Morning Economic News - February 6, 2009

Commentary and Overnight Trading

Asian indexes are up strongly Friday morning, with the Nikkei closing up 1.6% and the Hang Seng up more than 3% at this writing [3:30 AM Eastern]. US stock market futures are marginally higher, but much less than the Asian markets. Oil futures are down 1%, just above the $40 mark. The dollar is up against the Canadian dollar, down against the yen, euro and pound.

Economic Reports

Monster Employment Index - January 2009

• Index: 118


• Monthly Change: Down 13


• Year-to-year Change: Down 42 Points

Money Supply - February 5, 2009

• M1 Seasonally Adjusted Prior Month: $1595.8 billion


• M1 4-Week Average: $1584.5 billion


• M1 Annual Change (Unadjusted): $238.3 billion

Jobless Claims - February 5, 2009

• Initial Claims: 626,000


• Change from Last Week: Up 35,000

Japanese Leading Index takes biggest tumble in over 30 years

The Japanese Leading Index experienced its biggest monthly decline in
more than thirty years in December, dropping 4.3%, while the Coincident
Index dropped 1.4%. Still, four leading indicators improved: real money
supply, stock prices, interest rate spread, and the (inverted) business
failures*.

What I'm Reading

States' Jobless Funds Run Low

A growing number of states are running out of cash to pay
unemployment benefits, a development that comes as initial jobless
claims passed 600,000 last week.

Fed Calls Emergency Consultants to Triage and Treat AIG, Stricken Markets Every Sunday night, New York
bankruptcy lawyer Marshall Huebner spends a 13-hour shift on
call as an emergency medical technician. His day job involves
work on another sort of rescue: The government’s $152.5 billion
bailout of American International Group Inc.

Sarkozy Defies Protests, Promises $10.2 Billion Cut in French Business Tax French President Nicolas Sarkozy
defied calls for more aid to consumers, saying his 26 billion-
euro ($33 billion) plan to spur investment will cushion a
deepening economic slump and increase productivity.

U.S. Jobless Rate Probably Climbed to 16-Year High as Recession Deepened Unemployment in the U.S. probably
climbed in January to the highest level since 1992 and payrolls
dropped for a 13th consecutive month as the recession showed no
sign of abating, economists said before a report today.

Australian Central Bank Cuts GDP, Inflation Forecasts, Says Rates to Help Australia’s central bank slashed its
forecasts for economic growth and inflation, increasing Governor
Glenn Stevens’s scope to extend interest-rate cuts that have
taken the benchmark rate to the lowest in more than four decades.

Shirakawa Says Bank of Japan Will Limit Asset Buying to Save Balance Sheet Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki
Shirakawa said the central bank will limit its purchases of
stocks and corporate debt to protect its balance sheet and the
credibility of the yen.

Hong Kong January Luxury Home Sales Surge 31% as Lower Prices Lure Buyers Sales of Hong Kong luxury homes rose
to their highest in six months in January, indicating that prices
may have stabilized as buyers seek bargains, according to data
by Centaline Property Agency Ltd.

Geithner's Window to Halt Flight of Capital From U.S. Banks May Soon Close Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner
must use his Feb. 9 speech to lure private investment to U.S.
banks or risk an accelerating flight of capital that would
result in creeping nationalization, analysts and investors said.

India Bucks Global Auto Trend After Rate Cuts Spur Record Sales at Suzuki After six months of deliberating
whether to buy a car, Mumbai real-estate agent Abraham Mathew
took out a 300,000 rupee ($6,200) loan to buy a Suzuki Motor
Corp. sedan. The clincher: a 20 percent fall in interest rates.