Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) last Thursday charmed investors when it revealed its Cliq smartphone, which will compete head on with Apple Inc.’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone and Research in Motion Ltd.’s Blackberry.

Crude Soars 5%; Ford and CAW Begin Talks; China Offering 6 Billion Yuan Sale; IBM Reiterates 2009 Earnings; Australia’s Business Confidence Elevates Asian Stocks; France Telecom and Deutsch Telekom Planning U.K. JV; Mobius Warns About Brazil Stock Sale

Many commentators have picked the East Asian economies of China, Korea and Taiwan to emerge the most vigorously from the ongoing global financial crisis.

Germany’s relative fiscal restraint during this crisis should make it an attractive option for investors, says Martin Hutchinson.  The EU’s strongest economy will likely emerge as a safe haven in the post-recovery world. Martin recommends four ways to profit from this trend.

We’re in the middle of a recession and there are a ton of expensive stocks on the market. Are they worth it? I just did a search of companies with price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios of over 100. These stocks are pricey. Buying reasonably priced companies in the best of times can be tricky.