Thursday, December 29, 2011

5 Digit Domains Stop Dropping

Or at least are dropping much less frequently.

Here is the updated graph showing average daily drops during the past 7 months (with complete numbers for December now).

Online Graphing
Graph maker
Average daily drops plummeted in December to 35.8 per day.  We were used to seeing regular days with 50-60 NNNNN.com's dropping each day, and now those days are exceedingly rare.   Interestingly, the number of NNNNN.com's dropping appears to now be consistently lower than or equal to the daily drops of LLLL.com's (four letter domains).  Between now and January 1st, for example, 170 five digit domains will drop, while 177 four letter domains will drop.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Closer Look at NNNN.com Prices

I've assembled a database of nearly 300 NNNN.com sales and thought it would be interesting to look at the numbers in more detail, by year and starting number, to get a basic sense of how starting number impacts price and how this has changed.  I grouped domains into two categories (sales in 2009 and earlier, and sales in 2010 and 2011).

Starting with a "0". 
< 2010 Sales (14): Median Sale Price: $510.  Average Sale Price: $619.
2010+ Sales (7): Median Sale Price: $950.  Average Sale Price: $1,025.

Starting with a "1"
< 2010 Sales (11): Median Sale Price: $1,037.  Average Sale Price: $1,372.
2010+ Sales (7): Median Sale Price: $2,078.  Average Sale Price: $3,377.

Starting with a "2"
< 2010 Sales (18): Median Sale Price: $508.  Average Sale Price: $1,244.
2010+ Sales (21): Median Sale Price: $1,500.  Average Sale Price: $2,607.

NNNNN's Buyout Sticking, Daily Drops Falling

NNNNN.com's have been all registered for a couple months now (since the beginning of October).  The drops get picked up regularly, and the number of daily drops has fallen since the buyout.

In the third quarter of 2011, there were 54.8 drops per day on average.  In the fourth quarter so far, there have been 46.2 drops per day (and only 40.1 so far in December).

Here is a graph showing the daily drops by month:

Online Graphing
Graphing

Not surprisingly, the fall in daily drops coincided with the buyout.  As demand is increasing for numeric domains, supply is tightening, and that makes holders more likely to renew their domains. 

The average number of daily drops is nearing the raw number of LLLL.com's that drop on a daily basis.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Several Months of 4.cn Auction Results

Been a little lazy providing sales results from 4.cn over the past couple months so here is a huge report of auction results dating back to late September, 2011.  As we have seen in prior months, five and six digit domains are increasingly showing up in the higher dollar sales figures.  The auction results are organized in descending order of final price, although I don't check if reserve was met, only what the final bid was.

Notable sales include 10000.com.cn for $10,200, 98888.com for $4,575, 66668.com for $3,283, 10050.cn for $2,460, and 777888.com for $1,620.  The high prices for the five digit .cn's are interesting, and warrant a check into what percentage of these domains are registered. 

