Quick Overview

• Japan’s credit rating was cut by S&P one step to AA-

• Pending U.S. home sales were up 2% in December

• U.S. orders for durable goods fell 2.5%.

• U.S. first time claims for unemployment benefits rose by 51,000 last week.

• U.S bookings for capital goods like machinery and communications gear excluding aircraft climbed 1.4 percent after a 3.1 percent gain in November, the Commerce Department reported.

• South Korea posted its fourth- largest current account surplus in 2010, remaining in the black for the 13th straight year, the central bank said.

• (Xinhua) Quotes at Davos forum:
• "The increase in inequality is the most serious challenge for the world. I do not think the world is paying enough attention." -- Zhu Min, a special adviser at the International Monetary Fund and a former deputy governor of the People's Bank of China.
• "The gap between rich and poor is growing without relent. Global justice is a prerequisite for sustainable development and we have to understand that our lifestyle is not sustainable." -- President of the Swiss Confederation Micheline Calmy-Rey.
• "We are all optimists here, but when we look at the big issues on the global agenda, there is pessimism. We do not want this meeting to be one of despair. You fight possible burnout with renewed self-confidence. This should be a meeting of constructive optimism." -- Klaus Schwab, funder and executive chairman of the WEF.
• "All our efforts to further develop the world economy will be for nothing if we fail to defeat terrorism, extremism and intolerance, if we fail to eradicate altogether these evils which are the greatest danger to mankind."
• "Our task is to turn Russia into a more attractive place for the best minds in the world." -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
• "There is a global economic recovery ... balance sheets are strong, confidence is rising ... We have a glass that is half-empty and half-full."
• "The fiscal problem is very serious. The bond vigilantes have not yet woken up in the U.S. in the way they have in the euro zone. Unless the U.S. addresses this fiscal problem, we are going to see a train wreck."
• "In many of these emerging markets two-thirds of their consumer-price indexes are food, energy and transportation. When these things rise it becomes a really significant social cost." -- U.S. economist Nouriel Roubini nicknamed "Dr Doom."