Cnooc

The Shanghai Composite is as close to a proxy for public firms in China as investors can get, and indexes are believed to reflect where markets think a nation's economy is headed. So what does it mean that, despite China's white-hot growth, the Shanghai Composite has been seriously lagging the S&P 500?

Given rising oil costs and China's rising position as an oil consumer, betting against Chinese oil companies is a seriously contrarian move. Here's why it may also be the right way to go.

Cnooc, China's most visible offshore oil producer, announced record-high net profits for 2010, helping to send Asian oil shares higher.

Asian markets rose Wednesday on news that Japan's economy may finally be bouncing back. Figures released yesterday show that machinery orders in Japan jumped 4.2% in January over December, sending the Nikkei up 0.6%. In Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index edged up 0.4% and China's Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1%.

Investors in Asia were quick to react to a report that China has canceled its last round of reserve ratio hikes, sending markets up on Tuesday. The Hang Seng rose 1.7% in Hong Kong, the Shanghai Composite inched up 0.1%, and in Japan the Nikkei 225 Index gained 0.2%.

Asian investors brushed aside worries over continuously rising Chinese inflation today, focusing instead on bargain shopping. Energy companies were a major attraction as oil prices surged. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 1.1% and China's Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.9%. In Japan the Nikkei 225 Index edged up 0.6%.

In Asia Friday the Nikkei 225 Index sank 1.1% to 10,360 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid 0.7% to 23,617. In China the Shanghai Composite Index inched up 0.1% to close at 2,753.

Asian markets plunged Thursday. In China the Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 2.9% to 2,678 and in Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index fell 1.7% to 24,004. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index lost 1.1% to end the day at 10,437.

CNOOC, China's top offshore oil producer, plans to buy one-third of Chesapeake Energy's oil and natural gas acreage in the Eagle Ford Shale project in South Texas for $1.08 billion in cash. The companies believe the deal will clear regulatory hurdles, even though CNOOC's efforts to buy a U.S. oil company five years ago were blocked.

Asia's major indexes rose Friday, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbing 1.6 percent to close at 21,830, Japan's Nikkei Index increasing 0.7 percent to end the day at 9,789 and China's Shanghai Composite Index adding 0.3 percent to settle at 3,164. Yet another successful IPO sent shares of...