Sony to present new user experiences at CEATEC JAPAN 2013

Sony Corporation announced today that it will present new user experiences for mobile and the living room at "CEATEC JAPAN 2013", to be held at Makuhari Messe International Convention Complex in Chiba City from the 1st to 5th of October.

Sony will be showcasing unique mobile user experiences centering around its new flagship smartphone, Xperia Z1, together with camera applications that deliver unique shooting experiences and lens-style cameras that realize new forms of digital image capturing with your smartphone.Sony will also present its most immersive, highest resolution TV viewing experience through new BRAVIA 4K LED TVs and home theater systems, delivering dramatically rich surround sound for everyone to enjoy.

NewsOnJapan

Japan:Support rate for Abe rises to 63.3%

The approval rating for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet stands at 63.3 percent, up from 61.8 percent last month, a Kyodo News survey showed Wednesday, despite the government's recent decision to raise the politically sensitive sales tax.

In the latest survey, 53.3 percent of respondents said they support the increase in the country's sales tax rate from the current 5 percent to 8 percent next April as planned, while 42.9 percent expressed opposition.

The telephone opinion poll, which was conducted Tuesday, the day Abe announced the tax hike, and Wednesday, also found that 48.5 percent said they do not have a positive assessment of the government's 6 trillion yen economic stimulus package that is aimed at softening the possible negative impact of the tax hike.

Source: NewsOnJapan

HK: Gold Price Opens at USS 1,325.57

The gold price in Hong Kong went up 240 HK dollars to open at 12,220 HK dollars per tael on Thursday, according to the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society.

The price is equivalent to 1,323.57 U.S. dollars a troy ounce, up 25.99 dollars at the latest exchange rate of 1 U.S. dollar against 7.75 HK dollars.

Source: Xinhua

China's Non-ManftgIndex(PMI) rose 55.4 in September

China's non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 55.4 percent in September from 53.9 percent for August, according to official data released on Thursday.

A PMI reading of more than 50 percent indicates expansion in non-manufacturing activity, while a reading below 50 percent indicates contraction.

The index was released by the National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.

Source: Xinhua

BOJ: How to balance Tax and Spending in Abenomics

The Japanese prime minister's policy mix announced on Tuesday of giving to the economy on the one hand and taking away with the other is set to complicate life for the central bank next year.

It had already factored in an increase in the national sales tax to 8 percent from 5 percent from April 2014. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe confirmed the rise on Tuesday.

But Abe also said most of the extra revenue initially raised from the higher sales tax would end up back in the economy through a stimulus package amounting to about $50 billion, a move designed to offset the economic blow of increasing the tax.

That is likely to result in the Bank of Japan (BOJ) increasing its already rosy long-term growth and inflation forecasts, sources familiar with the bank's thinking said.

Still, the impact of the sales tax is an unknown. Economists expect it to deal an initial blow to the economy, which could easily place the BOJ under political pressure to ramp-up its stimulus yet further to ensure the economic feel-good factor - central to Abenomics - continues.

The last time that Japan raised its sales tax - to 5 percent from 3 percent in 1997 - the economy spiraled into recession. Although other factors were at play at that time, lawmakers may be jumpy next year if data shows the economy is starting to slide.

"Even with the stimulus package, Japan's economy won't be able to escape a contraction in the second quarter of 2014 after the tax hike," said Masaaki Kanno, chief Japan economist at JPMorgan Securities.

"The BOJ is highly likely to ease monetary policy in April next year to support the economy and accelerate inflation, which won't be picking up much by then."

The central bank's nine-member board will discuss the impact of the stimulus package and tax increase this week when it reviews policy on Thursday and Friday.

However, Governor Haruhiko Kuroda is likely to welcome the sales tax hike - a move he had publicly supported as a crucial first step in curbing Japan's huge public debt.

The review is widely expected to leave policy unchanged. The BOJ pledged in April to inject some $70 billion a month into the economy to try to drive inflation to 2 percent in two years.

But the board will also consider how Abe's latest policies might affect their long-term economic projections, which are due to be published on October 31.

Source: NewsOnJapan

Japan: Monetary Base US$1.9trillion in September

The Bank of Japan's bold credit easing policy has sent its monetary base to a new record high for a 7th consecutive month.

The monetary base represents the amount of money the central bank supplies to the markets. It includes currency in circulation and deposits held at the BOJ by commercial banks.

