It is estimated that China will spend $42 billion to host the Olympics. To put that into perspective, that is almost three times what Greece spent on the Athens Olympics and roughly the cost of Hurricane Katrina reconstruction. That infrastructure build out has certainly been a major boost to the Chinese economy, but China plans on spending even more on the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai and the Sichuan earthquake reconstruction is expect to cost $140 billion. The Chinese building boom is going to last for a lot longer.

The Nikkei 225 had a positive week, up a modest 1% to 14,489.44, its highest close since early January, but fell short of its calendar year high of 14,691. Remember, keeping things in perspective is important because the N225 opened the year at 15,155 and was trading 18,000-plus last year. In spite of recent resiliency in Japanese equities, it looks like this week will be a tough one, starting with a big gap down on Monday and external factors as well as domestic economic data all putting potential downward pressure on stocks. First, weak jobs data in the U.S. on Friday and an unprecedented two-day jump in oil futures sent U.S. stocks sharply lower. Nikkei 225 futures in Chicago lost 510 points to settle at ...

Thank you Barry L. Ritholtz at THE BIG PICTURE for putting today's 260+ decline in the DOW in perspective. This morning's data may have made things appear worse. Providing a glimmer of hope that the U-3 unemployment rate isn't as bad as it appears, an unexpected surge in teenagers and 20-25 year olds is responsible for a chunk of the unemployment jump. More from Barry: Also possible -- a seasonal adjustment that was expected in June failed to pick up more teens applying for jobs in May "The government cautioned that the scope of the increase in the unemployment rate in May could be a statistical distortion. Month-to-month changes from April ...

Fast Money’s Karen Finerman loves “bargain real estate.” But what conclusion did she reach on Maguire Properties (MPG)?

She likes “the dynamic of absolute forced selling.”

While I appreciate the contrarian perspective on a stock with a broken deal and discontinued dividend, I have to say it doesn’t look too good on the models I follow.  Here’s how it looks:

Earnings momentum: Neutral Earnings quality: Negative Price Momentum: Negative Free cash flow: Neutral Return potential: Negative

Last week’s question of resiliency or reluctance at 14,000 for the Nikkei 225 Stock Average was answered, somewhat predictably, with another late-week rally. The Nikkei ended the week higher by 2.3% to 14,338.54 and the broader TOPIX, which rose by the same amount, recouped the 1,400-level (1,408.14) for the first time since January 10th. This week, the N225 is poised to test its Jan. 10 high of 14,388 and perhaps it’s not a stretch to throw in the 14,691 close on the first day of trading this year (its calendar year high close). But don’t get too excited (just trying to keep things in perspective), considering the N225’s 15,155 open on the first day of trading in 2008, let alone the 18,000-plus levels it once traded at last year! ...

The Fed reversal started late in the day, although futures suggest a higher open. The Dow flashed a (bearish) gravestone doji on higher volume, with the 200-day MA lurking overhead to act as resistance. A push back to the 50-day MA looks the most favored response to relieve overbought conditions, but any close higher today would make a strong case for a 200-day MA breakout. Why? The current set-up looks picture perfect from a bear’s perspective, so if it didn’t play to expectation you would have to be worried (from the bear side).

The Nasdaq 100 has inched its way to the 200-day MA. The gap created at 1,850 looks a logical downside target, but it wouldn’t take much buying to push …

If you’re not already in a pretty delta-neutral place, think about balancing things out tomorrow ahead of the 2:15 fireworks. We closed out one of our newsletter positions today for a small loss so that we can ride through the rest of May expiration with less risk and little concern about the magnitude of any market reactions.

We won’t do the reversal readings tonight, suffice to say that (with the exception of the QQQQs) the indexes have worked off their previous short-term overbought conditions, relieving the pressure by way of time rather than price. Still, if you have a bullish perspective there remain some points of concern. VIX and More has some great material on possible market complacency here, while the Ticker Sense folks remark …