Other fears are that the Asian economic recovery will prove less muscular than hoped (the portof Seattle is a major export route to Asia) and that the Department of Justice may carry out its veiled threats to break up Microsoft.
Rather like the length of the queue of coal ships outside Newcastle, the world's largest coal exportport, Westfield's retail results are fast becoming a global barometer.
Another pipe would extend to the portof Ilo, further south, a centre for mining activity, which could be the export terminal for markets on the Pacific rim.