What does the swine flu have to do with the economy? Well, for one thing, the drug companies' stocks are having a field day, but airline and travel company stocks, and the peso… not so much. Oh, and let’s not forget the pork producers. As you can imagine the “swine” in the “swine flu” is making it difficult for people to recklessly enjoy pork chops, pork rinds and Cuban sandwiches. (Although, it must be mentioned that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintain that the flu is spreading from person-to-person contact, rather than through meat consumption) The Dow closed 51 points lower today, but still above the 8,000 mark. There is a whole theory about the Dow. If the Dow Jones Industrial Average go up together with the Dow Jones Transportation Average, this will signal the beginning of a bull market. This simultaneous surge has not happened, yet. So, the wild fluctuations of the markets will most likely continue (at least according to the followers of the “Dow Theory.”) G.M. released a restructuring plan that would have the U.S. Treasury own at least a 50% stake in the company. This is likely the automaker’s final attempt to avoid bankruptcy. However, G.M. sees China as a market where it can not only remain profitable, but where it can also stage its expansion into the entire Asia-Pacific region. "To win globally, we must win in China," said G.M. Chief Financial Officer Ray Young at a Chinese business luncheon in Detroit last week. It appears that GM has given up on winning the U.S. auto market, still number one in auto sales in the world.