February 2012 (Chinavestor) Many of you may recall our carefully optimistic view of the current year. We argued that bull markets climb a wall of worry and as such investors should be on a lookout. As it turned out, January was one for the record books. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) advanced 3.4% for the month, marking its best January rally in the last 15 years. And if investors liked such an unusual January, how about a 4.2% advance for the Shanghai Composite Index (SHA:000001) or a staggering 10.6% surge for the Hang Seng Index (INDEXHANGSENG:.HSI)? Chinavestor compiled China ADR Index, measuring the performance of Chinese stocks listed in US exchanges, advanced 5.8% for the month.

Chinese technology stocks soared, led by Sina Corp. (NASDAQ:SINA) and solar names like Suntech Power (NYSE:STP). But Baidu.com Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) and Sohu.com Inc. (NASDAQ:SOHU) cheered investors as well. Energy stocks were good along with Mindray Medical (NYSE:MR) from the pharmaceutical sector.