China's Big "Dr Dolittle" Economic Problem

Jim Jubak MSN Money January 10, 2012

1/9/2012 7:45 PM ET

By Jim Jubak

Like the doctor's fictional creature, China is being pulled 2 ways, toward a soft economic landing and something much worse. It's hard to know which way it will go.

Jim Jubak

I'd compare China right now to Dr. Dolittle's pushmi-pullyu -- except that then you might think I believe the battle between the forces pushing that country's economy toward contraction and those pushing it toward expansion is comic.

And there's nothing funny about the perilous balance in China that will determine whether its economy will bottom near an 8% growth rate in the second quarter or shrink much more drastically to a hard landing.

There's nothing -- not the fate of the euro, a possible Greek default or an economic slowdown in the United States -- that has more power to determine the returns investors will see in 2012. I know I've written about this battle recently, in "China's bear threat isn't over." I also gave you my view that by the middle of 2012 we'll see hard evidence of the 8% (or so) soft landing that will lead to a rally in China and other emerging markets (in "The 10 best stocks for 2012").

But besides the tiny little issue of whether China can actually achieve a soft landing, there's the question of how scary the flight path becomes. The scarier that flight path, the more uncertainty investors will see -- and the bigger the drop that Chinese (and other emerging market) stocks will suffer before any bottom this summer.

The more uncertainty and the bigger the drop, the stronger the argument to move more of your portfolio to the sidelines in the first half of the year.

And I'd have to say right now that although I'm still looking for a bottom in China (and other emerging markets) in mid-2012, the going looks increasingly rough, and the damage that the bear will inflict even worse with every news story from China.

The subway freeze

The war isn't over, and I think ultimately the forces of expansion will pull out the victory, but the news from the front is certainly negative right now.

How negative? Well, let's take a story that Caixin online reported Friday about the collapse of subway construction in China

The story reported that the cities of Chengdu (one of the fastest-growing cities in China), Xian and Shenyang will open a second subway line in 2012. And then stop any further expansion of their systems.

Is there a real estate bubble in China?

The pattern is being repeated throughout China. Shanghai, for example, has indefinitely postponed the scheduled addition of seven trains' worth of rolling stock to expand its subway system.

Zhang Jiangyu, vice director of the transit technology planning office at the National Development and Reform Commission, told Caixin that 70% to 80% of projects are being postponed nationwide.

Part of this is a result of an explicit decision by the government in Beijing to cut spending on rail projects as part of the efforts to slow the economy in order to fight inflation. (The National Development and Reform Commission didn't approve a single subway project in 2011.) This part of the story doesn't worry me too much -- explicit central government decisions to cut spending can be quickly reversed by explicit central government decisions to increase spending.

But actions by the central government explain only part of the collapse in subway spending. Most of it is a systemic effect of the central government's decision to slow the real-estate market and to hold down or reduce real-estate prices. I'd call it an unintended systemic effect, and as such it will be much more difficult to reverse.

And that's what worries me -- and other China investors -- about this piece of news.

More from MoneyShow.com:

