Morning Economic News - February 10, 2009

Commentary and Overnight Trading

Overnight trading results early Tuesday [2:57 AM Eastern] are almost as lackluster as Monday's US stock market returns. The Nikkei closed down 0.29%, while the Hang Seng is up 0.01%, while US stock market futures are down just under 1%. Oil is up 26 cents a barrel and gold is up 0.39% while silver is down by the same percentage. The dollar is down slightly against the yen, up solidly againsg the euro, pound and Canadian dollar.

Economic Reports

Employment Trends Index - January 2009

• Employment Trends Index: 96.6


• Monthly Change: Down 1%


• Year-to-year Change: Down 18.6%

What I'm Reading

Slowdown Hits Emerging Markets

The global downdraft is hitting emerging economies with a speed and ferocity few imagined possible just months ago.

China's Inflation Slows to 1%, Weakest Pace in Two Years, as Economy Cools China’s producer prices tumbled by
the most in almost seven years and inflation cooled to the
weakest pace since 2006 as the government struggled to revive
growth in the world’s third-biggest economy.

BOE's King Must Print Money Now to Escape Credit `Mess,' Former Aides Say Bank of England Governor Mervyn King
should print money now and abandon economic assumptions that
have failed to save the U.K. from its worst recession since
World War II, a group of former central bank economists said.

U.K. Home Sales Drop to Lowest Since at Least 1978 as Recession Deepens U.K. housing sales dropped to the
lowest level since at least 1978 in the quarter through January
as property prices dropped further and Britain’s recession
deepened, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said.

Australia's Business Confidence Plunges to Record Low as Exports Decline IOOF Holdings Ltd. and Australian
Wealth Management Ltd., the asset managers that agreed to merge
last year, said funds under management plunged as financial
markets tumbled amid the global credit crisis.

Japan's Consumer Sentiment Stayed Near Record Low in January on Job Cuts Japan’s consumer sentiment stayed
near its lowest level in at least 26 years in January,
indicating households are likely to keep cutting spending.

South Korean Economy to Shrink 2%, Government to Boost Spending, Yoon Says South Korea’s new Finance Minister
Yoon Jeung Hyun pledged to increase stimulus spending after
forecasting the economy will contract about 2 percent this year
and lose around 200,000 jobs.

Bond Vigilantes Drive Treasuries to Worst Start Since 1980 in Test of Fed The bond vigilantes may be making a
comeback.

ECB Says Mixing Bad-Bank Plan, Asset Guarantee Would Curb Toxic-Paper Cost The European Central Bank said
governments should consider combining a so-called bad bank with
guarantees of securities to achieve the most cost-effective way
of ridding lenders of toxic assets.