The central bank said the monetary base totaled about 1.9 trillion dollars at the end of September. That's up nearly 5 percent in yen terms from August.

The BOJ has been injecting huge amounts of money into the markets since April, when they introduced aggressive monetary easing policies.

Source:NewsOnJapan

Tokyo Disney Resort sets visitor record

The combined number of visitors to Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea increased 15.9 percent from a year before to a record high of 15.36 million in the April-September period, according to Oriental Land Co.

The number of visitors to the two theme parks in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, surpassed 15 million for the first time in a fiscal first half.

Source: NewsOnJapan

U.S. political gridlock impacts Travel Industry

The failure of Democrats and Republicans to agree on a new budget saw the closure of 401 national parks, museums, zoos and other public attractions that draw Japanese tourists across the U.S.

The U.S. government shutdown that started at midnight Monday has impacted the global travel industry, with tourist agencies in Japan scrambling to avoid severe losses.

Mount Vernon, the plantation home of George Washington, the first U.S. president, in Fairfax County, Virginia, is one of the few tourist attractions that will remain open during the federal government shutdown.

The U.S. attractions that will be unaffected are operated by private institutions or other government entities that are still functioning.

According to local U.S. media, the closure of national parks may reportedly result in the loss of 750,000 visitors, and as much as $30 million, per day.

Source: NewsOnJapan

China: Peaceful solution to South China Sea Disputes

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday that China and Southeast Asian countries should stick to peaceful means to resolve their disputes in the South China Sea.

China and some Southeast Asian countries have territorial and maritime differences and disputes, Xi said in a speech to Indonesian lawmakers.

"The two sides should always stick to peaceful means and properly handle the issues through equal dialogue and friendly negotiation in order to safeguard bilateral relations and regional stability," he said.

The Chinese president is on a two-day state visit to Indonesia, the first leg of his maiden trip to Southeast Asia since he assumed presidency in March.

China To Increase FDI in Malaysia

 Chinese president Xi jinping will also visit Malaysia on his southeast Asia tour. China is already the biggest buyer of Malaysian exports, and Malaysia has been China’s biggest trading partner in ASEAN for the past five years.

But while Malaysian companies have been quick to look for opportunities in China, Chinese companies have been much slower to invest in projects in Malaysia.

Kuantan Port on Malaysia’s east coast is due for an upgrade. And it’s about to get one, thanks to a joint venture between Malaysia’s IJM Corporation and China’s Guangxi Beibu International Port Group. The Chinese port and industrial park operator has taken a 40 percent stake in the port, and will jointly invest 1 billion dollars to expand it, doubling the port’s capacity.

Up to last year, foreign direct investment from China was only around 800 million dollars, with almost 10 times that heading the other way. That’s starting to change.

Rian Maelzer, Kuantan, Malaysia, said, "So far most Chinese direct investment into Malaysia has come to the east coast region, the area closest to Southern China. Aside from the port expansion, the same Chinese company is involved in a joint venture to develop an industrial park a short distance away here.”

The park will specifically aim to attract Chinese companies.

Teh Kean Ming, CEO, IJM Corporation, said, "The expansion of the port will actually position the east coast region into a key investment and trading destination in Malaysia. So at the same time, the port itself provides a sea link between the two sister industrial parks, one in Qinzhou Industrial Park, and other of course Kuantan industrial park.”

Chinese officials also expect the port and industrial park projects to kick start FDI into Malaysia.

Chai Xi, Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia, said, "It’s really too limited. I’ve met so many entrepreneurs in the last two or three years from China, no matter they are state-owned companies, or primate companies. They are more and more interested to invest in Malaysia.”

Chinese companies are looking at investing in steel, alumunium, palm oil, mining and real estate. And the ambassador says the visit to Malaysia this week by China’s president Xi Jinping should boost the growth of the FDI into Malaysia.

Source: Xinhua

Japan developing solar energy down from orbit

The Japanese space agency JAXA is developing a revolutionary concept to put "power stations" in orbit to capture sunlight and beam it to Earth.

The country has been looking for new power sources following the devastating earthquake and tsunami in March, 2011, that destroyed much of the north-east of the country and caused a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Many of the country's nuclear reactors were closed due to stricter safety regulations after the emergency. Now JAXA is aiming to set up a Space Solar Power System (SSPS) by 2030. An array of mirrors would sit in geostationary orbit to collect solar energy and then transmits it to a power plant on the ground via microwaves or laser beams. There it could be used to generate electricity and hydrogen.

