Mao Zedong was once asked whether he thought the French...

Mao Zedong was once asked whether he thought the French Revolution was a good or bad thing... his response was it 'is too early to tell'.

Here lies the difference in mindsets about time-frames between the east and west, and also give you an insight into the Chinese attitude to investing.

They don't look at the next 3 months, or 6, or 12. They understand the value of securing mineral resources for the longer term.

So whilst the West has a fire sale of its assets, the cashed up Chinese quietly acquire bargains, as in the case of Perilya.

Investors in the West, (Buffett excluded), could take a leaf out of the Chinese book, and consider valuing companies beyond the commodity prices of the minute...

Doing so, you get a completely different value for companies like Perilya.

So whilst commodity prices have collapsed (at the minute), the market values PEM at less than 20 cents per share. Less than 3 years ago, the same company was trading at over $5.50.

Perilya's assets are not, and never were, worth $5.50. But the chinese understand they are also worth a lot more than 23 cents per share.