FXIS Market Insights

Weekly Snapshot
• European Union and IMF meet in Dublin to discuss bail-out talks for Ireland (FT)
• China raises Bank reserve requirements for fifth time this year (FT)
• US Leading Economic Index increased 0.5% in October to 111.3 (Conference Board)
• The Federal Reserve plans to do another round of stress tests on top U.S. banks (WSJ)
• Euro area annual inflation was 1.9% in October, up from 1.8% in September (Eurointelligence)
• GM raises $20.1 billion in one of the largest IPOs (FT)
• Core US inflation slowest on record; CPI increased 0.2% in October (FT)
• China may impose temporary price controls to counter fastest inflation in two years (Bloomberg)
• Greece revises its 2010 projected deficit from 7.8% to 9.4% (Eurointelligence)
• South Korea raises interest rates to 2.5% and considers capital controls (FT)
• US Industrial production was unchanged in October after having fallen 0.2% in September (FRB)
• US Producer Price Index increased 0.4% percent in October, seasonally adjusted (BLS)
• Apple to sell Beatles songs by by adding the Beatles catalog on iTunes (WSJ)
• Britain's stubbornly high consumer inflation rate rose to 3.2% in October (Bloomberg)

Weekly Market Barometers

Chart Of The Week
Considering the recent announcement of another $600bn in quantitative easing and the possibility of more government stimulus in Europe,  who can really remember how it all started? How much money has actually been used in the various bailouts.  Remember TARP?  It all sounds so “yesteryear”.  With billions and trillions floating around, is anyone keeping track of where the money is going?  Thanks to the folks at ProPublica.org you can get a pretty good overview of where the bailout money went:

The Treasury Department is authorized to spend a maximum of $475 billion on the TARP (In July 2010, the financial regulation overhaul reduced TARP’s spending cap to $475 billion from the original $700 billion.) Altogether, accounting for both bailouts, $546 billion has gone out the door—invested, loaned, or paid out—while $221 billion has been returned. The Treasury has been earning a return on most of the money invested or loaned. So far, it has earned $43 billion. When those revenues are taken into account, $282 billion is the net still outstanding as of Nov. 19, 2010.

The chart below and more detailed information is available at: http://bailout.propublica.org/main/summary

Source:  http://bailout.propublica.org/main/summary

Recommended Read
Tired of financial analysts and economic forecasts?  I can’t blame you one bit.  Sometimes it’s all a blur and you don’t know what to do or whom to believe when it comes to investing.  If you are looking for some new and unusual market projections, please consider this highly interesting article by Keith Fitz-Gerald:  In China, Record Hairy Crab Prices Point to Continued Strong Economic Growth Next Year.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I will head over to my favorite Chinese Restaurant. 

Good luck and good investing!

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