886.com     ¥ 688,888.00    $103,333
838.com     ¥ 302,000.00    $45,300
505.com     ¥ 267,666.00    $40,150
798.com     ¥ 260,000.00    $39,000
77.com.cn     ¥ 79,000.00    $11,850
10000.com.cn     ¥ 68,000.00    $10,200
57.net     ¥ 63,888.00    $9,583
2777.com     ¥ 60,002.00    $9,000
83.net     ¥ 58,888.00    $8,833
92.net     ¥ 58,888.00    $8,833
300.com.cn     ¥ 58,000.00    $8,700
8288.com     ¥ 51,000.00    $7,650
53.net     ¥ 51,000.00    $7,650
4393.com     ¥ 50,000.00    $7,500
991.cn     ¥ 38,000.00    $5,700
5995.com     ¥ 35,000.00    $5,250
0880.com     ¥ 35,000.00    $5,250
599.cn     ¥ 34,500.00    $5,175
4288.com     ¥ 31,000.00    $4,650
98888.com     ¥ 30,500.00    $4,575
5880.com     ¥ 29,999.00    $4,500
8618.com     ¥ 28,500.00    $4,275
188.cc     ¥ 28,500.00    $4,275
0431.com.cn     ¥ 25,988.00    $3,898
66668.com     ¥ 21,888.00    $3,283
30.cc     ¥ 20,530.00    $3,080
10050.cn     ¥ 16,400.00    $2,460
835.cn     ¥ 15,300.00    $2,295
9871.com     ¥ 12,002.00    $1,800
777888.com     ¥ 10,800.00    $1,620
7229.com     ¥ 10,001.00    $1,500
89999.com     ¥ 9,999.00    $1,500
2266.net     ¥ 9,900.00    $1,485
799.net     ¥ 8,400.00    $1,260
6344.com     ¥ 7,800.00    $1,170
8531.com     ¥ 7,705.00    $1,156
7260.com     ¥ 7,700.00    $1,155
7352.com     ¥ 7,600.00    $1,140
6513.com     ¥ 7,600.00    $1,140
6793.com     ¥ 7,600.00    $1,140
0679.com     ¥ 7,500.00    $1,125
9603.com     ¥ 7,402.00    $1,110
4148.com     ¥ 7,400.00    $1,110
555666.com     ¥ 7,400.00    $1,110
532.net     ¥ 7,300.00    $1,095
7159.com     ¥ 7,200.00    $1,080
6203.com     ¥ 7,200.00    $1,080
3590.com     ¥ 7,108.00    $1,066
3296.com     ¥ 7,100.00    $1,065
8730.com     ¥ 7,099.00    $1,065
6951.com     ¥ 6,902.00    $1,035
0651.com     ¥ 6,900.00    $1,035
6325.com     ¥ 6,900.00    $1,035
7920.com     ¥ 6,800.00    $1,020
4475.com     ¥ 6,700.00    $1,005
36666.com     ¥ 6,600.00    $990
9420.com     ¥ 6,300.00    $945
4264.com     ¥ 6,000.00    $900
7498.com     ¥ 5,500.00    $825
5884.com     ¥ 5,400.00    $810
12120.com     ¥ 5,200.00    $780
8463.com     ¥ 4,900.00    $735
37777.com     ¥ 4,600.00    $690
88884.com     ¥ 4,600.00    $690
88866.com     ¥ 4,500.00    $675
4264.com     ¥ 4,500.00    $675
3462.com     ¥ 4,500.00    $675
0254.com     ¥ 4,400.00    $660
199.cc     ¥ 4,301.00    $645
4891.com     ¥ 4,300.00    $645
4357.com     ¥ 4,300.00    $645
4973.com     ¥ 4,200.00    $630
0274.com     ¥ 4,200.00    $630
222888.com     ¥ 4,100.00    $615
007007.com     ¥ 4,100.00    $615
5964.com     ¥ 4,100.00    $615
8346.com     ¥ 3,902.00    $585
26688.com     ¥ 3,901.00    $585
999555.com     ¥ 3,550.00    $533
39333.com     ¥ 3,500.00    $525
49999.com     ¥ 3,321.00    $498
99966.com     ¥ 3,200.00    $480
66633.com     ¥ 3,100.00    $465
459.net     ¥ 3,100.00    $465
788788.com     ¥ 3,000.00    $450
481.net     ¥ 3,000.00    $450
888555.com     ¥ 2,888.00    $433
99955.com     ¥ 2,601.00    $390
98111.com     ¥ 2,600.00    $390
47777.com     ¥ 2,600.00    $390
77733.com     ¥ 2,401.00    $360
444666.com     ¥ 2,200.00    $330
888111.com     ¥ 2,120.00    $318
0912.com.cn     ¥ 2,101.00    $315
555000.com     ¥ 2,100.00    $315
572.com.cn     ¥ 2,100.00    $315
962.com.cn     ¥ 2,100.00    $315
813.com.cn     ¥ 2,000.00    $300
777000.com     ¥ 1,950.00    $293
888333.com     ¥ 1,901.00    $285
97666.com     ¥ 1,800.00    $270
459.com.cn     ¥ 1,650.00    $248
967.com.cn     ¥ 1,638.00    $246
999222.com     ¥ 1,550.00    $233
222777.com     ¥ 1,550.00    $233
222999.com     ¥ 1,550.00    $233
9568.cn     ¥ 1,550.00    $233
4567.cc     ¥ 1,500.00    $225
99969.com     ¥ 1,300.00    $195
222000.com     ¥ 1,250.00    $188
069.com.cn     ¥ 1,150.00    $173
10222.com     ¥ 1,100.00    $165
88686.com     ¥ 1,100.00    $165
47666.com     ¥ 1,050.00    $158
0061.net     ¥ 1,015.00    $152
777222.com     ¥ 1,000.00    $150
888885.com     ¥ 1,000.00    $150
0514.org     ¥ 1,000.00    $150
108888.com     ¥ 960.00    $144
123333.com     ¥ 840.00    $126
963.co     ¥ 820.00    $123
37377.com     ¥ 760.00    $114
