Morning Economic News - November 7, 2008

There are some signs we may see a stock market rally Friday, though its by no means a sure thing. Oil prices are up slightly (1.6%), the Hang Seng Index is up 3.29% and US stock market futures are up 1.6-2% [3:16 AM Eastern] and European markets have opened to the positive. On the negative side, the Nikkei is down 3.55% and the S&P/ASX 200 is down 2.37%. The dollar is down against the yen, euro, pound and Canadian dollar.

Monster Employment Index - October 2008

• Index: 150


• Monthly Change: Down 10


• Year-to-year Change: Down 38 Points

Money Supply - November 6, 2008

• M1 Seasonally Adjusted Prior Month: $1453.9 billion


• M1 4-Week Average: $1466.1 billion


• M1 Annual Change (Unadjusted): Up $84.8 billion

Jobless Claims - November 6, 2008

• Initial Claims: 481,000


• Change from Last Week: Down 4,000


• 4-Week Moving Average: 477,000

Mortgage rates drop back below last years levels

Freddie Mac reported Thursday that Fixed Rate Mortgage (FRM) and
Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) rates all fell this week after spiking
last week. FRM rates are now slightly below year ago levels as are
1-year ARM rates, but 5-year Treasury Indexed hybrid ARMS are slightly
above the rate from the same week in 2007.

Big rate cut from European Central Bank, massive cut from Bank of England

The Bank of England dropped its key interest rate by 1.5% and the
European Central Bank dropped key interest rate targets by 0.5%
Thursday in a further bid to spur lending and economic activity. This
leaves rates for both banks well above the US Federal Reserves target
federal funds rate of 1%, leaving open carry trade possibilities if the
European economy begins to recover but also leaving less chance of a
quick and strong recovery in Europe.

Firms Say Bailout Plan Lacks Clarity

Ambiguity on key aspects of Treasury's financial-rescue plan is making a majority of financial firms surveyed hesitant.

Oil Supplies Will Tighten, IEA Warns

The world faces mounting uncertainty and escalating costs on the energy
front in the years ahead, the IEA says in a largely gloomy annual
report.

Zero-Interest-Rate World May Be Ahead as King, Trichet Take an Ax to Rates The age of free money may be at hand.

Bank of Korea Cuts Rates for Third Time in a Month to Stave Off Recession The Bank of Korea lowered interest
rates for the third time in four weeks and signaled it's ready
to act again to prevent the economy from sinking into the first
recession in a decade. The nation's shares and currency rose.

Sakakibara Says Yen May Reach 80 per Dollar; Strong Currency to Aid Japan Japan will benefit from a strong yen
because it will hold down prices for raw materials, said Eisuke
Sakakibara, formerly Japan's top currency official.

Bank of England Leads European Central Banks in Rate Cut as Economies Slow The Bank of England led European
central banks in reducing borrowing costs to counter the worst
financial crisis in almost a century, cutting its key rate by
1.5 percentage points to the lowest level since 1955.

French September Trade Gap Expands to a Record $8 Billion as Exports Fall The French trade deficit widened to a
record in September as a global economic slowdown curbed exports.

Global Crisis Shifts From Credit Crunch to Economics Slowdown, APEC Says The principal risk posed by the global
financial crisis has moved from a credit crunch set off by
subprime mortgages to economic slowdown, the finance ministers of
the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation said.

S.Korea joins global rate cuts, more easing seen

Bank of England makes shock 150 basis point rate cut

TABLE-U.S. M-2 money supply down $48.2 bln Oct 27 week

CEO confidence index plunges to record low-survey