With our investment news briefs, Money Morning provides investors with a quick overview of the most important investing news stories from all around the world.
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- A survey of 369 U.S. firms showed China will continue to be U.S. companies' top investment destination in 2010, the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Shanghai said yesterday (Wednesday). More than 90% of those polled by AmCham had an optimistic business outlook for the Red Dragon, up from 81% in a similar 2008 survey. The study also revealed that 64% of companies polled plan on increasing their 2010 investments in China, up from 58% that increased their investments this year. "American companies are finding that their performance in China is the bright spot in an otherwise difficult global picture," said AmCham Shanghai Chairman J. Norwell Coquillard.
- Japan's economy grew at a much slower pace than previously thought, with government figures showing a revised growth of 0.3% on a quarterly basis, down from the initial 1.2%. On an annualized basis, Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 1.3%, well below the preliminary 4.8% growth estimate. Consumer spending did improve thanks to stimulus measures, but the corporate sector continued to lag, the data showed.