There’s no question that the big “winner” in the global financial crisis has been China. While for the past two years developed economies have been scrambling to keep afloat China has taken a nuanced approach to achieving its economic and political goals.

When it comes to the U.S. credit crisis, we’ve all heard the numbers. The stock market decline wiped out $7 trillion in shareholder wealth. It forced the federal government to commit to $11.6 trillion in bailout programs and stimulus spending. And it’s led to the longest U.S. downturn since the Great Depression.

Kraft Foods Inc.’s (NYSE: KFT) $16.7 billion unsolicited takeover attempt of Cadbury PLC (NYSE ADR: CBY) is the latest sign of consolidation in the highly competitive food industry, and will likely lead to two things: A bidding war for Cadbury and further consolidation in the sector.

As shares of Berhshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A, BRK.B) plunged over the past year, it became fashionable to ask whether or not Warren Buffett had lost his touch.

Warren Buffett’s storied investment vehicle Berkshire Hathaway Inc is now trading at somewhere in the region of 1.2 times its book value of $72,000 a share. This makes it well worth considering for value-minded investors.

Despite all the data out this week — new and existing home sales, GDP, jobless claims — only one has given the Street a jolt: durable goods.

Consumer Prices Increase Less Than Expected; Ten Banks Repay TARP Debt; Bankrupt Eddie Bauer Attempts Sale; Berkshire Hathaway Options Begin Trading; FedEx Losses Mount; Saab Cuts Debt; Gas Prices Keep Going, Going, Up; Boeing Gets First Air Show Order; China Will Invest Sovereign Wealth in Hedge Funds; Analyst: S&P 500 Will Hit New Highs By 2012; Bond Yields Drop; Mortgage Apps Plunge

We made a brief trip back to France for a board meeting. Returning to London, people all seemed to be in mourning. Black is the color in London. Everyone wears black. Black pants, black skirts, black coats…

…the cabs are black…and so is the mood.

Housing and Construction Stats Improve; Mobius: Emerging Markets Close to Bull Market; Sprint Beats Expectations; Bovespa Hits Seven-Month High;  Buffett Says Wall Street Sold “Sewage”; Liberty Spins Off DirecTV; Airlines Low on Cash; Mexico Lifts Work Ban on Flu Scare

In the newspapers there is much discussion of what General Motors (NYSE:GM) should do. This discussion has gone on for many years. Until now, it was a conversation carried on by serious analysts and auto industry experts. They all said the same thing: GM needed to clear out its management, dump much of its expensive, “legacy” overhead, and produce better cars. Why didn’t it do so?