11171.com     ¥ 750.00    $113
2435.cn     ¥ 660.00    $99
84777.com     ¥ 620.00    $93
2665.net     ¥ 602.00    $90
2353.net     ¥ 601.00    $90
77717.com     ¥ 600.00    $90
000008.com     ¥ 561.00    $84
9663.net     ¥ 541.00    $81
029.me     ¥ 540.00    $81
8883888.com     ¥ 520.00    $78
473.cc     ¥ 520.00    $78
15700.com     ¥ 500.00    $75
88636.com     ¥ 500.00    $75
7750.net     ¥ 500.00    $75
2363.net     ¥ 500.00    $75
5528.net     ¥ 500.00    $75
023.us     ¥ 500.00    $75
171717.com.cn     ¥ 480.00    $72
19599.com     ¥ 480.00    $72
310.mobi     ¥ 480.00    $72
64777.com     ¥ 460.00    $69
648.cc     ¥ 420.00    $63
5338.net     ¥ 402.00    $60
74666.com     ¥ 400.00    $60
12001.com     ¥ 380.00    $57
75557.com     ¥ 380.00    $57
5591.net     ¥ 370.00    $56
61818.com     ¥ 360.00    $54
3787.net     ¥ 360.00    $54
3007.net     ¥ 360.00    $54
9817.net     ¥ 340.00    $51
0869.net     ¥ 340.00    $51
7039.cn     ¥ 322.00    $48
99226.com     ¥ 320.00    $48
68699.com     ¥ 320.00    $48
48848.com     ¥ 320.00    $48
6397.net     ¥ 320.00    $48
8294.net     ¥ 320.00    $48
163.cx     ¥ 320.00    $48
39390.com     ¥ 308.00    $46
181181.com     ¥ 300.00    $45
85857.com     ¥ 280.00    $42
882299.com     ¥ 270.00    $41
8886888.com     ¥ 260.00    $39
772200.com     ¥ 260.00    $39
395395.com     ¥ 260.00    $39
378378.com     ¥ 260.00    $39
68086.com     ¥ 260.00    $39
77753.com     ¥ 260.00    $39
1860.cc     ¥ 260.00    $39
2646.cn     ¥ 242.00    $36
790790.com     ¥ 240.00    $36
355355.com     ¥ 240.00    $36
993993.com     ¥ 240.00    $36
663311.com     ¥ 240.00    $36
332255.com     ¥ 240.00    $36
223223.com     ¥ 240.00    $36
154321.com     ¥ 240.00    $36
595595.com     ¥ 240.00    $36
03322.com     ¥ 240.00    $36
55503.com     ¥ 240.00    $36
16177.com     ¥ 240.00    $36
6542.net     ¥ 240.00    $36
1945.com.cn     ¥ 240.00    $36
2389.net     ¥ 240.00    $36
4427.net     ¥ 240.00    $36
890890.com     ¥ 220.00    $33
553553.com     ¥ 220.00    $33
187654.com     ¥ 220.00    $33
778833.com     ¥ 220.00    $33
232232.com     ¥ 220.00    $33
509509.com     ¥ 220.00    $33
273273.com     ¥ 220.00    $33
389389.com     ¥ 220.00    $33
737737.com     ¥ 220.00    $33
69994.com     ¥ 220.00    $33
00008.net     ¥ 220.00    $33
18770.com     ¥ 220.00    $33
41841.com     ¥ 220.00    $33
76787.com     ¥ 220.00    $33
4218.net     ¥ 220.00    $33
1349.net     ¥ 220.00    $33
8881.cc     ¥ 220.00    $33
1483.net     ¥ 220.00    $33
163.mx     ¥ 220.00    $33
800005.com     ¥ 200.00    $30
298298.net     ¥ 200.00    $30
670670.com     ¥ 200.00    $30
980098.com     ¥ 200.00    $30
229977.com     ¥ 200.00    $30
772233.com     ¥ 200.00    $30
771166.com     ¥ 200.00    $30
666868.com     ¥ 200.00    $30
888989.com     ¥ 200.00    $30
886686.com     ¥ 200.00    $30
863171.cn     ¥ 200.00    $30
606606.com     ¥ 200.00    $30
05385.com     ¥ 200.00    $30
55540.com     ¥ 200.00    $30
83831.com     ¥ 200.00    $30
85888.cn     ¥ 200.00    $30
9090.biz     ¥ 200.00    $30
3700.com.cn     ¥ 200.00    $30
0008.cc     ¥ 200.00    $30
4698.net     ¥ 200.00    $30
5995.com.cn     ¥ 200.00    $30
0564.so     ¥ 200.00    $30
3158.so     ¥ 200.00    $30
4399.so     ¥ 200.00    $30
7954.cn     ¥ 182.00    $27
7049.cn     ¥ 180.00    $27
86268.com     ¥ 150.00    $23
257257.com     ¥ 130.00    $20
176666.com     ¥ 120.00    $18
319319.com     ¥ 110.00    $17
957957.com     ¥ 110.00    $17
331144.com     ¥ 110.00    $17
615615.com     ¥ 100.00    $15
606606.com     ¥ 100.00    $15
20302.com     ¥ 90.00    $14
509509.com     ¥ 80.00    $12
19391.com     ¥ 80.00    $12
19765.com     ¥ 80.00    $12
698698.com     ¥ 70.00    $11
837837.com     ¥ 70.00    $11
212212.com     ¥ 70.00    $11
082082.com     ¥ 70.00    $11
888860.com     ¥ 70.00    $11
00552.com     ¥ 70.00    $11
16299.com     ¥ 70.00    $11
761761.com     ¥ 60.00    $9
187654.com     ¥ 60.00    $9
86085.com     ¥ 60.00    $9
8832.co     ¥ 60.00    $9
8831.co     ¥ 60.00    $9
6698.co     ¥ 60.00    $9
6889.co     ¥ 60.00    $9

