TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says that rebuilding from natural disasters can alter the growth picture for a country.

Is it Katrina all over again? Or is it bigger? Much bigger? That's what I am thinking about this Chinese earthquake.

Katrina distorted the U.S.'s growth pattern for more than a full year. The raw materials, the effort, the work, the reconstruction affected businesses from small-scale retail to refining and infrastructure.

We don't really know how China works, although a lot of people tell us they do. To me, the Chinese are always a day away from revolution or civil war and the trick of the government is to stay one step ahead of the posse. (Chinese hands will dispute that, but you have to appreciate that it takes a special skill to be wrong for more than a century and still maintain credibility.)

That means massive reconstruction: bricks, lumber, cement, steel and all the trimmings. Massive imports, not controlled by the Chinese and their little negotiation games like they play with iron and steel and coal. Just full-bore buying and something that could take growth for China back to the levels that everyone thought it couldn't absorb without more inflation.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Google, Boyd Gaming and Microsoft were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Kaufman Bros. believes Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) has "only begun to scratch the surface" of its local market opportunity. Shares were assumed with a Buy rating and $680 target.
  
• Banc of America believes Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD) will face financing challenges with its Echelon resort, and initiated shares with a Sell rating and $14 target.
  
• Lehman reinstated Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) with an Equal Weight rating and $34 target based on peaking Vista/Office 2007 cycles, uncertain online strategy, and increased investment.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Goldman started AON Corp. (NYSE: AOC) with a Neutral rating.
  
• Broadpoint initiated Covanta (NYSE: CVA) with a Buy rating and $32 target.
  
• Companhia Vale Do Rio Doce (NYSE: RIO) was assumed at Citigroup with a Buy rating and $48 target.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• A potential $90B deal between mining companies Companhia Vale Do Rio Doce (NYSE: RIO) and Xstrata has hit a number of snags that could possibly end talks, reported the Wall Street Journal, including that Xstrata shareholder Glencore International, which has agreements to market a large part of what Xstrata's mines, wants to expand that to include Vale products besides iron ore.
• According to people familiar with the matter, bids for Australian retail-property giant Centro Properties are expected from The Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) and General Electric Company's (NYSE: GE) GE Real Estate, among others, the Wall Street Journal reported.

OTHER PAPERS:

• Montreal-based Gildan Activewear Inc (NYSE: GIL) recently paid $135M for V.I. Prewett & Son, a supplier of private label socks to large retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT). Gildan expects socks to add about $200M in annual revenue, equal to about 20c a share, according to "The New America" column in Investor's Business Daily's.
• A strike at a key auto parts supplier has forced General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) to shut down a pickup plant in Pontiac, the Associated Press reported. The plant will stop production today due to the strike against the parts supplier, American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc (NYSE: AXL), over a contract dispute.

Mining giant BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP)'s $110 billion offer for Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) has been rejected by the latter, with Rio indicating that the all-share offer was too low.

Further, talk on Wall Street Thursday tended to side with BHP making a better offer for Rio, amid chatter that Rio may seek an alternate offer from Brazilian rival, Vale.

BHP's shares fell $2.70 to $77.65 Thursday morning, while Rio's surged $94.70 to $452.20.

Analysts had projected that a BHP/Rio deal could have become the largest acquisition in history. Thursday's offer, however, was not high enough for Rio's directors apparently.

Is Rio worth more?