Asian slowdown.

At long last, the world's most vibrant economic region has met gravity- whether it's the slowdown in Singapore's non-oil exports, the bleak economic assessment of the Bank of Japan, Vietnam's continued slide into a meltdown and the continued inflation shocks from around the region.
Australia has built an impressive war chest of domestic consumption that will push its economy forward, even as the commodity bubble implodes. Unfortunately, the country's financial sector is in bad shape as the recent travails of banks such as National Australia Bank and other financial companies like Babcock & Brown show.
The economies of Southeast Asia will face slowing exports to Japan and China as a result of the reduction in end-consumer demand in the US and Europe; in turn this means a substantial wipeout of intra-Asian trade that sustains their overall production. To make matters worse, policy mistakes of countries like Vietnam, where the central bank has effectively scared away portfolio investors even as the rest of the government has scared away potential investors in manufacturing and services, reduce any chances of a quick turnaround in the situation for Southeast Asia.
Worst affected in this slowdown across the minnows will be foreign investors in assets such as property who will be hurt by rising interest rates even as both asset values and currency rates decline, thus exposing them to multiple sources of losses. As go the property investors, so will others.
Tracking the Dow on Monday,25/08/08

9:30am:-Hefty 100.00 points Gap Dow.
A bearish outlook prevails.Wells Fargo (WFC) is "highly unlikely" to pursue the acquisition of a larger rivel, according to Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf, the Financial Times reports.
10:30am:-Hangman
South Korean regulators told the Korea Development Bank to take a cautious approach before making an acquisition of an overseas bank after the company expressed interest in Lehman Brothers (LEH 13.71, -0.65), according to the Financial Times.
11:30am:--Graveyard dojis.
Existing home sales are down 13.2% year-over-year, and have an inventory supply of 11.2 months, compared to the 2007 average inventory supply of 8.9 months.
12:30pm--Bearish spike,dojis.
AIG (AIG 18.92, -0.95) is a laggard after Fitch Ratings put the insurance giant's credit ratings on negative watch.
1:30pm:--Hangman
Buyers are sitting on the sidelines as the indices continue to retreat in broad-based fashion. All ten sectors are posting a loss, and eight are down more than 1%.
2:30pm:--Hangman again.
Financials (-2.5%) are leading the way lower, with 86 of its 89 components in negative territory.
3:30pm:--Graveyard dojis.
Crude prices settled with a gain of $0.56 to $115.15 per barrel after a choppy session.
4:00pm:-Bearish engulfing.
Lehman Brothers (LEH 13.54, -0.87) struggled after South Korean regulators told the Korea Development Bank to take a cautious approach before making an acquisition of an overseas bank, according to the Financial Times.

Stocks sank in light trading Monday as worries about American International Group Inc. touched off broader concerns that the deterioration of the credit markets will bring more big losses for financial companies.
Monday's candlestick is sniffing at the bear's neck line and is in danger of sinking.
Tuesday's ecnomic news:-New Home Sales,consumer confidence & UBS store sales report if have not much impact might rescue the Dow.