The Philadelphia FED on Thursday said companies in its region

Good Morning,

- Crude oil prices fell to a four-year low and global equity markets declined again on Thursday as investors fretted about world growth and a revived European debt crisis, while EURUSD looking for the next selling point…

- ECB's Nowotny: The euro's recent fall is bolstering the euro zone economy and this should show up in stronger growth next year, European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny said in a magazine interview. Nowotny told Austria's Format magazine that it was questionable, however, whether economic growth rates would ever return to the levels of 3 and 4 percent seen before the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy that triggered the global financial crisis. "The economy in the euro area is not yet in deflation but it is showing clear signs of weakening,". But he also noted the positive effect of a weakening currency. "The current euro exchange rate is having an invigorating effect on the European economy. Hence, we can expect higher growth rates again in 2015," he added.

- After the bigger-than-forecast drop in U.S. retail sales, the surprising tumble in U.K. inflation to a five-year low, and the slide in German investor confidence. For central banks around the world, the most informative piece of economic data released anywhere this week was the news that Swedish consumer prices fell 0.4 percent in September from a year earlier. The seventh monthly decline of the year leaves the Riksbank dicing with deflation. The world’s oldest central bank has already undershot its 2 percent inflation target for almost three years, and is now poised to respond by the end of this month by cutting its benchmark repo rate from a record low of 0.25 percent.

‘’ Debt crisis comeback? ‘’ Since mid 2012, Spain had no problem raising money in markets and yields fell all along the curve. 10 year bond yields fell below US 10 year bond yields and stayed there for a long time. Spain tried to raise a maximum of 3.5 billion euros in the markets and managed to raise only 3.2 billion on Thursday. In addition, the yield came out at 2.20% after 2.08% last time. This is certainly a sign of stress and a liquidity crunch in markets. Spanish 10 year bond yields are 18 basis points higher, the biggest jump since June 2013.

- The FED should consider delaying the end of its bond purchase program to halt the decline in inflation expectations, said St. Louis Fed’s President James Bullard. Speaking in an interview yesterday, Bullard said U.S. economic fundamentals remain strong and he blamed the market turmoil on downgrades in the outlook for Europe. “Inflation expectations are declining in the U.S.,” he said. “That’s an important consideration for a central bank. And for that reason I think that a logical policy response at this juncture may be to delay the end of the QE.”

- Jobless Claims in U.S. unexpectedly dropped last week to their lowest level in 14 years. Decreased by 23,000 to 264,000 in the week ended Oct. 11, the fewest since April 2000 and lower than any projection, data showed yesterday.

- The Philadelphia FED on Thursday said companies in its region are still growing at a rapid pace and fielding new orders. Another strong reading for the Philadelphia Fed’s manufacturing index in October countered a surprisingly weak report from the New York Fed a day earlier. In October, the Philly Fed index dropped to 20.7 from 22.5 to mark the second straight decline. Still, any number over zero indicates expansion and the index hit a three-year high just three months ago.

- Confidence among U.S. homebuilders dropped in October to a three-month low.

- U.S. crude inventories surged last week as refineries cut output, while gasoline and distillate stocks fell, data from the Energy Information Administration showed on Thursday. Crude inventories rose by 8.9 million barrels in the last week, compared with analysts' expectations for an increase of 2.8 million barrels.

Have a nice Weekend !