The US is closed until further notice until ‘Sandy’ has blown over. The last time Wall Street closed due to weather conditions, was in 1985 for hurricane Gloria. The decision was based on low expected trading volumes that could show disproportionate responses.
But while everybody is staying at home, US consumer spending rose 0.8% in September, beating expectations. read article
With everything on hold on the east side of the Atlantic, attention and pressure has been diverted the other way (employing the Eurocentric world map) to Japan. The Bank of Japan is meeting tomorrow, giving its biannual outlook report. Finance Minister Koriki Jojima is pressing the Bank to do something about the country’s deflation. The general expectation seems to be a JPY10tn ($125.7bn) extension of the country’s QE program. read article
In the Netherlands, the incumbent VVD (People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy) that secured most votes in September’s election, has struck an agreement with the PvdA (Labor Party) to form a coalition agreement. Budget negotiations that would bring the Dutch budget down to the EU-set benchmark of 3% are already taken care of. read article
After rumors last week, publishing houses Pearson and Bertelsmann announced today that they would join forces and create the largest trade publisher in the world: Penguin Random House. 53% of the new joint-venture will be held by Random House’s parent company Bertelsmann, while Penguin’s parent Pearson will hold the remaining 47%. read article
The FT’s headline of the weekend was that US money market funds have overcome their fear of the eurozone explosion and went back to making investments in Europe, increasing their exposure by 16% in September. So maybe Francois Hollande spoke to them before announcing that the worst of the crisis was over.
Meanwhile, a Greek newspaper published a list of individuals with Swiss bank accounts, causing the editor of the investigative magazine Hot Doc to be arrested on Sunday for suspected tax fraud. Greece’ sloppy way of handling its tax receipts (and the follow-up of those unpaid) has been a cause of criticism from its lender all along. read article
So long.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
