Billionaire investor George Soros said yesterday (Monday) that the U.S. recovery would be a slow one because of all the “basically bankrupt” financial companies impeding it.

Anyone who has ever visited Japan knows it to be a country where everything works beautifully – and with great efficiency. Right now, however, it’s clear that something has gone horribly wrong there.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Yauo Fukuda met recently and signed some modest cooperation agreements.