费用通常是这批股票价值的一个年化比例。

　　The cost of borrowing the stock to sell short is unusually high right now. In the case of China Agritech Inc. and China-Biotics, Inc., for example, a hedge fund would have to pay 99% of the annualized value of the shares ─ making it essential that the shares fall precipitously for the borrower to end up with a decent profit.

　　借入股票用以做空的成本目前高得反常。比如对于艾瑞泰克(China Agritech Inc.)和双金生物(China-Biotics, Inc.)，投资者要付出相当于所借股票年化价值99%的费用，这意味着只有当这些股票的价格笔直下跌时，投资者最后才能获得一笔可观的利润。

　　Maybe hedge funds need to stop seeking safety in numbers and research new ideas.

　　或许对冲基金不应该继续在数字中寻找安全感，而应该研究新的点子出来。