Quick Overview

• The U.S. current account deficit is not sustainable but an adjustment need not be disorderly, provided the government and central bank deliver good policies, a top Federal Reserve policy-maker said on Wednesday.
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that:
  Supplies of crude oil were up 4.5 million barrels to 323.6 million barrels -- 700,000 barrels came from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
  Supplies of unleaded gasoline were up 4.2 million barrels
  Supplies of Heating oil were down 1.5 million barrels
  

• The Mortgage Bankers Association said its mortgage application index was up 2.3% last week to 661.3
  

• In the U.K. consumer confidence fell to the lowest in at least 18 months in October as economic growth faltered and unemployment rose, the Nationwide Building Society survey showed.
  

• The Conference Board said the index of leading indicators for Japan increased 0.4% in September to 99.7.

• China is speeding up plans to allow local institutions to invest overseas, a move that could begin to release a portion of the billions of dollars of foreign currency now sitting in low-return Chinese bank deposits.
  

• Industrial production in Brazil fell more than expected in September from August, suggesting that high interest rates took a toll on Latin America's largest economy in the third quarter.