Quote:
‘We have become a nation of wimps led by chimps!’ On his fellow passengers on a snow-delayed train: they ‘didn’t give a toss. I never heard a complaint, a raised or grumpy comment. Perhaps they were on Prozac. As for Iceland the country, seeing how we coped with their everyday weather, who can blame them for recognizing what a joke we are and refusing to hand back our cash?’ Lord Graham Kirkham (1944-)
The News:
Taiwan set to buy 20 military helicopters from Eurocopter, a subsidiary of EADS.
The Numbers:
Greenwich Mean Time, with expectations and previous figures in brackets.
00:30 AU Reserve Bank of Australia Monetary Policy Statement: risks to economic forecasts ‘fairly balanced’.
05:00 JP December Leading Index 94.0, Coincident Index 97.6, versus revised 91.0 and 96.0 November.
09:30 GB January PPI Input (+0.2% to +1.0% M/M, +5.9% to +8.9% Y/Y, versus +0.1% and +6.9% December).
09:30 GB January PPI Output (+0.2% to +0.5% M/M, +3.6% to +5.0% Y/Y, versus +0.5% and +3.5% December).
11:00 DE December Industrial Production (-2.5% to +2.0% M/M, -7.0% to –2.6% Y/Y, vs +0.7% and –8.0% Nov).
12:00 CA January Employment Change (-15K to +45K, Unemployed 8.3% to 8.7%, versus –2.6K and 8.5% December).
13:30 US January Non-Farm Payrolls (-100K to +100K, Unemployed 9.8% to 10.3%, vs -85K and 10.0% December).
13:30 US January Hourly Earnings (0% to +0.2% M/M, Workweek 33.1 to 33.3 hours, vs +0.2% and 33.2 December).
17:00 CA a two-day G7 finance ministers’ meeting starts in Iqaluit, Canada.
20:00 US December Consumer Credit (-$13B to +$5B versus -$17.5B November).
22:15 US Fed’s Bullard speaks on monetary policy amid economic turbulence, St. Louis.
The Psychology:
Few really understand the repercussions of a sovereign debt default.
The Risk:
Stock indices end the week below 200-day moving averages.
Today’s most interesting chart: EUR/CHF
Swiss National Bank refuses to comment on intervention rumours as the Euro sinks very close to a record low against the franc as investors favour this and the yen.
