Morning Economic News - October 13, 2008

US stock market futures are up in Monday trading overseas. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up 4.5% [3:32 AM Eastern Time] If last week's pattern holds, we'd expect the actual market to end up dropping about twice that by the end of the day, but there are ample signals that this may actually represent a real market bottom. The dollar is down slightly against the yen and down substantially against the euro (1.68%) and the pound (0.58%). Commodities prices are down about 6%, but oil has risen 4.5%.

Federal Budget - August 2008

• Year-to-date: $483,354 million


• Year-to-date excluding fiscal stimulus package: $333,354 million


• Prior Year-to-date: $274,393 million

Import Export Price Indexes - September 2008

• Non-petroleum Import Prices: Down 0.9%


• Export Prices: Down 1%


• Yearly Import Price Change: Up 14.5%


• Yearly Export Price Change: Up 6.8%

International Trade (US) - August 2008

• Exports: $164.7 billion


• Monthly Change: Down $3.4 billion

Financial Roadmap: The Week Ahead October 11 to 15, 2008

Three big events this week are nearly irrelevant in terms of the day to
day moves of the market, but still important to medium-long term
planning: the inflation figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
(PPI Wednesday and CPI Thursday) and the Beige Book from the Federal
Reserve. With assumed Fed action to spur economic growth priced in,
inflation be damned, no likely scenario for any of the three is going
to change that thinking.

IMF Nations Vow to Prevent New Failures

The IMF chief said member nations agreed to do what is
necessary to prevent another major financial institution from failing,
although he didn't specify any measures.

European Central Banks to Offer Unlimited Dollar Funds

The
Bank of England, the European Central bank and the Swiss National bank
said they will offer unlimited U.S. dollar funds to banks.

Treasury Hones Next Rescue Tool

Paulson
is fashioning yet another tool to stem turmoil in financial markets by
injecting capital directly into banks, details of which could be
announced Monday.

European Leaders Agree to Guarantee New Bank Refinancing, Prevent Failures European leaders agreed to guarantee
new bank debt and use taxpayer money to keep distressed lenders
afloat, trying to stop the worst rout in Europe's stock markets
in two decades and stave off a recession.

Norway Central Bank to Swap $55 Billion of Government Bonds for Mortgages Norway offered to swap as much as
$55.4 billion in government bonds for commercial banks' mortgage
debt, tracking government efforts worldwide to boost liquidity.

Fisher Says Fed Will `Consider Every Option' to Restore Order to Markets The Federal Reserve will consider
all policy options necessary to stabilize financial markets and
limit damage to the economy, said Richard W. Fisher, president
of the Dallas Fed bank.

Paulson Is Studying Europe Plan to Offer Guarantees for Debt Sold by Banks Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is
studying Europe's plan to provide a backstop for debt issued by
banks.

Trichet Says ECB Can Expand Collateral Rules, Examines Commercial Paper European Central Bank President
Jean-Claude Trichet said the ECB will examine ways to widen its
lending rules after governments asked it to set up a facility to
buy commercial paper.

India Plans to Increase Liquidity in Financial System, Chidambaram Says India is working on more measures to
increase the amount of cash in the financial system, Finance
Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said, sending shares up after
having fallen the most in 18 years last week.

U.K. Government May Put Its Representatives on Bank Boards, Official Says The British Treasury may appoint its
own representatives to the boards of the country's biggest banks
as it begins buying stakes in them over the next few weeks, a
government official said.

China's Exports Maintain Pace; Trade Surplus Swells to Record $29 Billion China's export growth maintained its
pace in September and the nation's trade surplus swelled to a
record as imports cooled.

France set to announce 40 bln euro bank plan-DJ

PARIS, Oct 13 (Reuters) - France is set to announce a 40
billion euro ($54.89 billion) fund to help banks in difficulty
and will create a vehicle to provide liquidity to interbank
markets, Dow Jones reported on Monday, citing "a source"

Asia greets G7 weekend pledges

Oct 13 - Asian markets started higher on Monday after officials pledged to help repair the world's broken financial system.