Business news for Mon, 17 Dec 2007 & with word lead. 13 news.

SHANGHAI stocks tumbled yesterday, led by banks and property developers. The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers yuan-denominated A shares and hard currency B shares, fell 2.62 percent to end at 4,876.76, the biggest drop in two weeks. It had reached an intraday high of 5,007.35. Turnover rose to 102.65 billion yuan (US$13.87 billion) from 82.82 billion yuan on Friday. Gainers outnumbered losers 450 to 362 while 88 stocks were unchanged. "A massive drop of big-caps, including lenders and property developers, has led the local stock market to a slump," said Chen Huiqin, an analyst with Huatai Securities Co. "However, the recent correction from a high of 6,100 to the current level, a 20 percent drop, would probably create some opportunities for both institutional and individual investors." Banking stocks dropped on concern a slowdown in the property market will drain demand for housing loans. China Merchants Bank Co, the nation's sixth-largest lender in

BAIDU.COM has teamed up with Huawei Technologies and Intel to strengthen its servers and search technologies to expand its lead in the domestic market over rivals including Google, Nasdaq-listed Baidu said yesterday. Baidu announced it will build a joint lab with Huawei to explore "next-generation" online search and test 3G-related mobile phone services, just one month after Google launched mobile search services in China. "Baidu has to break the bottleneck of the server capacity as the demand for search surges in China," William Chang, Baidu's chief scientist, said. "Baidu has to triple its existing capacity to reach the global level of services." In the third quarter, China overtook the United States to become the world's largest search traffic, with 10 billion hits per month, Baidu said. Baidu has launched a series of new services, such as an Olympics channel, game channel, Baidu TV and online music streaming (partnered with Rock Music Group).

DETROIT - Michigan and Ohio share something with Florida and California - some of the nation's highest rates of foreclosed homes and delinquent mortgages.

Michigan and Ohio share something with Florida and California - some of the nation's highest rates of foreclosed homes and delinquent mortgages. But the reasons for their woes are as different as their climates.

Chinese made goods tainted with lead, Jessica Simpson selling food she can't eat, what more could the year bring? Fortune takes you inside 101 of the Dumbest Moments in Business for 2007.

The differences between China and India, in terms of operating as a foreign investment bank, are highlighted by the contrasting personnel hired to lead the operations

Rising oil futures were a factor in driving up and sustaining igher than normal fuel prices. Rising commodities prices will drive up food prices. I am concerned that we will be competing with the world for our food supplies. This will lead to interesting times ahead.

[Food] For food marketers, pairing indulgences with everyday products (like a floral-flavored marshmallow, or mix-ins for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich) can open a new niche for product development. And, says a trendologist, "Americans are willing to pay a slight premium for these indulgences, which can lead to higher profit margins."

FT.com - London equities extended recent falls on Monday, led lower by the financial sector as the outlook for further rate cuts in the US was complicated by strong inflation data. Retailers were hit by bearish analysis from Seymour Pierce.

Hong Kong, Australia and Taiwan fell 3.5 per cent as regional markets took their lead from Wall Street and traders worried about tighter monetary policy in China, the US and Europe

With former oilpatch CEOs Gywn Morgan (EnCana Corp.) and John Buckee (Talisman Energy Inc.) in the lead, a noisy chorus of oil executives warned us that capital would flee the oilpatch if Edmonton dared haul Alberta's royalty regime into the 20th century. We say 20th century because after the modest royalty increases ultimately imposed by Premier Ed Stelmach a few weeks ago, Alberta remains one of the most industry-friendly regimes in the oil-producing world.

DOMESTIC stocks fell this morning amid a wide spread sell off among blue chips in the banking and property sectors as unsettled investors are concerned that more tightening measures may be implemented to cool the economy. The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks yuan-denominated A shares and hard-currency B shares, was down 1.79 percent, or 89.41 points, to 4,918.50 at 11:30am today. The index opened at 5,007.29 at 9:30am. But gainers in the Shanghai market outnumbered losers 456 to 304 while 86 were unchanged. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which covers the smaller mainland stock market, lost 0.44 percent, or 5.86 points, to 1,325.88. The Shenzhen index opened at 1,334.34 at 9:30am today. Vanke, the nation's biggest listed property developer, slid 7.68 percent, or 2.30 yuan (31 US cents), to 27.65 yuan. Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co, the Chinese partner of Citigroup Inc, dropped 3.80 percent, or 1.88 yuan, to 47.59 yuan. China Merchants Bank Co, the nation's biggest

For folks who hate asking for directions even more than getting lost, a GPS unit is a must. A global positioning system takes you turn by turn; the only things they can't do is lead you to a unit that's right for you.