Closer Look: The COSCO Maelstrom

Shipping giant China COSCO Holdings Co. Ltd. announced March 28 that the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) would tag the company's shares for "special treatment." The measure is used to warn investors of a company's possible delisting after a company reports two straight years of losses.

In 2011, COSCO lost 10.4 billion yuan, and it posted annual losses of 9.56 billion yuan in 2012, marking the second straight year the company reported a loss.