Profits for Australian companies suffer a worse-than-expected drop in the last quarter, as businesses struggled to cope with the effects of the global economic slowdown.

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Economic Report: Australia second-quarter corporate profits decline

Economists at top U.S. businesses don’t think recent proposals in Washington to reform health care will accomplish much, according to a survey released by the National Association of Business Economists

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Business economists critical of health-care reform

If you’re among the millions of investors who own mutual funds in taxable accounts — and, therefore, have been unfairly taxed on the funds’ annual distributions of long-term capital gains — you now have what may be your most timely opportunity in years for relief.

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Outside the Box: Mutual-fund shareholders should protest unfair tax

Investors in long-term Treasury bonds and high-grade corporates run a serious risk of losing money in real, inflation-adjusted terms, over the next few years. They may lose money even before you count inflation.

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Brett Arends’ ROI: Yes, there’s even a risk in Treasury bond funds

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For all the explosive power of the Chinese economy and the dizzying rise of foreign exchange reserves, a bizarre strand of cultural unworthiness vis-à-vis the West still seems to run through China despite its many centuries of economic achievements.

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Marsh on Monday: At 60, China’s system is strong, but vulnerable

Japanese stocks give up early gains, turning negative, while analysts look at what the change in political leadership means for the markets and the economy as a whole.

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Asia Markets: Japan undoes rally; market mulls election impact

Sovereign-wealth fund China Investment Corp. is reportedly widening its investment portfolio and is confident of positive returns this year after losing money in 2008.

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China sovereign fund sees positive returns in 2009

In China, golf is primarily a status symbol of new wealth and flourishes under a communist government as perhaps the most brazenly elitist spectacle anywhere in the world, says Craig Stephen.

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Craig Stephen’s This Week in China: What the game of golf means to China

European bond markets and European stock markets both rallied in August, but this unusual and contradictory situation might not continue for long, some strategists and managers believe.

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European Stocks to Watch: Bonds, stocks rally unlikely to continue for long

The chairman and chief executive of International Lease Finance Corp., an aircraft leasing company owned by troubled American International Group, is in talks to buy up a portion of the company’s aircraft portfolio to start a new leasing company.

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Report: Deal in works for AIG to sell air wing