| Building rules slow Japanese growth
New regulations that discourage construction and business lending add another burden to an economy already weighed down by slowing growth in the United States, the biggest export market for Japan. That has been giving investors reason to shun Japan, whose Topix stock index is the worst performer this year in Asia, down more than 14 percent. "We had an economy that was heavily regulated, and then deregulation and liberalization gathered momentum under Koizumi," said Hiromichi Shirakawa, chief economist at Credit Suisse Group in Tokyo. "Now, we have re-regulation. The markets have not taken it well." .
Harry Domash: Web sites for investing beginners
Judging from your comments, I occasionally have to be reminded that not all readers are grizzled stock market veterans who already know all of the investing basics. So today, I'll discuss five Web sites where you can get up to speed on investing. The first three are mostly about stocks and funds, the fourth offers an overview of retirement planning, and the fifth is about investing in bonds. If you're a beginner, I suggest going in the order I present them. If you are a grizzled veteran, you'll probably find the third site described, GreekShares.com, to be of most interest, at least in terms of stock investing. -- Although T. Rowe Price is a mutual fund company, its T. Rowe Price Insights Reports cover all types of stock market investments. For instance, you'll find reports describing strategies for selecting everything from conservative stocks to emerging growth, technology, health care and international stocks.
SBA disaster loans available
ATLANTA � Federal disaster loans are available to small businesses in the Commonwealth of Virginia as a result of drought that has continued since May 15. SBA's Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is available to farm-related and nonfarm-related small business concerns and small agricultural cooperatives that suffered financial losses as a direct result of this disaster. .
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