MORNING NEWS

Remember, ALL GLORY IS FLEETING
Asian stocks gain after Dow breaks 10,000 barrier
Asian stock markets rose Thursday after a rally in the U.S. led the Dow Jones Industrial Average to close higher than 10,000. Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.8%, China's Shanghai Composite added 0.3% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.5%. New Zealand's NZX 50 and Taiwan's Taiex inched up 0.2%, while South Korea's Kospi Composite and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 improved 0.6%. The Wall Street Journal (15 Oct.)

*And why do you think this is? Becasue they have NO EARNINGS! Pay attention. Compnaies are borrowing money through the bond market becasue they can't get consumers to buy their products and they were already in debt up to their eyeballs before the crisis due to GOLDIE LOCKS economy. IJIOTS!
Companies are borrowing but not spending
Many companies worldwide are issuing bonds to raise capital, but they are not spending that money. Most of the $2.3 trillion raised with corporate bonds this year is going toward repairing finances, or the companies are hoarding the cash, according to Dealogic. This is bad news for the economy, which needs investment to support recovery. A large part of the cash is going into mergers and acquisitions, but that does not help the economy much, analysts said. The Wall Street Journal/Real Time Economics blog (13 Oct.)

*yes, RECORD HIGHS meaning highest of all time foreclosures and more to come cause guess what? We are only at 4% right now and we are at the HIGHEST. Can you believe it? IJIOTS!
U.S. residential foreclosures hit record high in Q3
During the third quarter, home foreclosures in the U.S. reached a record high. "They were the worst three months of all time," RealtyTrac spokesman Rick Sharga said. The firm said 937,840 homeowners received some form of foreclosure notice. The number is 23% higher than that of last year's third quarter, RealtyTrac said. CNNMoney.com (15 Oct.)

JPMorgan says fixed-income trading boosted revenue
JPMorgan Chase, the first major financial institution in the U.S. to report third-quarter results, said quarterly earnings increased to $3.59 billion. However, the bank warned that it likely will not reach its full earnings potential for a couple of years as consumer woes continue. JPMorgan put $2 billion into reserves to cover troubled loans. The bank's results exceeded analysts' expectations and helped boost the Dow Jones Industrial Average to more than 10,000. Financial Times (tiered subscription model) (15 Oct.)

Investors pour into high-yield bonds, but Wall Street is cautious
While many investors have been pouring money into high-yield bonds, banks and broker-dealers have been averse to jumping into the market. Wall Street has traditionally warehoused bonds, but executives are concerned that if the market turns again, they might be stuck holding the debt. "The Street has been light on inventory for most of the year," said Jeremy Hughes, a high-yield fund manager at Aviva Investors. "Banks have had a pretty profitable year trading, and they don't want to make outsized bets this late in the year." The Wall Street Journal (15 Oct.)

*Has anyone been to the malls lately? Amazing how numbers can blind you. Heard yesterday that Neiman Marcus is giving $50 gifts certs to get people to come in and buy their too high priced goods. Dollar store baby, only game in town and better that WAL MART!
U.S. retail sales up for everything but cars, auto parts
September offered evidence that an increase in consumer spending could be taking hold in the U.S. Excluding vehicles and auto parts, consumer spending rose 0.5% compared with August. "It's mildly encouraging," said Paul Dales, U.S. economist at Capital Economics. Furniture stores posted the biggest sales gain, at 1.4%, followed by gasoline stations, with 1.1%, and general-merchandise stores, including discount chains, at 0.9%. The Washington Post (15 Oct.)