The markets were mostly flat last week as things settled down. There was no major bad news out of Europe and here at home it seems things will be slow until we begin the next earnings season in a couple of weeks.
Stock prices in China experienced their worst week in almost a year. This puts the Chinese markets at a 3 ½ year low. I would expect to see this trend continue until slowing growth figures reverse course.
Housing starts were up 2.3% in August. The increase was in both single and multi-family homes but was lower than analysts had hoped for. On the sale side, existing home sales rose a healthy 7.8%
A private sector survey of factory managers in China shows manufacturing in the world’s second largest economic engine shrank for the 11th consecutive month furthering fears of a global slowdown.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are looking closely at tighter controls for stock exchanges. Recent articles in the Wall Street Journal have highlighted problems with the complicated programs high-speed trading firms have developed, making things more opaque to ordinary investors. The programs may also be one of the root causes of problems like the “flash crash” that occurred in May 2010.
No comments:
Post a Comment