Buyers' Remorse
By Anna Bernasek

(FORTUNE Magazine) – Foreigners seem to be losing their appetite for U.S. investments at an alarming rate. In May they spent $110 billion on stocks and bonds; by September that had dwindled to just $4.6 billion. (Direct investment by foreigners in U.S. factories and equipment is also down.) Because we need an influx of roughly $50 billion a month to cover our trade deficit, the slide has some economists worried. Whether this is just a blip or a lasting trend isn't clear, but if it's the latter, watch out for a falling dollar. --Anna Bernasek