Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Quick Overview

  • (Bloomberg) -- President-elect Barack Obama said he expects to inherit a $1 trillion budget deficit and that similar shortfalls are in store “for years to come”

  • U.S. factory orders fell 4.6% in November, twice as much as forecast.

  • U.S. pending U.S. home sales fell 4.0% in November, weaker than expected. The National Association of Realtors says this is the lowest level on record.

  • The Institute of Supply Managements' index of services rose from 37.3 to 40.6

  • An index of services in the U.K. rose from 40.1 to 40.2

  • U.K. House prices fell by 15.9% last year.

  • Inflation in the eurozone fell more than expected to 1.6% in December.
  • (FT) The German government’s second fiscal stimulus could reach €50bn ($68bn, £47bn) over 2 years.
  • Pakistani troops moving against Taliban guerrillas have intermittently blocked the one supply route through the Kyber Pass from Pakistan into Afghanistan.
  • (WSJ) Russian gas supplies to a swathe of Europe were all but cut off as temperatures plummeted across the region, raising the stakes in a pricing dispute between Moscow and Ukraine.
  • GM, Toyota and Ford all reported U.S. sales decline of more than 30% for December.
  • Oil prices hit $50 a barrel amid escalating violence in the Middle East.

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