Unlike some of the other averages, the NYSE Composite held well above the August highs on the recent correction.

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For a comparison we took a composite family's portfolio to a well-recommended one-office outfit, Schultz Financial Group in Reno, Nev.

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The composite purchasing-managers' index (PMI), which covers services as well as manufacturing, inched up in June but at 46.4 remained well below the 50 level that separates expansion from contraction.

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Reflecting such optimism (as well as a certain measure of irrational exuberance), China's Shanghai Composite Index holds a 140% gain for the past 52 weeks.

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Shares of Chinese companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq have held up well over the past year, in spite of the fact that the Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks the bigger of China's stock exchanges, has been one of the world's worst-performing markets.

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