Emerging markets

That was the year after emerging markets plunged when
Thailand’s sudden devaluation of its currency, the baht, triggered
the worst sell-off ever in these markets. In the summer and fall of
1998 things got worse as Russia defaulted on some of its debt
and devalued its own currency, the ruble. And the American stock
and bond markets were roiled by the near-failure of the giant
hedge fund, Long-Term Capital Management.

Ten developed stock markets

Ten developed stock markets, including Germany, Italy,
France, and Switzerland, registered their highest correlation levels
with the American stock market in 2006. And four others, Australia,
Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, reached their highest correlation
levels ever in the last eight months of 2005.

Emerging markets plunged

That was the year after emerging markets plunged when
Thailand’s sudden devaluation of its currency, the baht, triggered
the worst sell-off ever in these markets. In the summer and fall of
1998 things got worse as Russia defaulted on some of its debt
and devalued its own currency, the ruble. And the American stock
and bond markets were roiled by the near-failure of the giant
hedge fund, Long-Term Capital Management.

Emerging markets in the United States

This rise in correlations may not be so surprising because the
stock markets in all these developed countries have become more
and more alike, as have their economic policies. But there also
has been a striking increase in the correlation of the movements
in emerging markets to those in the United States. And that big
shift up in correlations with emerging markets came at the same
time as in developed markets: in the summer of 1998.

Markets Department at the International Monetary Fund

Hung Tran, the deputy director of the Monetary and Capital
Markets Department at the International Monetary Fund, acknowledged
that this study was limited because it did not include
more countries, especially emerging markets. But he said it still
made a point about the rising correlations of markets around the
world.

Mel B gives her fellow Spice Girls sex advice.

Mel B gives her fellow Spice Girls sex advice.

Victoria Beckham has revealed she and the rest of the band -
Emma Bunton, Mel C and Geri Halliwell - constantly go to Scary Spice
Mel with their bedroom problems.

Victoria said: "If we have sex problems, we go to Mel B - she is like the doctor."

Mel
- who has a nine-month-old baby, Angel Iris, with ex-boyfriend Eddie
Murphy and an eight-year-old daughter, Phoenix Chi, with first husband
Jimmy Gulzar - has always been rumoured to have a wild sex life.

In 2004, she sparked bisexual rumours when she was pictured kissing a film executive known only as Christine.

Mel
- who is now married to movie producer Stephen Belafonte -also
allegedly enjoyed lesbian threesomes with her friend Christa Parker and
actress Elizabeth Rodriguez last year at her Los Angeles home.

Mother-of-two
Christa claimed: "I had only had sex with a woman once before, but Mel
was obviously very experienced with women. She is a great kisser.

The U.S. stock market dropped 8 percent

In May and June of 2006, there was a slump in global stock
markets, triggered by a sudden spike of inflation jitters in the
United States. The U.S. stock market dropped 8 percent, developed
markets outside the United States fell 14.9 percent, and
emerging markets plunged 24.5 percent, based on MSCI data.
A study by economists at the International Monetary Fund
highlights the diminishing benefits of diversifying abroad very
bluntly. The study shows that although American investors are
the least diversified of the investors in the four-country study
(United States, Germany, United Kingdom, and Japan), they have
only a “limited amount” to gain by diversifying more