Quick Overview

• US jobless claims back above 400,000 again.
• U.S. construction spending rose 0.8% in October
• The ISM said its manufacturing index in November rose to 52.7% from 50.8% in October -- the 28th month of expansion
• General Motors reports a 6.9% jump in November U.S. sales, led by bigger trucks and smaller gas sippers.

• China reported its manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 49.0 on a 100 point scale, below the previous month’s 50.4 reading -- therefore China’s central bank said on Wednesday that it will lower the reserve requirement ratio of banks by 0.5 % points – first lowering in 3 years.

• Central bankers in the United States, Eurozone, Japan, Switzerland and Canada have launched co-ordinated global action to ease the growing credit crisis among Eurozone banks by lowering the price on existing dollar swaps.
• There is no quick fix to Europe's debt woes that threaten to escalate into a more widespread credit crunch, Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Kiyohiko Nishimura warned on Wednesday
• The unemployment rate in the Eurozone hit a record high of 10.3% in October

• Fed's Beige Book: Economy moving forward at snail’s pace.
• The November reading of the Chicago PMI rose to 62.6% from 58.4% in October, which is a seven-month high.
• YoY Canada's GDP grew 3.5% in the third quarter

• U.S. Pending home sales rose 10.4% in Octoer."We hope this indicates more buyers are taking advantage of the excellent affordability conditions," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, in a statement.

• Vienna has the best living standard in the world - and Baghdad the worst, according to an annual survey.

• (FT) US faces pension bill for AMR restructure: State body warns taxpayers could pay higher premiums.

• (Economist) The FTC’s investigation finds that Facebook has been making information public that it had pledged to keep private.

• Walt Disney (DIS) raised its annual dividend by 50% to 60 cents a share.

• Goldman: The combination of a record cotton crop and falling consumption will expand global stockpiles by the most since 2005, driving further declines in the price.

• The DoE said: Crude oil stocks rose by 3.9 million barrels in the week ending November 25. Gasoline stocks rose by 0.2 million barrels. Distillate stocks rose by 5.5 million barrels. Ethanol stocks fell by 0.5 million to 17.0 million barrels