This is the time of year in which many  investors really start to study corporate earnings, jobless statistics and all sorts of other state data in an effort to divine what’s next for China. But I simply prefer to head for the Wan Chai Street Market in Hong Kong, or the Temple Street Night Market across the harbor in Kowloon, and check on hairy crab prices as we approach the Lunar New Year.

In the currency market, the dollar edged lower against the euro. Late Monday, the euro was trading at $1.275 vs. $1.2712 on Friday. China’s state-run news agency, Xinhua, said that the government’s stimulus program will “will loosen credit conditions, cut taxes and embark on a massive infrastructure spending program in a wide-ranging effort to offset adverse global economic conditions by boosting domestic demand.”