Proponents of the technology say that it would provide continuous energy without any worry that resources would be depleted. It would be unaffected by the time of day or weather and would provide environmentally friendly, clean energy.

Interestingly, the idea is not a new one. An American, Dr Peter Glaser, designed a similar concept in 1968 to deploy large solar panels in space to generate power and convert it into microwaves to transmit to the ground. Following studies by NASA and the US Department of Energy, the project was deemed too costly and it was never developed.

Similar studies have been carried out in Europe. The idea is also reminiscent of a Russian plan in the 1990s to use mirrors to beam sunlight to the ground at night. This had astronomers and environmentalists up in arms because of the light pollution it would have caused. The Japanese concept is different because there would be no stray light emitted from the beam.

NewsOnJapan

China: proposes Asian infrastructure investment bank

 Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday proposed to establish an Asian infrastructure investment bank to promote interconnectivity and economic integration in the region.

Xi put forward the proposal during talks here with his Indonesian counterpart, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Beijing stands ready to offer financial support for infrastructure construction in developing countries in the region, including members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Xi said.

The new bank, he added, will cooperate with existing multilateral development banks to make full use of their respective advantages and jointly promote the sustained and stable growth of the Asian economy, Xi said.

Xi arrived here earlier in the day for a state visit to Indonesia, the first leg of his maiden trip to Southeast Asia since he assumed presidency in March.

During their talks, the two leaders agreed to lift bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

Source:Xinhua

U.S. Budget Showdon Continues

President Barack Obama met with Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress on Wednesday to try to break a budget deadlock that has shut wide swaths of the federal government, but there was no breakthrough and both sides blamed each other.

After more than an hour of talks, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said Obama refused to negotiate, while House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid accused Republicans of trying to hold the president hostage over Obamacare.

Reid said Obama told Republicans "he will not stand" for their tactics. The White House later issued a statement saying that Obama remains hopeful that "common sense will prevail."

Leaders of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and the Democratic-led Senate offered token concessions that were quickly dismissed by the other side. Obama, meanwhile, scaled back a long-planned trip to Asia.

Republicans have tried to tie continued government funding to measures that would undercut Obama's signature healthcare law. Obama and his Democrats say that is a non-starter.

"The president reiterated one more time that he will not negotiate," Boehner told reporters after the White House meeting. 

U.S. Shale Boom Longevity?

In an article published today in the Wall Street Journal they say that:
"The U.S. is overtaking Russia as the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas, a startling shift that is reshaping markets and eroding the clout of traditional energy-rich nations.
U.S. energy output has been surging in recent years, a comeback fueled by shale-rock formations of oil and natural gas that was unimaginable a decade ago. A Wall Street Journal analysis of global data shows that the U.S. is on track to pass Russia as the world's largest producer of oil and gas combined this year—if it hasn't already.

The amount of crude from two of the hottest plays in the U.S.—the Bakken oil field in North Dakota and the Eagle Ford shale formation in South Texas—continues to rise rapidly, while Russian output has increased modestly over the past three years. The Russian government predicts oil output will remain flat through 2016, while natural gas ticks up 3%. The shift has raised concerns in Moscow that U.S. crude supplies will crowd out Russia's oil exports.

"Russia looks like the main loser in the global market," said Tatiana Mitrova, of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Energy Research Institute. More than 40% of Russia's budget comes from oil-and-gas related duties and taxes, she said.

The institute has forecast that Russian oil exports could fall 25% to 30% after 2015, reducing gross domestic product more than $100 billion.                                                           Not everyone in Russia sees a threat from the U.S. The head of one the country's largest energy companies, OAO Gazprom,has called expanding U.S. shale output "a bubble that will soon burst."

A similar view was expressed Tuesday by Abdallah Salem el-Badri, the head of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, who said in an interview that "the U.S. oil boom from shale will run out of steam by decade's end".

Even optimists in the U.S. concede that the shale boom's longevity could hinge on commodity prices, government regulations and public support, the last of which could be problematic. 

Other risk factors: a global economic contraction would depress oil and gas prices, leading companies to slow production. And drilling in shale is expensive and more complex than conventional exploration, leading to concerns that a market downturn could take a large bite out of U.S. output".

Stalled IMF Reform threatens its credibility

"Delays in ratifying historic changes to give emerging markets more power at the International Monetary Fund have threatened the lender's credibility and raised questions about its future funding and governance structure.

