China is not immune to this global recession, says John Crooks. And as the ‘world’s manufacturing plant’ stumbles, it will take down many others with it. Emerging economies that relied on China buying raw materials will be hit hardest. And any developed nation with exposure to these markets will be dragged down too.

This from The Sovereign Society:

If you want to know how far this recession has stretched, look no further than China.

Up through this year’s Olympics, China seemed to be well on her way to becoming the next global economic kingpin. And with good reason.

China has had the fastest growing economy in the world for decades. The Chinese government has amassed trillions in reserves, while building up a trade surplus just last year of US$262.2 billion.

But lately, China’s fundamentals have been breaking down, one by one, like massive dominoes…

Manufacturing in China just shrank by its largest margin EVER. China’s ...

2009 could the first global recession since the 1930s, according to a UN report. But John Crooks says forex traders can use the economic slump to make big profits. He picks four currencies that will be “on the chopping block” for 2009.

This from The Sovereign Society:

The U.N. is predicting the first worldwide recession since the 1930s … for 2009. If that wasn’t bad enough, developed nations are supposed to shrink up to 1.5%. “It seems inevitable that the major countries will see significant contraction in the immediate period…even if the bail-out and stimulus package succeed,” according to the report. In other words, the recession may have spared Black Friday 2008, but next year, the worldwide recession will cut into worldwide spending even further. In the currency markets, you can already see that four currencies will suffer next year as the U.N.’s prophecy comes true…

The Four Currencies

...

In a partnership with Zi Corporation, UTStarcom has begun shipping Internet Protocol television “set-top-boxes” in China, featuring eZiText, a predictive text-input solution. The Alameda, Calif. company (NASDAQ: UTSI) signed a licensing agreement with Zi Corporation in November of 2007, and both companies plan to work together on other products and services.

“We have chosen Zi Corporation again because of the quality of its text-entry solutions and superior technical support, especially in Asia,” said BaiJun Zhao, UTStarcom senior vice president. “We are very focused on developing our strategic base of IP solutions and Zi provides us with the text input capabilities we need in Asia.”

eZiText “learns” usage patterns and new vocabularies, and has predictive entry and word completion abilities. It is for use by electronic manufacturers and telecom carriers.

“We are very pleased that UTStarcom continues to use our award-winning products to succeed in the global marketplace,” said Milos Djokovic, Zi Corporation president

...