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The second quarter of 2008 saw venture investment in Mainland China surge to its highest level in five years as venture capitalists put nearly $1.37 billion into 71 deals, more than double the $662 million invested in 69 deals during the same period last year, according to the China Quarterly Venture Capital Report released by Dow Jones VentureSource.

Fitch Ratings has said that although Georgia's economy is showing some encouraging signs of resilience, it expects the military conflict to carry significant costs for the economy and risks to the ratings remains on the downside. On 8 August, Fitch downgraded Georgia's Long-term local and foreign currency Issuer Default ratings (IDRs) to 'B+' from 'BB-' (BB minus) and assigned Negative Outlooks to the ratings.

Despite continuing news about the troubled economy, Americans' perceptions of their own financial situations have grown slightly more positive this summer. The COUNTRY Financial Security Index SM rose to 69.9 in August, up 0.6 from June and 2.1 since April. More Americans, particularly younger age groups, rated their overall financial security positively in August than in June.

Nearly three out of four (74 percent) American voters agree that, "home care is part of the solution to the problem of rapidly increasing Medicare spending for America's seniors." Voters age 55-plus are even more likely to agree (81 percent).

The Conference Board announced that the leading index for Germany declined 1.1 percent and the coincident index increased 0.1 percent in June.

The price of a barrel of crude oil was about $30 lower last week than only about a month ago. Gasoline is down about 25 cents per gallon. The stock market has rallied. Bond yields came down about 20 basis points. But the economy remains very weak. What's wrong with this picture?

The U.S. leveraged finance markets experienced modest recovery in the second quarter 2008 following a disastrous first quarter. According to Fitch Ratings' second quarter 'U.S. Leveraged Finance Quarterly Review,' both the leveraged loan and high yield bond markets saw an increase in new issuance and markedly higher total returns.

Steven Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute, told FOX Business News that concerns that America is becoming overpopulated are groundless. Recent census bureau projections, quoted in the New York Times, predict that by 2042 the United States population will have risen by 100 million. America's continuing population growth is a net positive, according to Mosher.

Canadian seniors pay twice as much as American seniors for identical generic drugs, according to a new study released by independent research organization the Fraser Institute.

GfK Asia releases its 2008 Mid Year Pan Asia Consumer Electronics Data Summary, highlighting the trends in the region's growing consumer electronics sector and showing a retail spend of approximately US$ 11.5 Billion dollars in the first half of 2008, which is an increase of 13% year on year.