Online Extra: Q&A with HSBC's John Bond  Britain's HSBC Holdings
may be the world's second most-profitable bank, but that's not
buying much respect from investors these days. Its stock is down
18% in dollar terms this year, though its earnings are only
marginally below industry leader Citigroup's, which has taken
much less of a hit. Analysts want HSBC to beef up its services
in areas such as insurance -- and they continue to speculate on
the prospect of HSBC's acquiring Merrill Lynch. Bond says "no
conversations" are going on with Merrill regarding an
acquisition, but he maintains that HSBC's strong capital
position makes it well placed to outperform its competition. He
met recently with BusinessWeek London Correspondent Kerry Capell
to discuss HSBC's strategy going forward. Edited excerpts of
their conversation follow:  Q: What's your view on the global
economy?  A: There has been a pretty widespread slowdown in
demand, and that translates into lower production, lower demand
for funds, and in certain markets