Jubak on video: Will China's real-estate bubble do more damage?It's time to watch the central banksWhat is China's next step?Continued: The real-estate slowdown Single page12Next >RELATED ARTICLESJim Jubak Picks - Investing - MSN MoneyGet ready for the next crash - 1 - European debt crisis - MSN MoneyWhy China is all that matters - 1 - how to invest - MSN Money5 dividend stocks to buy now - 2 - boomer retirement - MSN MoneyJim Jubak Dividend Income Portfolio - Investing - MSN Money5 dividend stocks to buy now - 1 - boomer retirement - MSN MoneyVIDEO ON MSN MONEY/*$.dap("&PG=INVPEB&AP=1402",600,250,"ConAd-1");Feedback /**/ var scp_UserRating=-1; down_arrow_hover= new Image(); down_arrow_hover.src = 'http://blu.stc.s-msn.com/br/scp/css/15/decoration/toolbar/rating/down_hover.gif'; down_arrow_normal= new Image(); down_arrow_normal.src = 'http://blu.stc.s-msn.com/br/scp/css/15/decoration/toolbar/rating/down_normal.gif'; up_arrow_hover= new Image(); up_arrow_hover.src = 'http://blu.stc.s-msn.com/br/scp/css/15/decoration/toolbar/rating/up_hover.gif'; up_arrow_normal= new Image(); up_arrow_normal.src = 'http://blu.stc.s-msn.com/br/scp/css/15/decoration/toolbar/rating/up_normal.gif'; var scp_thankyoutext = 'Thank you!'; var scp_thankyoualttext = 'You have voted on this'; var scp_votestext = '{0} votes'; var scp_votescount = 19; var scp_errmsg = 'Errors occured while saving your rating. Please try again later.'; var scp_yesvotes = 15; var scp_jsurl='MSNRRV2.aspx'; var scp_jsargs='rrct\x3doE0QuuCFWRgt\x252fxpt\x252fkHSJs57VE1CLazX0d\x252bTwJqkFcL2bGg2NfKHVpqPgCXgbdIuBA5U7sWvdaFU\x252fTSlSP8kuz2Ekhk7TEu3TFqicckOP1pEE1rK72IQkvfqYkNmVVIGj2ltp3S\x252bsM6D25Bov1qqTnJhhtV4bRX3Shp\x252b6W50UoqiOhrjD\x252flkBfsMX8v\x252fwJI\x252b\x26values\x3dshFp7XlTQbexq2I491\x252fdUQ\x253d\x253d\x26rritemId\x3dTZsRd4pyoJ1qQ2wcthY8ugIPSgceM58IDMrsZO8kBp61wxWf2CBCvPAFb5\x252fZfsvYY5GwNiYaVJAdmqNoDj3qSg\x253d\x253d\x26rrpurl\x3dhttp\x253a\x252f\x252fmoney.msn.com\x252finvesting\x252fchinas-dr-dolittle-problem-jubak.aspx\x253fpage\x253d2'; var scp_itemid = 'scp\x3abbcdiscussion\x3a50c4b1cd-d25e-414b-bf5c-205926e829a2'; function BinaryRatingToolBar(ratingValue){scpjs.socialToolbar._handleBinaryRating(ratingValue);} Recommend19 votes79% Rating: You recommend this21% Rating: You don't recommend this ToolBarUpdateRating('scp\x3abbcdiscussion\x3a50c4b1cd-d25e-414b-bf5c-205926e829a2','ratCntrlBinary'); jQuery.async('scp', function () { jQuery.scp.socialToolbar({"partnerId":"e70689f0-2848-458a-b8ae-965c0aac79c8","jsUrl":"http://us.social.s-msn.com/s/js/16.8/ue.min.js","enabled":true,"previewMode":false,"contentId":"i57kvsb755qwkugte4ksuis88nj0sisf","boardId":"00000065-02a6-0000-0000-000000000000","threadId":"50c4b1cd-d25e-414b-bf5c-205926e829a2","urlParams":{"title":"","desc":"","image":"","url":"http://money.msn.com/investing/chinas-dr-dolittle-problem-jubak.aspx","s-url":"http://on-msn.com/zCBwTG"},"timesShared":50,"shareCountUrlBase":"http://social.msn.com/boards","settingsCookieDomain":"msn.com","showMiniTb":true,"showRatings":true,"showEmail":true,"showPrint":true,"showIM":false,"imagesDir":"","printUrl":"","sharingSites":[{"id":"1","name":"Messenger","icon":"http://media.social.s-msn.com/images/blogs/Messenger.png","smallIcon":"http://media.social.s-msn.com/images/blogs/Messenger-s.png","urlTemplate":"http://profile.live.com/badge?url=%7Bs-url%7D"},{"id":"2","name":"Facebook","icon":"http://media.social.s-msn.com/images/blogs/Facebook.png","smallIcon":"http://media.social.s-msn.com/images/blogs/Facebook-s.png","urlTemplate":"https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=%7Burl%7D&t=%7Btitle%7D"},{"id":"3","name":"Twitter","icon":"http://media.social.s-msn.com/images/blogs/twitter.png","smallIcon":"http://media.social.s-msn.com/images/blogs/twitter-s.png","urlTemplate":"http://twitter.com/home?status=%7Btitle%7D+%7Bs-url%7D"},{"id":"4","name":"Digg","icon":"http://media.social.s-msn.com/images/blogs/digg.png","smallIcon":"http://media.social.s-msn.com/images/blogs/digg-s.png","urlTemplate":"http://digg.com/submit?partner=MSN&url=%7Bs-url%7D&title=%7Btitle%7D"},{"id":"6","name":"LinkedIn","icon":"http://media.social.s-msn.com/images/blogs/linkedin.png","smallIcon":"http://media.social.s-msn.com/images/blogs/linkedin-s.png","urlTemplate":"http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=%7Burl%7D&title=%7Btitle%7D"},{"id":"7","name":"MySpace","icon":"http://media.social.s-msn.com/images/blogs/Myspace.png","smallIcon":"http://media.social.s-msn.com/images/blogs/Myspace-s.png","urlTemplate":"http://www.myspace.com/Modules/PostTo/Pages/?u=%7Bs-url%7D&t=%7Btitle%7D"},{"id":"8","name":"Google Bookmarks","icon":"http://media.social.s-msn.com/images/blogs/GoogleBookmarks.png","smallIcon":"http://media.social.s-msn.com/images/blogs/GoogleBookmarks-s.png","urlTemplate":"http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=add&bkmk=%7Bs-url%7D&title=%7Btitle%7D"}],"locale":"en-us","miniTbPositionRef":"ahead","strings":{"lc_rdcmnts":"Read comments","lc_addcmnt":"0","lc_rec":"Recommend","lc_eml":"Email","lc_shrintro":"I thought you would be interested in this: {0}","lc_im":"IM","lc_mor":"More","lc_ncmts":"{0}","lc_prt":"Print","lc_shr":"Share","lc_shrn":"Shared {0} times","lc_shrt":"Share","lc_vts":"{0} votes","lc_ivno":"You don\u0027t recommend this","lc_ivyes":"You recommend this","lc_yvno":"You didn\u0027t recommend this","lc_yvyes":"You recommended this","lc_ratingadded":"Thank you!","lc_ratingerr":"Could not add rating","lc_alrdyvote":"You have voted on this","lc_defml":"Email program","lc_hotml":"Hotmail","lc_gml":"Gmail","lc_yml":"Yahoo! Mail"},"omniAccount":"MSNPORTALSCP","ratingsControlId":"ratCntrlBinary","ratingsItemId":"scp:bbcdiscussion:50c4b1cd-d25e-414b-bf5c-205926e829a2","appUri":"http://social.msn.com/boards","pageUrl":"http://money.msn.com/investing/chinas-dr-dolittle-problem-jubak.aspx","ratingTags":["00120065-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","00000065-02a6-0000-0000-000000000000","ART"],"fblkShow":true,"fblkAppId":"","fblkRef":"","fblkTrkName":"","fblkTrkVal":"","twtShow":true,"twtTrkName":"","twtTrkVal":""}); }); /**/ 7CommentsNewestOldestBestWorstControversialRoon J1 hour ago

