Read the latest interims.......just make sure that you are sitting down.

Stable cynic, its just gone to 336p mid.

Its in a real fall.

kitos get yer facts right about AGC was last in them light years ago.

Typical of you to hook up with VIS on SC (just wanna), didnt think he was your buddy.

But you were hailing them as a WORLD BEATING share Slats. Whatever happened.?

A real cock up with CCs but I realised that and bailed out with a small profit, just like you should have done here.

I dont fall in love with shares.

You really are making a fool of yourself associating with VIS over on SC.

A few brave souls trying to prop this one up but it wont work.

250p here we come.

GF ,off topic it looks like WNG is nearly back at float price ,whats your take on that.

O/T Hi Jimmy,

to be honest I havent even looked at it from the last day i got out. i know that Winnie as put the boot in this morning saying evil is shorting it.

Sorry I couldnt be of more assistance.

Apt heading hey diddleboy..........

Chinese manufacturing

The diddle kingdom

Jul 5th 2007 | HONG KONG
From The Economist print edition


Tainted Chinese goods prompt safety scares around the world

Get article background

IT HAS been a rough few months for China's exporters. In March tainted pet food originating in China was found to be killing animals in America. Since then Chinese shipments of toxic toothpaste, toys and seafood, as well as hundreds of thousands of faulty tyres, have all caused big safety scares. The defective goods that have long bedevilled Chinese consumers are beginning to spread to the outside worlda trend that is exacerbating concern about China's burgeoning exports.

Tales of dangerously shoddy manufacturing within China are nothing new. In 2004 bogus baby formula killed dozens of infants. More recently the Chinese media have reported half a dozen dead and many ill from a flawed antibiotic, 11 dead from tainted injections, 56 people ill as a result of contaminated meat, toxic snacks pulled off shelves and fake blood protein discovered in hospitals. In May the head of the agency that regulates Chinese food and drugs, Zheng Xiaoyu, was sentenced to death for accepting bribes in exchange for licences to produce fake drugs and medical devices. And this week a report from the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, China's standards watchdog, said that 20% of domestic products tested had failed to meet safety standards.

But safety lapses have only recently begun to attract the attention of foreigners. On July 1st Charles Schumer, an American senator who is a vocal critic of China, issued a report noting that 60% of goods recalled by America's main safety regulator came from China. In June alone, the report says, dangerous faults or poisons prompted the recall of 68,000 folding chairs, 2,300 toy barbecue grills, 1.2m space heaters, 5,300 earrings, 1.5m Thomas the Tank Engine toy trains and 19,000 children's necklaces. America's Food and Drug Administration has also rejected several shipments of contaminated food from China this year, and a wholesaler in New Jersey has recalled Chinese chocolates containing potentially carcinogenic ingredients.

Skittish Americans are not the only ones worried about Chinese exports. In Panama around 100 people are reported to have died after ingesting tainted cough syrup from China. In Hong Kong, stores routinely sell staple goods such as eggs and milk from China more cheaply than those from other countriesa good indicator of the perceived danger. Legislators in the territory upbraided the government for lax safety standards on July 4th. In response, it pledged to develop a food supply traceability system to find and remedy problems at their sourcein China. The European Union has also expressed concern.

Poor countries where manufacturing is booming often struggle to maintain quality standards at first. Made in Japan and Made in Korea were once synonymous with shoddiness. Post-war Japan was also an environmental disaster. Eugene Smith's photographs of the victims of mercury poisoning in Minamata Bay became international symbols of industrialisation gone awry. But the Chinese government's reflexive secrecy, as well as widespread corruption and tight curbs on the press, probably make matters worse.

Mr Schumer fears that many faults are never detected. After all, in America as in most countries, only a relatively small proportion of imports is inspected. Moreover, numerous agencies have the power to monitor and block shipments, creating a bureaucratic quagmire. He proposes an import tsar to oversee the scrutiny of Chinese goods. But critics of the proposal fear that such a figure would be susceptible to political pressure, and would soon resort to protectionism in the name of safety.

Besides, the problem might be solving itself. One manufacturer in southern China recalls how a factory dumped dyes in the water supply in the 1990s, turning all the locals' clothes blueand doubtless wreaking havoc with their insides too. That factory has now closed. Another manager recalls appalling conditions at a juice factory that led, mercifully, to closure. Today a more typical factory would be one of PepsiCo's Chinese plants, he says, with safety standards among the most stringent in the world.

Such improvements are driven by enlightened self-interest. Many manufacturers are aware of what a slur the phrase Made in China has become, and are taking precautions to preserve their reputations. Small and ill-supervised suppliers and subcontractors have been responsible for many of the worst disasters. So Coca-Cola has banned its subcontractors from subcontracting again, to ensure strict quality control. McDonald's, aware that one bad hamburger could destroy its reputation, has gone even further, setting up a whole proprietary supply chain within China with more than 40 facilities producing beef, chicken, lettuce, cucumbers, rolls and even special sauce. And companies such as Li & Fung vie to help manufacturers monitor their supply chains and improve the quality of the goods they buy.

Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of the recent scandals is that they are emerging at all. For the first time in decades, the Chinese government has gone so far as to appoint respected professionals who are not members of the Communist party to run the ministries of science and health. Both of the ministers concerned have studied and worked in Europe. The better they do their jobs, the greater the number of scandals and problems that are likely to emerge. Last week the government said it had shut down 180 food factories in the past six months. If the quality of Chinese manufacturing is to improve, the first step is to expose its flaws.

Vis, as in Invisage.? Never was a friend of his Slats, even yonks ago. You people have so many aliases that decent folk don't know who the hell you are. But, that serves your purpose well I suppose.

Nice bit of cut and paste Slats. You are teaching your pupils well. No spelling mistakes when you use the words of others.

SOLA is weak, not really at all because above article/scare, but because there is a lot of distressed selling and severe market uncertainty all round ...... with very few exceptions, all stocks are being hit hard ...... if US figures further upset, then this afternoon could be very unpleasant indeed.

Cynic, just had Evil ks target price confirmed 250p.

No doubt he'l lower it as the sp falls.

kitos O/T not kidding im sure it is VIS.(justwannamakemoney)

US to open lower....http://www.marketwatch.com/

OK Slats .. believe you.

Cheers mate.

Dropping again gents.

lunch time crowd switching on.

To drop below 330p this afternoon?.

Think ill pop out and buy a few bottles of stella to take me through it..........NICE.

Stella is known as "Wife Beater" ...... am sure that does not apply to GF though!

More like other way round cynic.

Always do everything in moderation, thats why im very mild on sola.

I see its taking a right tanking down now lads.

Short the ass of it. Charge Tally Ho and all.

fyi, it seems the soubriquet derives from Stella seemingly being the preferred tipple of those predisposed to domestic violence ..... or so my younger son tells me