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Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. again posted record sales and earnings for fiscal year 2008. Total net sales for the Company were $374.5 billion, an 8.6 percent increase over the previous fiscal year and a record for any retailer.

Operating income was up 7.3 percent for the year, with income from continuing operations up 5.8 percent. Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations for the fiscal year were $3.16, an increase of 8.2 percent over the previous year. These are all indications of our strong Company.

In addition to sales, operating income and earnings per share, we believe that free cash flow is an important financial measure in evaluating Wal-Mart’s performance. We define free cash flow as the cash provided by operating activities, less our payments for property and equipment (capital expenditures). Our priorities for cash remain the same: expansion, strategic acquisitions, payment of dividends and share repurchase.[Download]

With listings on the London, Hong Kong, New York, Paris and Bermuda stock exchanges, shares in HSBC Holdings plc are held by about 200,000 shareholders in over 100 countries and territories. The shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange in the form of American Depositary Shares.

HSBC provides a comprehensive range of financial services to more than 100 million customers through four customer groups and global businesses: Personal Financial Services (including consumer finance); Commercial Banking; Global Banking and Markets; and Private Banking.[Download]

Property investment has emerged as an asset class, but it remains difficult to access and is often beset by complex structures and regulation. The factors governing investment decisions differ greatly from one market to another.

Developed jurisdictions such as Australia, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore all have well defined and strictly governed real estate markets, often competing to attract investment from institutional investors with an Asian property mandate. The other end of the spectrum sees frontier markets such as Vietnam, China and India closely studying regulatory frameworks in the rest of the region as a guide to establish their own viable marketplace for international real estate investors. [more...]