So how long before we found out about the money in the bailouts going overseas?

I guess im not as trusting as you.The american taxpayer bailed the banks out in 08 or they wouldve gone bellyup then.Now its still going on.When your 14,i mean 15 trillion in dept its the same as saying were bankrupt,its such an insane amount of money people cant grasp how much it truly is.Oh yeah they want to raise the dept ceiling anouther 1 trillion or so.

You all should prepare your selves as best you can.Just imagine a war with Iran and what the results would be.I sure dont expect much from the fools running our country.

1 1ReportSpamjlum2 hours agoThe real estate bubble happened in the US. It is happening in China. So much for learning from mistakes. 0 0ReportSpamStromprophet2 hours agoOf course the chinese government isnt like ours,wich feeds us overly optimistic information.

........

No economy in the world is more transparent than the US. There is a wealth of non gov information in addition to gov information.

And China is the *worst* in the world. Which is why so many analysts have a tough time gauging the true economic strength of the country.

Chinese are king of disinformation and also controlling the flow of information to their people.

3 0ReportSpamRoon J4 hours ago

Of course the chinese government isnt like ours,wich feeds us overly optimistic information.

I really enjoy the whole blowing off the dept thing.The current administration once in a while says its a bad thing,then says it well make cuts that well start working years from now.Whole river of denial thing.The republican debates have one sane person,Ron Paul who wants to cut bloated unconstitutional agencys and get us out of wars and of course he is the wacky one?

Both partys for many years just havnt been doing there jobs,we need,hate to say it,change.

As in Ron Paul kinda change and term limits for all the brain dead folks in washington.

7 1ReportSpamrobby61235 hours ago

there is only one long term conclusion that anyone can draw and that is that interest

rates cannot stay this low forever ...they have to revert to the mean and when they

do those invested in treasuries will get clobbered..but there is one way to play rising

interest rates and that is through an inverse bond mutual fund like RYJUX...eventually

you will have to make big money when interest rates move...and if in fact they

go lower in the short term just buy more and be patient

1 2ReportSpamDoug (Out in the cold) 15 hours agoMr. Jubak .. excellent summary of the China economic situation. China is going to have a little bumpy road moving from an export nation to a domestic consumer, but it is a step in the right direction. With the United States, China and Japan being the 1 - 2 - 3 economic power houses, it is time to focus away from Europe to keep up with the news. 9 1ReportSpamcacique17 hours ago

They have many great advantages...many new fields to go into, they have space deals going, their military can just grow on so many different fields, they have agricultural land by the hundred-thousand square mile area to work with and improve, all that cyber-spionage to conduct against us, etc. I think one of their immediate goals in not to leave millions out of the Chinese dream and that is where your discussion may apply, but in general their area of development is gorgeous as they have tons of money to spend into any thing they may choose. I think the military field would be their pet project as it would be their space program.

They have just no limit.

