-
Global Trade In Freefall: South Korea Exports Crash Most Since 2009
While the market's attention overnight was focused on China's crumbling manufacturing and service PMI, data which was already hinted in the flash PMI reports earlier in August, the real stunner came not from China but from South Korea, which last night reported an unprecedented 14.7% collapse in exports, far worse than the -5.9% consensus estimate, and more than 4 times worse than July's 3.4%. The number is critical because not only do exports account for about half of South Korea's GDP (with Samusng alone anecdotally accountable for 20% of the country's GDP), but because it also happens to be the first major ... (full story)