Morning Economic News - November 3, 2008

The first day of November and the last day before the Presidential election could be a relatively calm one on Wall Street. US stock market futures are up moderately in overnight trading, with S&P 500, NASDAQ and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures all up just over 1% [2:30 AM Eastern Time]. The Hang Seng is up 3.5% and the S&P/ASX 200 is up 5%. The dollar is up against the yen, euro and pound, but down against the Canadian dollar. Oil prices are up just over 1%. With credit markets freeing up and recapitalized US banks taking private steps to avoid foreclosures on problem subprime mortgages, there's plenty of news to calm markets; there's also potential for trouble with the ISM Manufacturing Report on Business due out Monday and earnings reports from MasterCard and the PMI Group, two companies intimately tied to the credit and mortgage markets.

Financial Roadmap: The Week Ahead November 3 to 7, 2008

The week opens up with two days of news from the industrial economy and
then heads into three days of employment data leading up to Friday
morning's Labor Department Employment Situation Report. Friday will be
a big day overall with news from housing and credit markets as well as
the jobs report.

Personal Income and Spending - September 2008

• Personal Income: $12,251.2 billion


• Monthly Change: Up 0.2%


• Real Disposable Personal Income: Up 0.1%

J.P. Morgan in Huge Effort to Save Mortgages

J.P. Morgan launched an ambitious plan to modify the terms
of $70 billion in mortgages for borrowers who are behind on their
payments or soon could be. The move will cover as many as 400,000
borrowers.

South Korea Plans Stimulus

South Korea proposed a fiscal stimulus plan of tax cuts and new government spending amounting to about $11 billion.

Dodging another Great Depression

WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - Starbucks is starting to sell more coffee. Companies are
once again finding buyers for their short-term debt. Money is beginning
to flow back into emerging markets.

Trichet Extends ECB's Power, May Cut Rates at Fastest Pace in Its History Jean-Claude Trichet is extending the
European Central Bank's powers just as it gears up for what may
be the fastest round of interest-rate cuts in its 10-year
history.

South Korea Unveils $10.8 Billion of Spending, Tax Breaks to Boost Economy South Korea plans to a 14 trillion
won ($10.8 billion) boost to the economy next year as the nation
tackles the biggest crisis since it needed an International
Monetary Fund bailout a decade ago.

Chinese Manufacturing Shrinks by Record as Exports Wane, Two Surveys Show China's manufacturing contracted by
the most on record last month as the global financial crisis cut
demand for exports, a second survey showed.

India, China Increase Efforts to Cushion Their Economies From Global Slump India and China are accelerating
efforts to prop up growth as a global slump threatens the
world's fastest-expanding major economies.

Bernanke Push for Lower Bank Borrowing Costs Drives Treasury Yields Higher Even as Ben S. Bernanke cuts
borrowing costs to 50-year lows, taxpayers will likely be paying
ever increasing interest rates on U.S. debt.