9 18ReportSpamAdd a commentReportPlease help us to maintain a healthy and vibrant community by reporting any illegal or inappropriate behavior. If you believe a message violates theCode of Conductplease use this form to notify the moderators. They will investigate your report and take appropriate action. If necessary, they report all illegal activity to the proper authorities.CategoriesSpamChild pornography or exploitationProfanity, vulgarity or obscenityCopyright infringementHarassment or threatThreats of suicideOtherAdditional comments(optional) 100 character limitAre you sure you want to delete this comment?jQuery.async('scp', function () { jQuery.scp.comments({"partnerId":"e70689f0-2848-458a-b8ae-965c0aac79c8","jsUrl":"http://us.social.s-msn.com/s/js/16.8/ue.min.js","strings":{"lc_shw":"true","lc_dtf":"%M/dd/yyyy %h:mm tt","lc_dtf2":"ddd %h:mm tt","lc_gmt":"-5","lc_erg":"Comments are currently unavailable. Try again later.","lc_det":"Comments are unavailable on this page.","lc_pgf":"{0} of {1}","lc_1ach":"Comment","lc_ach":"Comments","lc_newm":"Newest","lc_oldm":"Oldest","lc_bestm":"Best","lc_worstm":"Worst","lc_mixedm":"Controversial","lc_prv":"Previous page","lc_nxt":"Next page","lc_pageNumTooltip":"Enter a page number, and then press the Enter key","lc_first":"First page","lc_last":"Last page","lc_rpl":"Reply","lc_rbs":"Report","lc_edt":"Edit","lc_del":"Delete","lc_pstthanks":"Thanks for posting to","lc_pstand":"{0} and {1}","lc_seemore":"More","lc_seeless":"Less","lc_rpttxt":"Thank you for reporting.","lc_msg2mod":"Send note to moderator"¦","lc_cc0":"Please help us to maintain a healthy and vibrant community by reporting any illegal or inappropriate behavior. If you believe a message violates the","lc_cc1":"Code of Conduct","lc_cc2":"please use this form to notify the moderators. They will investigate your report and take appropriate action. If necessary, they report all illegal activity to the proper authorities.","lc_cat":"Categories","lc_spa":"Spam","lc_che":"Child pornography or exploitation","lc_pro":"Profanity, vulgarity or obscenity","lc_cor":"Copyright infringement","lc_har":"Harassment or threat","lc_usrpic":"Inappropriate user picture","lc_oth":"Other","lc_abc":"Additional comments","lc_opt":"(optional)","lc_atl":"100 character limit","lc_rep":"Report","lc_1hourm":"1 hour ago","lc_1minm":"1 minute ago","lc_recomm":"You recommend this","lc_recomdontm":"You don\u0027t recommend this","lc_voted":"You have voted on this","lc_suicide":"Threats of suicide","lc_joi":"Be the first to comment","lc_shwm":"Show comments","lc_hidem":"Hide comments","lc_hourm":"{0} hours ago","lc_minm":"{0} minutes ago","lc_secm":"{0} seconds ago","lc_add":"Add a comment","lc_dmg":"Are you sure you want to delete this comment?","lc_dok":"Delete","lc_dca":"Cancel","lc_pna":"There\u0027s a problem creating posts right now. Please try again later.","lc_clt":"This discussion is closed. New comments cannot be posted.","lc_fta":"Be the first to comment","lc_fsg":"Be the first to add a comment. To add a comment, please","lc_sgn":"sign-in","lc_lnk":"Read comments","lc_spell_gen_err":"Could not check spelling. Please try again later.","lc_spell_no_mist":"No spelling errors found.","lc_spell_num_mist":"Spell check detected {0} mistake(s).","lc_spell_in_prog":"Spell check in progress...","lc_spell_check":"Check Spelling","lc_post_gen_err":"There's a problem creating posts right now. Please try again later.","lc_post_long":"Post cannot be longer than {0} characters.","lc_post_empty":"Your post cannot be empty.","lc_cmnt_day_max":"You already reached the daily limit for posts today. Please post again tomorrow.","lc_post_prog":"Post in progress...","lc_post":"Post","lc_save":"Save","lc_not_auth":"You are not signed in.","lc_no_suggest_paren":"(No suggestions)","lc_ignore_paren":"(Ignore)","lc_insrt_emot":"Insert Emoticon","lc_cancel":"Cancel","lc_ok":"OK","lc_fmt_quote":"Format as Quote","lc_incr_indnt":"Increase Indent","lc_decr_indnt":"Decrease Indent","lc_bullets":"Bullets","lc_numbering":"Numbering","lc_italic":"Italic (CTRL+I)","lc_bold":"Bold (CTRL+B)","lc_post_dirty":"Edits you have made to your post will be lost.","lc_rte":"Rich Text Editor","lc_ip_banned":"The computer or device you are using is temporarily banned from posting on this site. People or automated programs have recently used this computer or device to create unwanted posts. You may still browse the site and read other people's posts, but you can't create, edit, or delete posts.","lc_chk_msg_spell":"Check