CHINESE PENS SPELL MARKDOWN FOR JAPANESE PROFITS
Japan, which has flooded the world with felt- and nylon-tipped pens, is now being flooded with hundreds of thousands of pens from China. Named Hero 329 and Hero 440, the two models have proved so cheap and so popular as to hurt Japanese manufacturers. The Japanese press reports that "security agency authorities" are worried over Peking's "motive" for the sudden surge of pens.