As evidence mounts that a mid-year slowdown is taking place in the world economy, the next few days will offer a clearer glimpse of how that will impinge on policymaking and buoyant financial markets. Global stocks stumbled last Thursday in one of the few times the grey economic reality cut through this year's reverie in financial markets. And that could mark the start of a trend, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke last week hinted the U.S. central bank could soon scale back its monthly bond purchases that have flooded stock markets with new cash. Some poor business surveys from China have also had an ... (full story)