message for spelling errors (F7)","lc_post_msg":"Post this message (CTRL+ENTER)","lc_perm_ban":"This Windows Live ID was banned for violating the Code of Conduct. You may still read other people's posts, but you can't create, edit, or delete posts.","lc_temp_ban":"This Windows Live ID is banned from posting on this site until {0}. You may still read other people\u0027s posts, but you can\u0027t create, edit, or delete posts.","lc_also_pst_fb":"Facebook","lc_also_pst_wl":"Windows Live","lc_also_post_to":"Also post to:","lc_idnt_settings_err":"Could not save your settings. Try again later.","lc_idnt_nick_prohibited":"The nickname you requested is not allowed. It may contain a reserved name or profanity. Please enter another nickname.","lc_idnt_nick_unavail":"The nickname you requested is not available. Please enter another nickname, or select one of these suggestions:","lc_idnt_nick_empty":"Nickname cannot be empty","lc_idnt_nick_max_len":"Nickname cannot be longer than {0} characters","lc_idnt_nick_allowed_chars_err":"You nickname may only contain letters, numbers, hyphens, underscores, and periods. Please enter another nickname.","lc_idnt_lnk_msn_wl":"Link your MSN posts to your profile on Windows Live","lc_idnt_posting_name":"Now when you post with your \u003cstrong\u003ename\u003c/strong\u003e, all of your past and future MSN posts link to your profile on \u003ca href=\"{0}\"\u003eWindows Live\u003c/a\u003e so your friends can read them.","lc_idnt_posting_nick":"If you keep posting with your \u003cstrong\u003enickname\u003c/strong\u003e, your posts aren't connected to your profile on Windows Live.","lc_idnt_name_nxt_psts":"The name you choose appears next to all of your past and future MSN posts.","lc_idnt_post_w_name":"Post with my name","lc_idnt_kp_post_w_nick":"Keep posting with my nickname","lc_idnt_chs_name":"Choose the name that appears next to your posts","lc_idnt_name_lnk_wl":"If you post using your name, your posts link to your profile on \u003ca href=\"{0}\"\u003eWindows Live\u003c/a\u003e so your friends can read them.","lc_idnt_nick_no_wl":"If you create a nickname, your posts are not publicly connected to your profile on Windows Live.","lc_idnt_post_w_nick":"Post with a nickname","lc_idnt_enter_nick":"Enter nickname","lc_idnt_post_w_yr_name":"Post with your name","lc_idnt_mst_use_name":"You must now use your name when you post here.","lc_idnt_note_post_w_name":"Note: When you post using your name, your posts link to your profile on \u003ca href=\"{0}\"\u003eWindows Live\u003c/a\u003e so your friends can read them.","lc_continue":"Continue","lc_idnt_create_nick":"Create a nickname","lc_idnt_nick_nxt_pst":"Your nickname appears next to your posts on MSN.","lc_idnt_nick_allowed_chars":"Nicknames may contain letters, numbers, hyphens, underscores, and periods.","lc_cmnt_unavail":"Commenting is currently not available. Try again later.","lc_loading":"Loading...","lc_signin":"Sign in","lc_signin_create":"Sign in with your Windows Live ID, or create a new one.","lc_spam_msg":"Your post was blocked because it has a hyperlink or appears similar to spam. Please revise your post and try again.","lc_wrt_cmnt":"Write a comment...","lc_avtr_pic":"User Picture","lc_edit_cmnt_err":"Could not load comment for editing. Try again later."},"isCommentShow":"true","_p":"","locale":"en-us","forumId":"00120065-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","forumTitle":"MSN Money","boardId":"00000065-02a6-0000-0000-000000000000","boardTitle":"ArticleComments","threadId":"50c4b1cd-d25e-414b-bf5c-205926e829a2","title":"Article Comment","userId":"b5e44170581cc833","contentId":"i57kvsb755qwkugte4ksuis88nj0sisf","pageUrl":"http://money.msn.com/investing/chinas-dr-dolittle-problem-jubak.aspx","appUri":"http://social.msn.com/boards","cssBaseUrl":"unused","emoticonBaseUrl":"http://us.social.s-msn.com/s/","responseBridgeUrl":"http://money.msn.com/ResponseBridge.aspx","cmntSharingOn":true,"cmntSharingNetworks":[{"id":0,"locKey":"lc_fb","tooltipLocKey":"lc_also_pst_fb"},{"id":1,"locKey":"lc_wl","tooltipLocKey":"lc_also_pst_wl"}],"omniAccount":"MSNPORTALSCP","currentPage":1,"totalPages":1,"sortOrder":0,"isAuth":false,"signInUrl":"https://login.live.com/login.srf?wa=wsignin1.0&rpsnv=11&ct=1326223330&rver=6.1.6195.0&wp=MBI&wreply=http:%2F%2Fmoney.msn.com%2Finvesting%2Fchinas-dr-dolittle-problem-jubak.aspx&lc=1033&id=250710","genericAvatarUrl":"http://us.social.s-msn.com/s/images/bluemann.png","settingsCookieDomain":"msn.com"}, false, true, true); });DATA PROVIDERS

