At this time of year, as regular readers know, I ask myself what were the biggest stories of the year slipping away, in terms of its busin ess/fina ncial news. Last year, for example, stories with a bearing on the financing of the war in Ukraine were dominant. This year ... not so much. With the single exception of July that particular war stays outside of this list. The war in Gaza, and the question of "what next in financial/business terms for that fraught tract of land," does make an appearance. But Sino-American economic relationships dominate the list this year. I'll break matters down by month as usual, and as is my habit I will avoid assigning priority among the various monthly champions. Each is tagged with a theme but each is a news story, NOT a theme. Each is a story about some "who" doing some "what" at a where and when. January. Sino-America economic relations I. The new President of the US and c...