Will Congress Obey?
Stock were bouncing around – more volatility and I love it. However, everything went sideways – a typical Friday.
Gold recovered its recent downdraft of profit taking.
In the news today…..
Europe’s GDP – rose to PLUS 0.4% this past quarter. This means that Europe is growing right now, but at a very slow pace. Good news on the surface.
Consumer Confidence – fell in October back to the level in August. This is very bad news if consumers spend according to their sentiment about the economy. This could be another sign of a not so good 2010.
Airline Merger – for those of you interested in Europe. BA and Iberia (of Spain) are merging sometime in 2010, and will become the world’s number 3 airline. The business idea is to merge BA’s American routes with Iberia’s South American routes, to provide a very wide business base.
China’s Banker – told people that the Yuan would be allowed to increase in value “slowly”, and that the link between it and the US Dollar is very important and special and needs to be maintained, and changed only slowly. He said he would not bow to pressure from anyone outside of China on this issue. Tim Geithner, who was there, did not ask him to bow, or even hint at a stronger Yuan – what a chicken.
Tonight’s Dinner Conversation…..
Should Congress pass the $1 to 1.5 TRILLION increase in the maximum deficit that President Obama is asking for? Well, given the composition of Congress, of course they’ll pass it.
In 1995, Congress defied the President, and the US Government came to a screeching halt. But, probably not this time. This is one of the few powerful weapons that Congress has against the President.
What would you do?
Here are the last numbers for today:
Dow Jones 30 Industrial – 10,270 (up 73 points)
10 Year Treasury Bond – 3.43% (down 0.02%)
Euro – $1.4903
Gold – $1116 (up $10)
Oil – $76.50 (down $0.44)
Gasoline – $1.92 (down $0.02)