Quotes are real-time for NASDAQ, NYSE and AMEX. See delay times for other exchanges.

Fundamental company data and historical chart data provided by Thomson Reuters (click for restrictions). Real-time quotes provided by BATS Exchange. Real-time index quotes and delayed quotes supplied by Interactive Data Real-Time Services. Fund summary, fund performance and dividend data provided by Morningstar Inc. Analyst recommendations provided by Zacks Investment Research. StockScouter data provided by Verus Analytics. IPO data provided by Hoover's Inc. Index membership data provided by SIX Telekurs.

Japanese stock price data provided by Nomura Research Institute Ltd.; quotes delayed 20 minutes. Canadian fund data provided by CANNEX Financial Exchanges Ltd.

$.dap("&PG=INVIHP&AP=1089",300,250,"dapAd2");FeedbackRECENT QUOTES/*WATCHLIST/*Learn MoreView full page SymbolLastChangeSharesWhere's my list|Update quotes|Clear this listQuotes delayed at least 15 minSponsored by:$.dap("&PG=INVSRQ&AP=1025",120,30,"quotead");MARKET UPDATEUSINTERNATIONALNAMELASTCHANGE% CHANGEThere's a problem getting this information right now. Please try again later.NAMELASTCHANGE% CHANGEThere's a problem getting this information right now. Please try again later.

[BRIEFING.COM] Results from an auction of 3-year Notes were just released about 30 minutes ago. The strong auction results, which featured the greatest dolllar demand since May 2010, come shortly after stocks traded down to session lows, helping Treasuries tick higher. ... More

More Market NewsStock TickerStory StocksIn PlayShort StoriesCurrenciesNAMELASTCHANGE% CHANGEThere's a problem getting this information right now. Please try again later.See more currenciesSponsored by:$.dap("&PG=INVSMS&AP=1025",120,30,"AdSponsor-summary");RECENT ARTICLESChina's Dr. Dolittle problemWhy Best Buy is destined to failAhead: Inflation and a gold rallyA wild election that could cost usWhy it's the bankers' fault (again)JIM JUBAKChina's Dr. Dolittle problemA wild election that could cost usChina's bear threat isn't overThe euro 'fix' we have to live withThe 10 best stocks for 2012MORE FROM BINGThe best investing ideas for 2012How much house can you afford?How to protect yourself from ID theftChanging jobs? What to do with your 401kSet your financial goals for the new yearIs your teen ready for a credit card?MUST-SEE ON MSNCAREERS

America's 20 fastest-growing salaries

Best diets for a healthy heartRevenge of the nerds: VIP closet geeksBing: What happened to the 'Man with the Golden Voice'?PrivacyLegalAdvertiseMSN WorldwideHelpAbout our adsFeedbackSite MapRSS© 2012 Microsoft/* ({0})",msgr:"a.msgr",maxcount:9999,axob:"MSNMessenger.Hotmail2Control"});a(b).channelheaderflyout({delay:{open:500,close:50}});a("a.inbox").hotmaillivemenu({hotmailcalendertext:"Calendar"});a("div.websearch2").togglesearchtext({searchInputBoxId:"q4"});a("div.websearch2 form").bindSearch2();a(".myhp").setHomepage({url:"http://www.msn.com",txt:"Make MSN your homepage"})},a.jsUrl)})})(jQuery);jQuery("a.openpopup").async("openPopup");(function(a){a(function(){a.async("asyncCanary",function(){a(".ptnrcnt1").partnerhostedcontentfeature()},a.jsUrl)})})(jQuery);(function(a){a(function(){a.async("asyncCanary",function(){a.lazyLoad.timeout=6e4;a.cookie+=";MUID=";a(".cogr.coss").slideshow({delay:7e3});a(".cogr.cotb").tabGroup({hover:{delay:300}});a("div.ivideo").async("inlinevideo",[{param:{windowless:"true"},asyncp:1}])},a.jsUrl)})})(jQuery);jQuery("a.opennew").async("openNew");jQuery(".pageoptions1").async("pageOptions");jQuery(".pageoptions1 #ausug").async("autoSuggest",[{helpLinkText:"What is this popup",helpLink:"http://help.live.com/help.aspx?project=wl_searchv1&querytype=keyword&query=sihggus&mkt=en-US",formCode:"MSMONY",openNew:"0",market:"en-us",cookieDomain:null,cookiePath:null,inputId:"q4"}]);jQuery(".quotesearchbar0").async("quoteSearchBar");jQuery(".quotesearchbar1").async("quoteSearchBar");jQuery(".quotewatchlist0").async("quoteWatchList0");jQuery(".recentquotes0").async("recentQuotes0");jQuery(".stkscoutrating2").async("financefundamentals");(function(b){var a=b("#nav .breaknews1");if(a.text().length==0)a.css("display","none")})(jQuery)//]]>/*/*/*