Economy
-Japanese business sentiment moved into positive territory for the first time since the disasters in March. 10/3
-In August construction spending ticked up 1.4% from July. 10/4
-Auto sales jumped 10% in September. 10/4
-Manufacturing slowed around the world in September, a worrisome sign for a struggling global economy. The U.S. manufacturing level rose slightly, but new orders were contracting casting doubt on future growth. 10/4
-Factory orders in the U.S. fell in August after rising in July. 10/5
-Fed chairman Bernanke reiterated that the U.S. economy was perilously close to recession and the government needed to do more to help as he testified before congress. 10/5
-Payroll processor ADP announced that private sector higher rose by 91,000 in September ahead of estimates. 10/6
-The rate of home ownership of homes in the U.S. fell1.1% to 65.1%, the largest drop since the Great Depression. Meanwhile the 30 year mortgage rate hit its lowest average ever of 3.94%. 10/7
-In September employers added 103K jobs toping estimates and stemming fears of another recession. Job numbers from August were also revised higher by 57K. The unemployment rate remained at 9.1% However, the economy remains in neutral. 10/8
Corporate
-UBS announced it expected to post a quarterly profit despite the $2billion loss by a trader last month. 10/5
-Apple disappointed many with the unveiling of not the iPhone 5, but an updated version of the iPhone 4. 10/5
-Apple co-founder and tech visionary Steve Jobs passed away. 10/6
-Samsung said it expected its third quarter earnings to be weaker due to decreasing demand for flat panels and computer chips. 10/7
-Apple has said it has received more than 200K preorders for the iPhone 4s in the first 12 hours of its availability. 10/8
-Sprint announced that it would need to either tap its credit line or access the capital markets in order to raise funds. 10/8
Regulatory
-Obama is expected to send trade agreements with Columbia, South Korea and Panama to congress this week. The deals could potentially be a boon to US corporations increasing exports by $13 billion. 10/3
-BNY Mellon received civil suits from New York and the Justice Department seeking $2 billion in damages regarding their foreign currency exchange transactions, alleging the firm overcharged clients for the transactions. 10/5
Market
-Greece acknowledged over the weekend that they would be unable to hit their budget reduction targets for 2011 throwing additional bailout funds in to jeopardy. 10/3
-Global equity markets got off to a weak start in the 4th quarter. Fears of slowing global economic growth and a Greek debt default triggering another global recession continue to dominate investors’ moves. Many major indices are approaching bear market levels. The Dow fell 2.4% leaving it down 16.8% for its April high. The S&P 500 is down 19.4% since April. Both are at their lowest levels in over a year. In Europe stocks were down 1.1% and Japan saw stocks down 1.8%. The 10 year treasury yield fell again to 1.787%. 10/4
-Moody’s downgraded Italy’s debt rating to A2 and said an additional drop in credit status was possible in the near term. 10/5
-Stocks finished up for the second day in a row. The Dow rose 1.2% to 10,940, the S&P grew 1.8%, and Europe was up 3.1%. The rise was on investor optimism for Europe debt talks, and some positive signs from the U.S. economy. 10/6
-US markets were down on Friday but ended the week up. The Dow was up 1.7%, the S&P 500 was up 2.1%, Europe was up 2.6%. The 10 year treasury yield rose back above 2% to 2.067%.
-Fitch lowered its ratings for Italy and Spain. 10/8