Good morning New York Japan's mini crash: Blame China, not just Ben. The Nikkei 225 was clearly over-cooked. But just how over-cooked, we found out on Thursday when it fell 7.3 per cent. Paul notes that falls in the Nikkei >7 per cent are few and far between. There was the Tsunami, of course. And before that you have to go back to the big 1998 correction, and before that the full-on 1987 crash. But it also needs to be seen in context: Japan had seemingly been on an unstoppable roll... And, as the FT noted, it was apparently the small guys leading the charge. Unlike the rout of two years ago, which was led by institutional investors fearing a nuclear meltdown, brokers said that Thursday's dash for the exits was led by retail - or smaller - investors. Amari, Japan's economy minister, tried to calm everybody down: "Stock prices and the exchange rate are correlated, so it's natural that such a big fall in stocks brings about a swing to a stronger yen," Amari said. We will continue to calmly proceed with pragmatic policies. Financial litigators of the world, unite: This, says Joseph, would be the International Financial Litigation Network, "a group seeking to facilitate effective cross-border representation for clients in global financial disputes," founded in a Sixth Avenue conference room on Wednesday. China factory data to test political calculations: The purchasing managers" index for the manufacturing sector is on track to fall to a seven-month low of 49.6 in May from 50.4 in April, according to a preliminary survey published by HSBC. The decline was worse than expected and, in dropping below the index's midpoint of 50, it signalled that China's industrial activity had started contracting. Risk-on currencies benefit: The Japanese yen and Swiss franc made strong gains against other currencies amid a sell-off in global equities, with risk sentiment dented after China's manufacturing sector contracted unexpectedly in April, according to a flash HSBC purchasing managers" index. Ford exits Australia amid mounting losses: Ford is to cease production in Australia by 2016 and cut about 1,200 jobs - almost half its local workforce - after concluding the business case for producing vehicles locally "did not stack up." Shrinking subsidiaries: "Some of the biggest U.S. companies, including Google and FedEx have quietly removed hundreds of offshore subsidiaries from their publicly disclosed financial filings over the past several years. Software maker Oracle Corp., for instance, disclosed more than 400 subsidiaries in its 2010 annual report. By 2012 the list had been whittled to eight - five of which were located in Ireland. Oracle declined to comment. Markets: Global stocks are in sharp retreat, led by a savage plunge in Tokyo, as traders are spooked by the prospect of reduced central bank support and a slowing Chinese economy. The six-month rally in the Nikkei 225, which had seen the Tokyo benchmark surge about 80 per cent on hopes for government and Bank of Japan stimuli, cracked, with the index ending down 7.3 per cent, its biggest daily drop in two years. But a broad afternoon sell-off ensued as volatility in the Japanese bond market and a rising yen encouraged wholesale profit-taking. The yen has strengthened from Y103.6 to Y101.56 against the dollar in a matter of hours, while yields on Japanese government bonds tracked lower as investors sought refuge in credit markets. Yields on 10-year JGBs hit 1 per cent for the first time in a year in the opening minutes of Tokyo trading, but fell back to 0.85 per cent by late afternoon writes the FT's Global Markets compere Jamie Chisholm.