There’s no question that 9.2% is a big single-day drop. However, just looking at that one day doesn’t tell the whole story. In the previous six days, the same index had jumped 13%. That means that, despite the big drop, the index was still up 3.8% in seven trading days. I’d hardly call that a disaster. Regardless, a parade of market watchers has been bad-mouthing Chinese stocks, blaming them for the Dow’s plunge, and more.

Siliconware Precision is a support player in the semiconductor world. It receives unfinished chips from its customers, tests them, and then puts them into specialized protective casing for use in products like computers, digital cameras, cell phones, and cable modems. For example, the "Intel Inside" logo that you're so used to seeing is stamped on a Siliconware Precision casing.

It's because a decade of depression and tough times have primed Japanese companies, especially tech companies, for an impressive comeback. Martin Fackler's article in the New York Times this week, "New Optimism About the Japanese Economy After a Bleak Decade," brings my point home better than I can:

I didn't have too much time to enjoy it, though. Because along with the booming business came a problem I had never envisioned: spoiled, rotten brat employees that had no concept of hard work -- kids who expected to be pampered like rock stars or paid like professional athletes.

Everybody in the dot-com and high tech business was hiring, and the competition for qualified employees was brutal. Finding them was hard; keeping them, even harder. It wasn't just about money and stock options. High tech and dot-com companies also showered employees with idiotic butt-kissing benefits.

All across America, electronic shops opened their doors at midnight to throngs of eager youths and parents hoping to snag the new Xbox console.