The IMF's board agreed nearly three years ago to reforms aimed at giving emerging markets a greater say in the global lender, in part by making China the third-largest member and cutting Europe's representation on the board.

But the changes have been held up by the lack of approval from the United States, the fund's biggest and most powerful member, and prospects for action before year-end are slim.

The U.S. Congress has to sign off on shifting $63 billion from an IMF crisis fund to the Fund's general accounts to ratify the agreement. But some Republicans view that as tantamount to approving fresh funding in a tight budget year, and the request has taken a back seat to more urgent issues.

Emerging market nations will likely vent frustration at the lack of action when top finance officials meet next week for the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank, peeved that their growing economic power is not recognized.

Over the past decade, the IMF has tried to rebuild its credibility with emerging markets. It has been forceful in giving policy advice to Europe, put more of an emphasis on protecting vulnerable parts of society and softened some of its prior dogmas on austerity and capital controls.

The reform of the IMF quotas, or voting shares, is part of that process. The quotas determine how much each country contributes to the IMF and how much it may borrow.

As part of the agreed reforms, emerging markets are also due to get more representation on the IMF's 24-member board, where critics say Europe is over-represented, with eight seats.

The lack of progress could add more impetus to the creation of alternative sources of aid, such as a proposed $100 billion fund by the so-called BRICS nations Brazil,Russia, India,China and South Africa that is aimed at steadying currency markets. The BRICS are also working on a development bank to rival the World Bank"
Source: Reuters

U.S. Natural Gas is luring foreign Manufacturers

In an article published today in the Wall Street Journal:

"The U.S. boom in natural-gas production is luring investment from foreign manufacturers eager to tap a cheap, abundant supply of fuel and feedstocks.

Now inexpensive gas also is turning the U.S. into a magnet for investment by foreign companies. Energy consulting firm IHS Cera said in a report last month that cheaper gas would kick-start the nation's chemicals sector over the next dozen years, creating more than 300,000 jobs and driving half a trillion dollars in production through 2025.

Companies from the U.S. and abroad have invested or are planning to invest billions of dollars through the rest of the decade in plants that would churn out chemicals, fertilizers, plastics, metals and fuel from gas. Many foreign companies, alone or in joint ventures with U.S. partners, are taking advantage of gas that costs a fraction of what it does in Europe or Asia to expand production in the U.S.

Boston Consulting Group estimates that international companies will invest at least $50 billion through the end of the decade on projects that take advantage of low-price natural gas.

The U.S. petrochemicals sector, which turns raw materials such as natural gas or petroleum products into chemicals and plastics, is a particular target for investment. Chemicals accounted for one-quarter of the $160.5 billion in inbound foreign-direct investment in the U.S. last year, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.

To be sure, foreign investment tied to inexpensive gas represents only a small fraction of the total that overseas companies put into U.S. operations. Foreign direct investment, which varies widely from year to year, reached $198 billion last year, according to Commerce Department figures, so an additional $5 billion or $10 billion in investment in a given year would change the total only a few percentage points".

Goldman Sachs CEO Blankfein: Finance CEO's Urge Action on Debt Limit

After a meeting between  the President Barack Obama and a group of financial-industry executives:

Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein said: "Leaders of Pairlament should know that there is a consensus among the financial-industry executives , that we shouldn't do anything that hurts this recovery.
They shouldn't use the threat of causing U.S. to fail on its obligations to repay its debt as a blackmail".

The meeting, set up by the Financial Services Forum, a Washington-based trade group representing CEOs for the largest Wall Street banks, was part of an effort by the Obama administration to leverage the business community’s clout in breaking the stalemate. Administration officials said pressure from the business community was effective in past fiscal fights.

“The financial community is in an excellent position to educate the public about the consequences to every-day folks in the event we default,” said Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to the president.

Source: Bloomberg

Templeton CEO Mark Mobius :Fed Back off Tapering Exagerated Emerging-Market Weakness

The US Federal Reserve's decision to postpone the withdrawal of its monetary stimulus doesn't change investment prospects for emerging markets, says Mark Mobius, CEO of Templeton Emerging Markets Group. The asset-management firm has $54 billion invested in emerging market assets, with $4.5 billion in Brazil. In an email interview, Mr. Mobius again criticized the strong government intervention in the private sector but expressed continued optimism about investing in some Brazilian companies.