Monday, November 14, 2011

Recent Sales of 5 Digit Domains on 4.cn

This list covers sales from the last month and a half and lists auction results in yuan and $USD.  I do not check if the domain sold, only report the final price listed on 4.cn.

There was $26,760 in total auction volume, with an average sale price of $637.15.  The median sale price was $39.  it should be noted that the list includes some .nets and some .cn's, etc.

It certainly appears that volume and price are starting to tick up now that these domains have been bought out for over a month.   

55503.com     ¥ 240.00    $36
00552.com     ¥ 70.00    $11
11171.com     ¥ 750.00    $113
66668.com     ¥ 21,888.00    $3,283
10050.cn     ¥ 16,400.00    $2,460
10000.com.cn     ¥ 68,000.00    $10,200
98888.com     ¥ 30,500.00    $4,575
05385.com     ¥ 200.00    $30
37777.com     ¥ 4,600.00    $690
47666.com     ¥ 1,050.00    $158
74666.com     ¥ 400.00    $60
00008.net     ¥ 220.00    $33
88884.com     ¥ 4,600.00    $690
86085.com     ¥ 60.00    $9
77717.com     ¥ 600.00    $90
86268.com     ¥ 150.00    $23
61818.com     ¥ 360.00    $54
98111.com     ¥ 2,600.00    $390
99955.com     ¥ 2,601.00    $390
55540.com     ¥ 200.00    $30
16299.com     ¥ 70.00    $11
88636.com     ¥ 500.00    $75
85857.com     ¥ 280.00    $42
68699.com     ¥ 320.00    $48
12001.com     ¥ 380.00    $57
84777.com     ¥ 620.00    $93
18770.com     ¥ 220.00    $33
97666.com     ¥ 1,800.00    $270
83831.com     ¥ 200.00    $30
64777.com     ¥ 460.00    $69
47777.com     ¥ 2,600.00    $390
77733.com     ¥ 2,401.00    $360
41841.com     ¥ 220.00    $33
99969.com     ¥ 1,300.00    $195
76787.com     ¥ 220.00    $33
49999.com     ¥ 3,321.00    $498
16177.com     ¥ 240.00    $36
36666.com     ¥ 6,600.00    $990
75557.com     ¥ 380.00    $57
48848.com     ¥ 320.00    $48
77753.com     ¥ 260.00    $39
85888.cn     ¥ 200.00    $30

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Five Digit Domains Remain All Sold Out

On October 3, 2011, we noted that NNNNN.com domains (five digit .com domains) were all sold out.

