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"We're seeing tremendous opportunities in China, which should move up regardless of U.S. market gyrations," says Richard Schmidt. In Stellar Stock Alert, he offers his current favorite China plays.

In addition, Jim Trippon, editor of The China Stock Alert, discusses the latest addition to his model portfolio, China's largest life insurance company -- and one with large exposure to Chinese equities.

And finally, fund expert Jim Lowell -- editor of Fidelity Investor -- says, "Investors should be buying Chinese stocks, Hong Kong real estate and Taiwanese technology." He offers some favorite funds for China region exposure.

"China is the world's biggest market for telecom services," notes Geoffrey Seiler, in an in-depth review of the leading Chinese telecom and wireless phone companies.

In his BullMarket.com, he looks at "China Mobile (NYSE: CHL), China Unicom (NYSE: CHU), and China Telecom (NYSE: CHA) noting,"There is still a lot of wireless growth potential in the world's most populated country. As such, we would expect all three to continue to grow for the foreseeable future."

Seiler explains, "China Mobile is the undisputed king of mobile from a subscriber base standpoint. Through the end of June, the company boasted 493 million subscribers. The company boasts 70% of the Chinese market.

U.S. stock markets are poised to rise today as more and more positive data convinces Wall Street that the economic recovery is for real.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq Composite Index and the S&P 500 Index were all indicated higher following a rally in overseas markets. Germany's Dax, France's CAC-40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 all posted strong gains. Japan's Nikkei 25 also rose while China's Hang Seng declined.

For those looking for silver linings, there are plenty to choose.

"One trend that we do know is already in place is China; not only is it growing, but it has a phenomenal amount of resources -- including its population," says Richard Schmidt.

In his Stellar Stock Alert., he states, "To increase our holdings of Chinese-based companies, we are now adding China Mobile Limited (NYSE: CHL) to our growth stock buy list."

"With one of the world's largest populations, China has all the human resources it needs to continue to expand.

"Inflationary fears and the desire to generate higher returns in non-dollar assets should boost BRIC stocks (Brazil, Russia, India and China)," says Chuck Carlson in his The DRIP Investor.

"Despite the run-up this year, BRIC stock markets are still reasonably valued. Russia, India, and Brazil all trade at price/earnings ratios similar to the U.S.

"And while China's stock market does trade at a premium to the U.S., China's economic growth will swamp that of the U.S. this year and for the foreseeable future.

As global markets improve, we are now seeing renewed interested in M&A. Interestingly enough, it looks like a $23 billion deal is brewing between cell phone operators Bharti Airtel Ltd. -- the largest in India -- and South Africa-based MTN Group Ltd., according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Actually, Bharti-MTN already tried to put a deal together -- about a year ago. But things fell apart based on factors like valuation and control.

Those surprised by the market's strength in recent weeks should be even more impressed with the rebound in China, where both their market and economy have proven among the most resilient in the world.

Global specialist Nicholas Vardy adds, "While the US markets are rising, Asian stocks are on fire." ETF expert Paul Tracy adds, "China funds have screamed to the top of the performance charts."

In large part, this strength is due to the country's stimulus program. Tracy points out, "To combat the sagging global economy, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao orchestrated a massive 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus package.

China Telecom (NYSE: CHA) is recently up $2.51 to $35.85. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will announce a stimulus package during his annual address to the nation's legislature on Thursday. CHA is a provider of wire line telecommunication services in China. CHA March option implied volatility is at 67; June is at 62; near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) is recently up $3.17 to $44.66. CHL over all option implied volatility of 58 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price fluctuations.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

A long-term developing trend in Asia, according to international investing expert Yiannis Mostrous, is a rise in domestic demand within their own economies.

In Personal Finance, he looks at one favorite sector that will benefit -- wireless phone services -- and highlights two of his top choices, Chunghwa Telecom (NYSE: CHT) and China Mobile (NYSE: CHL).

"The current crisis will lead to profound changes in the global financial system. Societies in developed economies will begin to save more, while people in developing nations will begin to spend, nurturing domestic demand economies.

"The Asian economies should be able to move even closer to their ultimate economic goal: domestic demand-led economies.

"These countries have realized that factory building and manufacturing to satisfy consumer needs in the developed world can't remain their primary growtth engine.

Analyst upgrades:

• Baird upgraded Starwood Hotels (NYSE: HOT), Host Hotels (NYSE: HST) and Marriott (NYSE: MAR) to Outperform from Neutral based on valuation and indications that negative sentiment has reached a bottom.
• Citigroup upgraded Torchmark (NYSE: TMK) to Buy from Hold as they find the valuation attractive and think management can grow earnings and book value in 2009/2010. Despite upgrading, the firm lowered their target price to $37 from $45.
• ASM International (NASDAQ: ASMI) was added to Goldman's Conviction Buy List.
• Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Live Nation (NYSE: LYV) was upgraded at Natixis to Buy from Hold.

With all the media buildup leading up to the Olympic Games in Beijing this past summer, just about everyone and their brother was bullish on the China/India emerging market theme.

"Chindia," as it was coined, was supposed to be the next great economic wonder.

The belief that these markets did not need American demand swept international investment circles. Forecasts of double-digit GDP growth continuing for the next several years became the mantra of emerging market funds, and Wall Street analysts got caught up in the commodity bubble, which burst a month before the Olympic torch was lit.

