Global Economy Has Overcome the Worst of the Financial Crisis

Fund Management, China's fifth-largest mutual fund company by assets, says the quota it received from the government to invest in overseas securities indicates that regulators believe the global economy has overcome the worst of the financial crisis and will generate business opportunities for domestic fund houses.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange has approved quotas of $1 billion to E Fund, under the qualified domestic institutional investor program after a 17-month halt.

The China Merchants Fund also obtained a $500-million QDII quota from SAFE.
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The value of Hong Kong's total exports of goods dropped by 16.2 percent year-on-year, with September exports falling 8.6 percent from a year earlier, according to Hong Kong's Census and Statistics Department.

The external merchandise trade statistics for September 2009 released by the CSD, for the first nine months of 2009 as a whole, show that the value of total exports of goods dropped by 16. 2 percent over the same period in 2008. Within this total, the value of re-exports decreased by 15.3 percent, while the value of domestic exports decreased by 40.8 percent.
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US consumer confidence fell sharply and unexpectedly in October as fears about future job prospects increasingly preyed upon Americans.

The closely-watched Consumer Confidence Index from the Conference Board business organisation slipped to 47.7 from a revised 53.4 in September.

Analysts were expecting the index to be unchanged or even to rise slightly.

Separately, a leading US index has found that house prices rose by more than expected in August.
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The Republic of Congo has signed an agreement to lease 200,000 hectares of land to South African farmers.

Congo's agriculture minister said it would bring expertise to the country and reduce its dependence on imports.

South African farmers' union Agri SA, which signed the deal, said the ANC government's land policy was forcing white farmers to seek land abroad.

The ANC is seeking to transfer some farms, overwhelmingly white-owned, to the black majority population.

Under the terms of the agreement, South African farmers will lease the land in Congo for 30 years to produce food and fibre mainly for the domestic market.
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Visitors to technology blog Gizmodo are being warned that they could have picked up more than tips about the latest must-have gadget.

According to security firm Sophos, the website was delivering advertisements "laced with malware" last week.

A statement on the Gizmodo website admits that it was tricked into running Suzuki adverts which were in fact from hackers.

It follows a similar problem on the New York Times website.

Last month the New York Times' website was targeted by a gang of hackers who purchased ad space on the site by posing as internet telephone company, Vonage.

Online Children's Gaming Site Grows Despite Concern

Mole Garden, a Chinese online gaming website targeting children ranging from seven to twelve years old, has triggered a lot of controversy. At present it has more than 30 million registered young users. Its burgeoning growth has earned itself a nickname—children's version of Kaixin, which is the hottest social networking site in China.