Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat’s commentary for the week of September 1, 2015

Article Excerpt

Not long ago, people still believed that growth in emerging markets would keep the world economy afloat, even if the developed countries stagnated. China fans took it for granted that China’s growth would stay above 7% a year. Events this past week rattled that view. Chinese stocks went through horrendous declines, continuing the plunge they began in the summer. Chinese leader Xi Jinping seems focused on shoring up the Communist party and the Chinese stock market, rather than strengthening the Chinese economy. Brazil officially entered a recession with news that its economy shrank in the second quarter this year, at a faster rate than in the first. Brazil’s per-capita income has been falling since last year, and the Brazilian real has lost a quarter of its value in the year to date. Russia, another of the BRIC countries, has also stumbled economically. But it has an excuse (two excuses, in fact): first, the plunge in the price of oil has devastated its national…