Want to See a Bursting Bubble?

With Chinese growth and prosperity displayed on our TV sets each night throughout the Olympics, it's hard to imagine that China's stock market could be doing so poorly. But in a classic bubble pattern, China's Shanghai Composite is now down 60% since just last October. It is now just 9% above its highs from 2001, and it is on the verge of giving up nearly all of its parabolic gains following its breakout in 2006. Anyone hoping that the Olympics would give ailing Chinese stocks a boost have gotten a rude awakening. Since the opening ceremony on lucky 8/8/08, the Shanghai Composite has had three straight daily declines of 4.47%, 5.21% and 0.52%.