Concerned about the recent decline in stock prices, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, yesterday (Tuesday) called for the creation of European sovereign wealth funds. The funds would be virtual carbon copies of the state-owned investment vehicles that have sprung up from Beijing to Abu Dhabi to disperse their respective nations’ cash reserves in foreign assets.

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) announced yesterday that it will buy China Huiyuan Juice Group Ltd. for $2.3 billion (HK$17.9 billion) in an effort to diversify its presence in one of the world’s fastest-growing beverage markets. But the deal still requires government approval, says Money Morning’s Jason Simpkins,which is anything but guaranteed.

Floyd Brown says it’s important to keep a portion of your portfolio in contrarian plays, even in a bear market. But it can be tough to distinguish between undervalued firms and garbage.

3Com Corp. (COMS) is suing Bain Capital Partners LLC over a $66 million termination fee that resulted when the private equity firm and Huawei Technologies Co. backed away from an attempted takeover.