In a blog post yesterday, Mr. Mobius wrote that the emerging-market weaknesses perceived by investors haven't been analyzed withing the “proper context.” He says the worries over the health of emerging countries were motivated by political transformations in Egypt, the economic slowdown in China and recent protests in Brazil and Turkey.

“They [investors] have come to the conclusion that emerging markets are finished, particularly, they say, as the US Federal Reserve (Fed) is expected to turn off the money tap, depriving emerging markets of needed liquidity to protect their weakening currencies and pay their debts,” Mr. Mobius wrote. But he defended that these countries are better protected than at previous crises, with plenty international reserves, and are less indebted.

Source: Valor International

Turkey's $4 billion order for a Chinese missile defense system is a breakthrough for China

Turkey's $4 billion order for a Chinese missile defense system is a breakthrough for China in its bid to become a supplier of advanced weapons, even though opposition from Washington and NATO threatens to derail the deal.

The winning bid from the China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp (CPMIEC) to deliver its FD-2000 air defense missile system in a joint production agreement withTurkey is the first time a Chinese supplier has won a major order for state-of-the-art equipment from a NATO member. U.S., Russian and Western European manufacturers were also in the fray.

The decision last week to award the contract to CPMIEC, a company that is under U.S. sanctions for dealings withIran,North Korea and Syria, surprised global arms trade experts and senior NATO officials.

"It is quite significant I would say, if it materializes," said Oliver Brauner, a researcher on China's arms exports at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)."It would certainly be a landmark deal."

Turkey signaled on Monday that it could back away from its decision after Washington said it had "serious concerns" about the deal with a sanctioned company for a system that would not be compatible with NATO's other weapons and networks.

Chinese exports of conventional weapons increased 162 per cent in the five years from 2008 to 2012 compared with the five years from 2003 to 2007, the arms trade monitor reported earlier this year.

Sales to close ally Pakistan accounted for most of this but China is also expanding its deliveries to other markets, mostly in the developing world.

While almost three decades of double digit, annual increases in military spending has accelerated Beijing's ambitious military build-up, it has also allowed China's defense factories to boost the quality and performance of home-grown weapons and military hardware.

"There are good reasons for China to succeed in Turkey," says Vasily Kashin, an arms trade expert at Moscow's Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. "The key factors were price and the readiness to transfer technology."

Source: Reuters

Brazilian Health Minister Blocks Free Trade Agreement Mercosur and European Union

Brazilian health minister Alexandre Padilha, expected to be crowned Brasília’s candidate for the coveted São Paulo governorship, used his influence to temporarily block a free trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union, said people familiar with the matter. The decision was postponed as the minister managed to have excluded from the tariff-free products a list of items linked to the health sector, including medical equipments. The proposal will be back at the table tomorrow.


SOURCE: VALOR ECONOMICO 

SHELL BOOSTS PRODUCTION AT BRAZIL OFFSHORE PROJECT

Royal Dutch Shell has announced it has produced oil from the second phase of production at its much sought after Parque das Conchas project offshore Brazil. 

This phase has seen a fourth reservoir connected to the project's floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.

The Parque das Conchas (Park of Shells) project is 50% owned and operated by Shell, with Brazil's state-led Petrobras holding 35% and Indian group ONGC 15%.

With China's Siochem hovering hungrily, Shell and ONGC are rumoured to be planning to buy out Petrobras, as the Brazilian conglomerate looks to divest assets.

Shell's Upstream Americas Executive Vice President for Deep Water, John Hollowell, said the boosting of production with Phase 2 "was a great day" for Shell in Brazil. 

"Boosting production at BC-10 with the completion of phase two is another great example of our successful project development, delivery and execution capabilities."

The company explained that Phase 2 is expected to produce roughly 35,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day at its peak.

This is equivalent to the peak production from the first phase, where peak production hit more than 90,000 BOE in 2010 but has more recently levelled out at 35,000.

The project's three owners in July announced their decision to move forward with the project's third development phase, which will include the installation of subsea-infrastructure at the Massa and Argonauta O-South reservoirs, pushing peak production to 28,000 BOE.

