Word: cheapness
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...campaign of shock and awe was always aimed at mind and heart: many Iraqis viewed America as magically powerful, which raised their hopes and, in some cases, broke their will to resist. One U.S. soldier, when raiding a house in search of weapons, would aim his cheap key-ring flashlight at the scalp of a suspect, then scan from head to toe before flashing the light onto his wristwatch and humming softly. The Iraqi, perhaps convinced that his thoughts and secrets had been electronically captured in a Casio, would often confess...
...sensitive cyclical stocks like technology and basic materials (Alcoa, Dow Chemical, International Paper) into defensive stocks like drugs, foods and beverages. Why? Defensive stocks, which are less vulnerable to the ups and downs of the economy, lagged badly in '03, rising just 8% on average. They now look relatively cheap next to tech (up 40%) and basic materials (up 30%). And as it becomes evident that the expansion is on track and interest rates will move higher, threatening the earnings of cyclical companies, defensive stocks will come into favor. Another likely shift will be out of small stocks, which...
Right you are, Mr. Yang, which is why the U.S.'s uneasy embrace of globalization is chafing against China's emergence as the world's workshop. China rules in stocking stuffers, but it's climbing the technology ladder too. Its huge pool of cheap labor--up to 500 million peasants are expected to migrate to cities in search of factory work over the next two decades--should provide 20 more years of growth for an economy that already produces a quarter of the world's television sets and washing machines and half of its cameras and photocopiers. U.S. towns built...
...justified criticism of China is its lack of workers' rights, which contributes to its cheap labor. In the southern boomtown of Shenzhen, a hundred workers who package computer keyboards and mice that they say bear the IBM logo walked off the job last week to demand the legal minimum wage of $73 a month and the legal overtime rate of 66¢ an hour instead of the 34¢ they received. Since independent unions are banned, they took their protest directly to the government, spending a night outside city hall. The next day their employer, a Hong Kong firm called Max Infosystems...
Since that banner year, the company has been in free fall. Bartlett says cheap Chinese imports have driven down both sales and his labor force to half their former levels. He blames China's "manipulated" currency and subsidized exports. Now he faces the stark choice of abandoning his community and moving operations abroad, or lobbying for more protection. "We hope to hang on until somebody comes to their senses in Washington," he says, "[but] I don't hold out much hope." And even if Washington wants to protect him, it doesn't have much ammunition to use against China. --With...