Quick Overview

• U.S. producer price index fell by 0.1% in December.
• U.S. industrial production rose by 0.4% in December
• The National Association of Home Builders reported that its housing confidence index rose 4 points to 25 in December, reaching its highest level in 4-1/2 years.

• The unemployment rate in Greece is 19% and rising. GDP has contracted by 12.5% since 2008 and is expected to fall by another 3% this year.

• PayPal added 1m new accounts per month in 2011, and closed Q4 with 106m registered accounts.

• Goldman Sachs announced higher-than-expected Q4 profit of $978 million, or $1.84 per share, compared with a gain of $2.2 billion last year.

• Australia's unemployment rate remained steady at 5.2% in December

• Brazil cuts key rate to 10.5% as expected.

• Chinas property prices fell 0.3% in December, and unsold inventories have reached the highest level in recent history, raising concerns monetary tightening may have gone too far.

• The IMF attempts to increase bail out resources by 500bn to tackle Eurozone contagion that will see Britain stump up a further £15bn, while German finance minister doubts the US will support the plan.

• Saturday marks the 2nd anniversary of the (U.S.) Citizens United ruling handed down by the Supreme Court. It gave corporations 1st amendment rights to spend unlimited money to support or defeat candidates for office.

• Moody’s raised Indonesia’s rating to Baa3 from Ba1