LiveCharts

Draghi: «Ripresa debole e irregolare» La Bce lascia i tassi al minimo storico

a Bce lascia invariato il costo del denaro che resta così al suo minimo storico. Il Consiglio ha infatti deciso di tenere fermo il tasso di riferimento allo 0,50%. Resta all’1% il tasso di interesse sulle operazioni di rifinanziamento marginale e allo 0% quello sui depositi.
Prima di decidere di mantenerli invariati, il board della Bce ha discusso di un possibile ritocco dei tassi di interesse. «E come l’ultima volta — ha fatto sapere Mario Draghi — alcuni governatori hanno detto che il miglioramento dell’economia non giustificava una tale mossa, altri hanno detto il contrario e alla fine abbiamo deciso di lasciare i tassi al livello attuale. La nostra politica monetaria — ha aggiunto — rimarrà accomodante per tutto il tempo necessario, in accordo con la forward guidance indicata a luglio». Poi il presidente della Bce ha discusso degli indicatori economici dell’Eurozona. Il graduale rafforzamento dei mercati finanziari sta iniziando a trasmettere i suoi effetti all’economia reale e i redditi privati starebbero traendo benefici dalla bassa inflazione. Così almeno ha dichiarato il presidente della Bce, aggiungendo che i rischi per l’economia restano al ribasso a causa di «nuove tensioni geopolitiche, una domanda globale più debole del previsto e un’applicazione insufficiente o lenta delle riforme strutturali nei Paesi dell’area».

Corriere della Sera

Berlusconi: Non senza travaglio, votiamo la fiducia

Governo, Berlusconi alla fine ci ripensa:
«Non senza travaglio, votiamo la fiducia»

Mettendo insieme le aspettative e il fatto che l’Italia ha bisogno di un governo che produca riforme istituzionali e strutturali abbiamo deciso, non senza interno travaglio, per il voto di fiducia». Dopo aver annunciato che avrebbe detto «no» al governo Letta, Berlusconi - all’ultimo - fa retromarcia e prendendo la parola nell’aula del Senato annuncia che tutto il suo gruppo voterà per la continuazione dell’esperienza del governo (salvo poi dire, all’uscita da Palazzo Madama, un sibillino: «Non c’e’ stata nessuna marcia indietro»). L’esecutivo è dunque salvo e ha abbondantemente i numeri per governare: alla fine sono 235 i sì, e 70 i no. Solamente sei senatori del Pdl alla fine hanno deciso di non partecipare al voto : Sandro Bondi, Manuela Repetti, Remigio Ceroni, Augusto Minzolini, Alessandra Mussolini, Nitto Palma. Quanto a Berlusconi, è stato tra i primi - essendo stata estratta la lettera B - a sfilare davanti ai banchi della presidenza per esprimere il suo sì nella chiama individuale. 

 Già nelle prime ore della mattinata, Berlusconi aveva lasciato ipotizzare una possibile apertura alla fiducia dicendo ai giornalisti: «Vediamo che succede... Sentiamo il discorso di Letta e poi decidiamo». Apertura che, però, aveva poi compreso, non gli sarebbe bastata a scongiurare la spaccatura del Pdl, tanto da spingerlo a votare la sfiducia. Proprio mentre era in corso il vertice, infatti, i dissidenti avevano lasciato intendere che avrebbero dato vita, comunque, a un gruppo autonomo. «Se il Pdl decidesse di votare la fiducia, sarebbe una scelta francamente tardiva, per cui noi valuteremo il da farsi e probabilmente decideremo di dare vita a gruppi parlamentari autonomi» aveva fatto sapere Roberto Formigon.

Corriere della Sera

U.S. MBA Mortgage Applications and ADP Employment Report

MBA Mortgage Applications

Expect d    Composite Index - W/W Change 5.5 % -0.4 % Purchase Index - W/W Change 7.0 % -6.0 % Refinance Index - W/W Change 5.0 % 3.0 %

Rates fell very sharply for a second week but failed to spark an increase in purchase applications which fell 6.0 percent in the September 27 week following a 7.0 percent jump in the prior week. Refinancing applications rose for a third week, up 3.0 percent. The average rate for conforming loan balances ($417,500 or less) fell 13 basis points to 4.49 percent for the lowest rate since June. Looking at September as a whole, purchase applications were flat which does not point to strength for the month's underlying home sales. ADP Employment Report ADP reports a weaker-than-expected rise in private payroll growth, to 166,000 in September vs the Econoday consensus for 180,000. ADP's count for August is downwardly revised to 159,000 vs an initial reading of 176,000. The initial reading for the comparable government number in August is 152,000. T.