A month later, they remain all bought out.

Unlike the buyout in February 2008, this one did not happen in a frenzy of registration, where 20,000 domains disappeared over the course of one month.  Rather, the registration rate has been around 10-15/day for the last two years, representing a steady accumulation of these domains and an increase in long-term holders (domains registered for longer than one year).

At this point there are only about 30% of the domains that are on 1-year registration, this figure has been steadily dropping 10% each year for the last 7 years.  It is likely that if the buyout sticks it will drop even more, and by this time next year only 10-15% of the domains will be on 1-year registration, if that many.

Prices are increasing as well, as well as volume of sales, for those who have been following 4.cn.  For example, 37777.com sold for 4600 RMB last week, or $724 USD.  47666.com sold for 1500 RMB, or $236 USD.


So far the buyout has stuck for a month.  Will it last?  Stay tuned.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

NNNNN.com Buyout Update

NNNNN.com domains (five digit .com domains) remain all bought out.  The buyout has held for nearly a month.

What's more, supply is tightening as well.  The number of daily drops has fallen off a cliff, in the five days from October 24th to October 28th,  only 107 domains will drop, which represents an average drop rate of around 21 domains per day.  This compares to an average drop rate over the past few months of more than 60 per day. 

With such a small drop rate the buyout is certainly sustainable.  It remains to be seen whether the drop rate will stay this low.  To put the numbers in perspective, the number of LLLL.com's dropping over the same 5-day time period will be 149. 

However, it is likely that even if the drop rate does not stay this low, supply will continue to tighten compared to historical averages.  There have been several hundred auction sales of NNNNN.com domains this year, mostly on Chinese auction sites like 4.cn, and the average sale price is well over $100.

Continued growth of the Chinese internet, strong sales of the domains, tightening supply, and a buyout that has been foreseeable since summer has probably convinced many holders to renew their domains.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

A Tale of Two Buyouts

NNNNN.com's remain all bought since October 3rd.   This is the longest they have remained bought out since the frenzy in early 2008, although this time the market seems much stronger for reasons we have chronicled in previous posts. 

To try to figure out if the buyout can stick this time it is useful to look at that other big domain buyout of recent times that has stuck, the LLLL.com buyout in late 2007.  A couple months after being bought out these domains experienced significant price appreciation, which anyone who was involved in the domain market back then will surely remember.

I thought it would be interesting to go back in time and research how many LLLL.com's were dropping on average on a daily basis before the buyout.  Because, for the buyout to stick, this number of domains had to be accounted for on a daily basis even after the last available LLLL was registered.  So there needed to be enough buying support to "cover" the daily drops so to speak.

Here is a graph showing the average daily drops from Q3 2007 for LLLL.com's, compared with the average daily drops from Q3 2011 for NNNNN.com's.

Online Graphing
Create a graph

There are about 20 fewer NNNN.com drops per day than LLLL.com's were dropping around the same time in 2007.  This is 20 fewer domains that need to be "covered" on a daily basis for the buyout to stick.  The NNNNN.com buyout seems definitely doable at this point.

One could argue that the numbers actually suggest the opposite, that since there are about 4.5x more LLLL.com's than there are NNNNN.com's in total, so the number dropping could suggest that there are currently too many drops relative to the total size of the market for NNNNN's.  But this seems like an incorrect way of looking at the situation, since the total number of NNNNN.com's is not really relevant to the question at hand, which is: is there enough buying support to cover all of the daily drops.  The percentage of total domains dropping seems less relevant than the actual number, especially when we are dealing with such small percentages of the total domains anyways. Over the next weeks and months we will see whether the buyout will stick.  My guess is it will.

Monday, October 3, 2011

As Markets Crash, Numeric Domains Disappear

Anyone watching the markets these days ($SPY $QQQ $IWM) can see that things are bad, and probably going to get a lot worse.  With bonds, precious metals, commodities, and stocks all looking like bad investments at these levels, there seems to be very few places worth putting money.  $SPY looks poised to break $110 for a trip down to $100 and then possibly much lower.  Bonds ($TLT) are doing well but how much further do they have to go?  Europe is falling apart, and precious metals provide some hedge against currency debasement and global unrest ($SLV $GLD) but are very expensive at these levels and prone to mass liquidations like we saw over the last few weeks.  Are there any alternative investments that make sense right now?

