Monday, August 24, 2009

Quick Notes for the Day - August 24

"Cash for Clunkers" Ends Tonight at 8:00 EDT - The successful "cash for clunkers" program ends this evening. "This program has been a lifeline to the automobile industry, jump starting a major sector of the economy and putting people back to work," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. "At the same time, we’ve been able to take old, polluting cars off the road and help consumers purchase fuel efficient vehicles."

Secretary LaHood said the Monday night end date will allow car dealers and buyers plenty of time to finalize purchases and submit applications for rebate from the remainder of the $3 billion provided by Congress. Based on conservative estimates of valid transactions so far, DOT analysts have projected that there is enough money to continue accepting submissions until the Monday deadline.

Stocks Move Higher on Global Optimism - From Bernanke's upbeat comments on the economy on Friday to economic activity around the world, the market moved higher this morning. The last few days have seen good economic news that have started to show a rebound in manufacturing in Europe, renewed growth in Asia, and inflation that continues to remain flat lining. All of these continue to play into the market rally.

Fed Buys $6 Billion in Treasurys - The Federal Reserve said it would slow down the rate at which it bought Treasurys, and it did. On Monday, the Fed bought $6.096 billion in Treasurys maturing between 2011 and 2012 on Monday. Overall, the Fed has purchased $262 billion of the $300 billion in US treasurys that it promised in March to buy in an effort to keep borrowing costs affordable for companies and homebuyers.

Euro Zone Industrial Orders Grow - After last week's positive manufacturing data, the Euro-zone industrial orders continued the trend by recording a 3.1% rise in June compared to May according to information from Eurostat statistics agency.

Thailand's Economy Grows in Q2 - Bangkok's stock index jumped 1.3% on Monday on the news that Thailand's economy expanded by 2.3% in the second quarter from the first quarter according to media reports of official data released on Monday. The year-over-year comparisons showed an economy that contacted by 4.9%, but that is much better than the 7.1% decline in Q1.

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