When the market is tough, one of the safest places to look is in areas the government policy-makers favor. That time is now and — according to Tanrich Securities Vice President of Sales, Jackson Wong – one of those sectors is shale gas and gas production.

Chinese authorities want to boost production of shale gas because the country has a voracious appetite for more energy and a critical air pollution problem that can be partly addressed with relatively clean-burning gas.

Anton Oilfield (ATONY) is one of my favorite(s), because it just announced … terrific earnings, which earned almost three times as much in 2012,” Wong said in an email. ”With Schlumberger (SLB) own(ing) a 20% stake, I expect Anton can borrow some of the technologies from it and will shine in the shale gas industry this year.”

The gas field development company is one of a relative handful that might be worth buying at this time. With the market already slumping last week on worries of Chinese central bank tightening, a flare-up In the Euro-debt crisis helped knock a further 2.0% off the Hang Seng Index Monday in Hong Kong. The Hang Seng finished just above the 22,000 support level at 22, 083. The index of Chinese companies plunged 2.05% to 10,795. End

DAILY FIX

Hong Kong Blue Chips: -450, -2.0%, to 22,083, 3-18-13, Hang Seng Index

Chinese Stocks in Hong Kong: -226, -2.05%, to 10,795, 3-18-13, HSCE Index

Shanghai Stocks: -38, -1.7%, to 2,240, 3-18-13, Shanghai Composite Index.

Chinese Stocks in the U.S.: -3.5, 369.4, 3-15-13, Bank of New York Mellon, ADR Index-China

Insight: Hong Kong posted a sharp drop as troubles in Cyprus stirred up the European debt crisis. Chinese cement producers plunged due to worries they were using untreated sea sand in production: China Resources Cement (CARCY) -7.3%. KGI Research

Quotable: “Looking ahead, the upcoming earnings announcements of other big caps such as China Construction Bank (CICHY, 3-22-13), PetroChina (PTR, 3-21-13), Sinopec (SHI, 3-22-13), China Telecom (CHA, 3-20-13), China Unicom (CHU, 3-21-13), Tencent (TCEHY, 3-20-13) and China Shenhua (CSUAY, 3-22-13)should continue to be closely scrutinized by investors next week. Lingering worries over correction in Mainland stock markets will continue weighing on sentiment, and the critical support level for the key index is likely to be 22,300.” BEA Securities. 3-18-13

Chinese Company to Watch: “Overall, we are strongly optimistic about the prospect of China Gas’s natural gas business, and its share price has been far beyond our previous target price…., the favorable trend in the middle and long-term may continuously exist.” Phillip Securities. 3-18-13

Brokerages and analysts cited here have disclaimers on their websites emphasizing their statements are for information only. They do not endorse my blog, and I don’t endorse them.

For a list of Chinese companies sold in the U.S. and information on each company go to http://www.adrbnymellon.com/dr_country_profile.jsp?country=CN