The widely held belief of global economists was that these two sleeping giant economies would lap America in a matter of a few years, as per all the economic extrapolations and white papers published leading up to the Summer Games.

Stocks like Baidu.com (NASDAQ: BIDU), China Mobil (NYSE: CHL), China Life (NYSE: LFC), Huaneng Power (NYSE: HNP), PetroChina (NYSE: PTR), Infosys (NASDAQ: INFY) and Reliance Industries (not listed) seemed bulletproof given the revenue and earnings models being floated by the Chindia bulls.

Analyst upgrades:

• UBS upgraded Safeway (NYSE:SWY) to Buy from Neutral based on valuation.
  
• AthroCare (NASDAQ:ARTC) was raised to Neutral from Negative at Susquehanna on valuation.
• BT Group (NYSE:BT) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.
  
• Leap Wireless (NASDAQ:LEAP) was upgraded at Goldman to Buy from Neutral.
  
• China Mobile (NYSE:CHL) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

Analyst downgrades:

• Jefferies downgraded shares of Albany Molecular (NASDAQ:AMRI) to Underperform from Hold on concerns regarding the company's exposure to small biopharma as their checks suggest biopharmaceutical companies that rely on the capital markets to fund operations are cutting back significantly on R&D projects. The firm lowered their target to $8 from $10.
• Baird downgraded Sirona Dental (NASDAQ:SIRO) to Neutral from Outperform and lowered their target to $15 from $21 due to lack of catalysts and better options in dental.
  
• Stephens cut Hub Group (NASDAQ:HUBG) to Equal Weight from Overweight on the expectation that weaker volumes will lead to pricing pressure. The firm lowered their target to $24 from $36.
• Teco Energy (NYSE:TE) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at KeyBanc.
  
• RF Micro Devices (NASDAQ:RFMD) was lowered to Underperform from Buy at Merrill Lynch.
  
• Energy Conversion (NASDAQ:ENER) was cut to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

On a day when many telecom stocks were hit with downgrades, China Mobile Limited (NYSE: CHL) distinguished itself this morning by scoring an upgrade. Goldman Sachs raised its rating on CHL from "sell" to "neutral," while simultaneously trimming the stock's price target from HK$95 to HK$90. The price-target cut echoes a similar move made by Citigroup on Sunday; the brokerage firm cut its target on CHL from HK$120 to HK$100.

In response to today's mixed analyst comment, CHL is down more than 7% at midday. The equity has shed about 42% year-to-date, and its lengthy decline could prompt additional price-target cuts during the short term. According to Thomson Financial, China Mobile shares are trading about 60% south of their average 12-month price target of USD $81.01.

Today's upgrade from Goldman comes as CHL is approaching former support at the $44 level. This region buoyed the stock in early 2007 and earlier this month, which suggests that it could once again provide a floor for the shares. Unfortunately, though, the stock is also looking up at stiff technical resistance from its 10-week moving average, which means China Mobile might find itself bouncing sideways in the weeks to come. Or -- even more troubling -- a continued drop in the share price could spark an unwinding of widespread optimistic sentiment.

While Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has had relatively smooth going in Europe introducing the iPhone, things are apparently less so in China (and Russia) where it is being reported: China Mobile to Buy Out iPhone in China.

The negotiations between China Mobile Ltd (NYSE: CHL) have led to many compromises on the part of Apple. To get the deal done it agreed to have no more sharing from toll revenues of cooperative carriers, and the Wi-Fi function of the multimedia smartphone is to be deleted.

Although it has been widely reported the Chinese anxiously want to sell iPhones to their hundreds of millions of potential customers -- something Apple has been vigorously pursuing -- it took several rounds of negotiations after which Apple got the short end of the stick.

Just one more company bending to the will of the Chinese. I wonder how long it will be before they reverse engineer the phone using Apple as another pawn in the game of technology transfer? I wonder if there is anything that should or can be done about it?

I'm sure after all is said and done Apple got the best deal it could. I just hope it works out as well as it envisioned.

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. Disclosure: I do not own shares of AAPL.

Analyst upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded BT Group (NYSE: BT) to Buy from Neutral on valuation and improved earnings visibility.
  
• Soleil upgraded shares of Jo Ann Stores (NYSE: JAS) to Buy from Hold following the company's Q2 upside surprise to reflect strong fundamentals and market share gains. The firm raised Jo Ann's target to $30 from $25.
  
• Amylin Pharma (NASDAQ: AMLN) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
  
• Energen (NYSE: EGN) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Analyst downgrades:

• Roth Capital downgraded shares of Warner Chilcott (NASDAQ: WCRX) to Hold from Buy pending patent clarity for the company's lead drug, Loestrin 24 for birth control. The firm lowered their target to $18 from $20.
• JP Morgan cut China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) to Underweight from Overweight as they believe increased competition may limit earnings growth.
  
• Cantor downgraded shares of Cell Genesys (NASDAQ: CEGE) to Hold from Buy following the termination of the VITAL-2 Phase III clinical trial. The firm also lowered their target to $2 from $10.
• Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) was lowered to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
  
• Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Lehman.
  
• Cinemark (NYSE: CNK) was downgraded at BMO Capital to Market Perform from Outperform.