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Alibaba.com ( BABA ) – Although not yet public at the time of writing, Alibaba.com – which some have likened to a combination of Amazon, eBay and PayPal – could become the largest Internet company in China right off the bat once it has its IPO. Founded in 1999, Alibaba’s estimated $168 billion market value has grown fivefold within a few years. In terms of dark horses, firms with disruptive technologies that achieve widespread adoption could be on their way to the big leagues in a matter of years.

Interestingly, despite the preponderance of energy companies in the ranks of the global giants (four of the Top 15) and the fact that the only company to ever breach the $1 trillion level was an energy producer, investors do not seem to be overly enthusiastic about the prospects for this group to grow at dazzling speeds well into the future. Nor do they seem to rate especially high the chances of former number ones like Microsoft and General Electric to attain their previous peaks.

The Economy Behind the Yen The Japanese economy has some particular and peculiar attributes that yen traders need to understand. Firstly, despite its size, Japan has been notably lacking in growth since the collapse of its real estate bubble. Writers often refer to a " lost decade " in Japan because of this reason. Although that may not be entirely accurate, growth has rarely exceeded 2% in Japan between 2001 and 2011 , and has contracted to zero or negative rates multiple times.

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