Yes.  My personal preference is numeric domain names, because China is driving the demand for these pieces of internet real estate.  As we have profiled before, Chinese registrars are booming, and numeric domains which are popular in China are in the early stages of a huge bull market.  There simply aren't that many of these domains available, only 10,000 four digit .com domains exist and only 100,000 5 digit domains, all of which are registered as of this morning.  There are a million six digit .com combinations, and there seem to be more than 100,000 of these domains registered already as well, with the nicer ones commanding high prices every day in auctions at 4.cn, the premier Chinese domain auction site.

This is a tiny market, and supply is drying up.  Five digit .com domains have been teetering near a buyout for months, and are currently bought out as of today.  If the buyout sticks, prices will likely rise, and six digit domains will be the next battlefield for registrations.  With total .com domain registrations approaching 100 million, it is very likely that over the next decade these domains will all disappear as well.  While everything else in the market may be crashing, numeric domains look likely to significantly outperform over the next several years.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Numeric Domains Auction Results from 4.cn

Another week of strong numerics auction results over at 4.cn.

Some interesting things in this weeks results, first one is lots of 6 digit sales.  Sales of these domains really seems to be heating up.  Another thing to note is sky-high prices for NNNNN.com's with repeating digits.  84555.com has only three repeating digits and a "4" and it went for over $100, and AABBB pattern domains went for $495 and $615.  Another thing to note is that volume of five-digit and six-digit domains is starting to surpass NNNN.com's, which is not surprising given that the supply is much higher, but is a new trend, showing that buyers are likely finding it harder to acquire NNNN.com's and are turning their attention to longer number domains.

Here are the results:

8940.net    RMB¥220    $33
84555.com    RMB¥700    $105
33111.com    RMB¥3,300    $495
33222.com    RMB¥4,100    $615
4288.com    RMB¥49,500    $7,425
19.net    RMB¥65,000    $9,750
462.com.cn    RMB¥1,002    $150
071.com.cn    RMB¥1,460    $219
3367.net    RMB¥580    $87
3371.net    RMB¥440    $66
3775.net    RMB¥352    $53
887799.com    RMB¥440    $66
951951.com    RMB¥220    $33
656656.com    RMB¥220    $33
525525.com    RMB¥220    $33
826826.com    RMB¥220    $33
345678.com.cn    RMB¥540    $81
7111.com    RMB¥37,501    $5,625
871.cc    RMB¥660    $99
712.cc    RMB¥660    $99
376.cc    RMB¥660    $99
4287.com    RMB¥4,340    $651
3590.com    RMB¥7,600    $1,140
4367.com    RMB¥5,700    $855
995.cc    RMB¥1,150    $173
552.cc    RMB¥1,150    $173
633.cc    RMB¥1,150    $173
4830.NET    RMB¥200    $30
3025.NET    RMB¥302    $47
2589.NET    RMB¥240    $37
025025.com    RMB¥540    $81

Monday, September 12, 2011

97 Million .com Domains Registered!

As we keep the countdown flame going on the way to 100 million .com domains, yet another milestone has been reached.  As it currently stands, 97,086,942 domains are currently registered.  This represents an average registration increase of 16,675 per day since we last checked on August 29th.

Where is the continued growth coming from?  A lot of it is from China.

Here is a graph showing .com domain registration at two of China's top registrars, xinnetdns.com and hichina.com, over the last eight years:

Online Graphing
Graph maker

Internet penetration is still in its early stages in China, so there is a lot more room for growth in  Chinese .com registration, and especially in numeric domains, which are very popular in China.  The current near-buyout of five-digit .com domains (NNNNN.com's) and fast-increasing prices for four digit domains, which now fetch around $700-$1,000 per domain as a minimum, are an indication of what the future holds.

For those that have made investments or are considering investments in Chinese real estate ($TAO, $EJ, $CHLN, $XIN), you might consider an investment in "virtual" Chinese real estate to augment your portfolio.   Numeric domains rank high in the Alexa top Chinese websites, and Chinese internet users often prefer numbers to letters because of their cultural significance and their unfamiliarity with western characters.  And numeric domains are in short supply.  There are only 10,000 four digit .com domains, which are all registered, 100,000 five digit .com domains, which are more than 99.9% registered, and a million six digit .com domains, which, surprisingly enough, a significant chunk of are registered and some already sell for inflated prices.  This is the future of domain investing.