General

I absolutely love sushi, but I think I’ll stay far away from this particular sushi delicacy.
A bumbling Japanese chef put seven customers in hospital by serving them toxic blowfih testicles.
Blowfish, although extremely poisonous if not prepared properly, is considered a delicacy in Japan and is prepared by specially-licensed chefs for consumption by thrill-seeking gourmets.
The seven [...]

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Chinese solar power company, Sunteach Power, raised its Q4 and full-year 2008 revenue guidance from $1.85 to $1.87 billion to $1.91 to $1.93 billion.That’s good, right?
At the same time, Suntech (STP: 2.00 0.00 0.00%) announced that it would lay off 800 (8% of workforce) of its employees.
Chopping staff is an odd move for a company [...]

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For the first time since the Great Depression, General Motors (GM: 21.18 0.00 0.00%)is not the largest auto company in the world. Toyota passed GM for total sales in 2008.
GM sold 8.35 million cars (an 11% decrease from 2007) while Toyota (TM: 76.06 0.00 0.00%) sold 8.97 million (a 4% year-over-year drop) cars.
All car makers [...]

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According to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the urban unemployment rate in China rose for the first time in five years to 4.2% as of December 31.
At least that is what the Chinese government is willing to admit to. I suspect the numbers are even worse but what really matters is unemployment [...]

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China Life (LFC: 34.84 0.00 0.00%) warned that its 2009 profits would fall by more than 50%. The problem? A declining value of its investment portfolio, slower sales, and higher-than-expected claims from the Sichuan earthquake.

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Investors are voting with their feet.
Merrill Lynch clients pulled out $10 billion of their dollars in Q4, more than triple the amount ($3 billion) in Q3.  Total clients assets at Merrill Lynch fell from $1.48 trillion to $1.25 trillion.
You can bet that what is happening at Merrill Lynch (MER: 0.00 N/A N/A) is happening at [...]

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Air China, the 2nd largest airline in China, was the sole official airline sponsor of the Beijing Olympics but that hasn’t helped it make any money this year.
“The company will incur significant loss for the year ended 31 December 2008.”
The #1 airline, China Southern Airlines, and the third biggest carrier China Eastern Airlines (CEA: 14.95 [...]

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One of the most irritating things about traveling to China are the aggressive street peddlers that pester the crap out of you with their pitches for fake Rolexes while you walk down the street.
The knock-off business in China is about to hit a new high. Or should I say low.
A new mall in Nanjing is [...]

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The China Internet Network Information Center reports that the number of Chinese internet users grew by 41.9% in 2008 to 298 million users. That makes China the most wired country in the world.

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