While its peers slash their forecasts amidst an ugly economic environment, Hewkett Packard is boldly predicting that its future profits will beat Wall Street's expectations.

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Its level reflects all sorts of things, including demand from investors for bonds, expectations of future inflation and a risk premium for holding longer-term assets.

ECONOMIST: The economy

Illig co-founded heath IT provider Cerner, which benefitted this week on Wall Street expectations that its combination of tech, outsourcing services and consulting will bring steady profits for the foreseeable future.

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Mr. Huang said the local markets were likely to rise further, citing expectations that the European debt crisis will simmer down and China will ease its monetary policy in the near future.

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