The U.S. and many global stock markets have continued to move ahead. Even rising tensions on the Korean peninsula, and the theoretical prospect of nuclear war, were met by markets with a brief shrug — and this during a seasonal period when markets are often unsteady and experience corrections. As

93% of S&P 500 companies have reported second-quarter earnings; the remainder will continue into early Sep-tember. As of this writing, bottom-up earnings for the S&P stand at $32.63, representing a 5.9% quarter-over-quar-   ter increase and a 10.6% year-over-year increase. In short, earnings are strong — and with four quarters

From time to time, coverage of China rises to a crescendo in the popular media. China coverage reflects some of the same schizophrenia that afflicts much of the media’s output. At many points in the past several years, accord-ing to the media, China has been a tot-tering giant whose economy