South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, approved an additional $20.7 billion (28.9 trillion won) to the national budget – with $13 billion intended to stem the nation’s economic decline and rising unemployment.

Risk-taking revived but uncertainty lingers… U.S. dollar hits 2-month low vs euro, down vs yen… Don’t let go of recession trades just yet – JPMorgan

Global investors seeking undervalued markets might want to look at Russia, China, India, Malaysia, South Korea or Brazil. And if they want to avoid overvalued markets, they’d be best to eschew Italy, the United States, Japan, Canada, Switzerland, or Germany.

Amid all the gloom investors are feeling right now, South Korea has produced some sunny rays. On April 9, the Asian Tiger suggested that its economy could accelerate and that its stock market could take off.

Goldsmith has compiled a recession-proof portfolio in his S&A Dividend Grabber. He has recently recommended a world-class health care company, a blue-chip food producer, and the only mortgage REIT currently beating the market.

We promised yesterday to review for you the Reserve Bank’s Financial Stability Review, published late Thursday. It is a more daunting task than we imagined. So we are going to do the hard yards this weekend, when we have a bit more time to pore over the data on Australian housing.