Quick Overview

• The U.S. Federal Reserve remains worried inflation is too high, but is also watching to see how much a "substantial correction" in housing markets will slow economic growth, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday.
  
  

• The U.S. economy’s service sector grew at its slowest rate in three years, the Institute for Supply Management said Wednesday.
  

• U.S. Factory orders were unchanged in August, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.
  

• The MBA mortgage applications index rose sharply by +11.9%.
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that::
  Supplies of crude oil were up 3.3 million barrels last week to 328.1 million barrels.
  Supplies of unleaded gasoline were up 1.2 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil supplies were down 400,000 barrels.
  

• Dow-Jones reported that in the first nine months of 2006, the U.S. bought 70% of Brazil's 2.3 billion liters of ethanol exports.
  

• The Australian central bank left its key interest rate unchanged.
  

• YoY Retail sales volume in the EU-12 up 2.4% in August.
  

• Services index in the U.K. up 0.9% QoQ