The "oil crunch" or "peaking oil" will start to destabilize economies, politics and society in general as early as 2015. "The rise in the oil price will have a major impact on anything from fertilizer to computers to clothes," Virgin Airlines owner Richard Branson has warned.

Japan enjoyed its biggest on-year increase in exports in almost 30 years last month. The value of exports rose 40.9% in January 2010 from a year earlier, the fastest pace since February 1980.

If the bearish options traders are right, First Solar should soon slip below the century mark. A pair of analyst downgrades and price decline of as much as 7%, to US$106.30, fueled bearish options activity on the manufacturer of solar modules. First Solar was cut to underperform from neutral and given a 12-month target share price of US$90 at Wedbush.

The potential impact of lesser subsidies has been an anchor on First Solar in recent sessions, after the company said last week that such cuts could pressure earnings in the second half of 2010.

"It is true that the sector is getting hotter and hotter. But it is premature to say the market will continue the current upbeat mood throughout this year," said Oh-Hyun Kwon, president of the company's chip division.

Putting all this into long-term perspective, the current problem offers a glimpse of the likely more massive labor shortage issue that China is set to face in the next few decades as its single-child policy keeps accelerating the aging of its still-enormous population.

According to a report by Asahi.com, Toshiba is developing a new technology that can turn cell phones into virtual secretaries. Like many of Japan's mobile-related technologies, this will probably be available only in its home country initially.

Intel expects to complement 193nm immersion lithography with either EUV or electron-beam direct write lithography for the 11nm generation, expected to arrive in 2015, according to Yan Borodovsky, director of Intel's Advanced Lithography and Manufacturing Group.

Formosa Plastics Group, one of Taiwan's largest industrial conglomerates, has announed it plans a stainless steel plant in Vietnam, with local media citing a budget of over US$3 billion.

Brian Hicks, who co-manages the Global Resources Fund at US Global Investors, said reports continue to show demand for copper, particularly in China, remains high. China is one of the largest importers of copper.