A German government debt auction drew some of the weakest demand since the introduction of the euro, signaling diminishing investor appetite for even the safest euro-zone assets amid Europe’s worsening debt crisis….The German government was able to sell only €3.644 billion $4.92 billion of the €6 billion in 10-year bunds on auction for an average yield of 1.98%. Interest rates on Germany’s 10-year bonds rose sharply after the auction to 2.09%, their highest level in three weeks, leapfrogging the yield on the U.S. 10-year note.
ICI – Exchange-Traded Fund Assets, September 2011
Assets of all exchange-traded funds fell in September by $89.29 billion, or 8.6 percent, to $951.46 billion.
Over the past 12 months, ETF assets increased $68.71 billion, or 7.8 percent. Assets in domestic equity ETFs increased $55.08 billion since September 2010, and global equity ETFs assets fell $13.78 billion during this period.
ICI – Trends in Mutual Fund Investing, September 2011
The combined assets of the nation’s mutual funds decreased by $582.3 billion, or 5.0 percent, to $11.040 trillion in September, according to the Investment Company Institute’s official survey of the mutual fund industry.
via ICI – Trends in Mutual Fund Investing, September 2011.
The fall in Stock Funds was far greater, at 9.5%, compared to only 1.3% in Taxable Bond Funds and 0.1% in Taxable Money Market Funds.
David Cameron: our plan to cut debt is failing – Telegraph
The Prime Minister on Monday conceded that tackling Britain’s debts was “proving harder than anyone envisaged”, raising the prospect that the Coalition would be unable to close the deficit by 2014-15……Debt is “a drag on growth”, Mr Cameron told business leaders. “We are well behind where we need to be,” he said.
via David Cameron: our plan to cut debt is failing – Telegraph.
Menzie Chinn » “Solving America’s Debt Crisis”
In principle, solving the nation’s debt problems is easy. Almost all experts agree that a combination of reduced spending and increased tax revenues is needed. Cuts in spending and increases in tax revenues equal to about 5 percent of GDP are required to prevent an increase in the debt-to-GDP ratio. If a constant debt-to-GDP ratio were achieved with spending cuts alone, annual non-interest government spending would have to be reduced by about 20 percent. Alternatively, if a constant debt-to-GDP ratio were achieved by relying solely on increased tax revenues, taxes would have to be raised by about 33 percent. It is impossible to imagine that Congress would ever adopt spending cuts or tax increases of these magnitudes.
The logical conclusion is that only a balanced approach to solving our debt crisis, one that includes both spending cuts and increased taxes, is feasible. That being said, neither spending cuts nor tax increases will be politically easy to enact.
via EconoMonitor : EconoMonitor » “Solving America’s Debt Crisis”.
Fate of Euro May Hinge on Italian Savers – NYTimes.com
Compared with debt-saddled Greece, Spain and Ireland, Italy is much less reliant on foreign investors to finance its debt. And more so than in any other euro zone country, Italian citizens have been active buyers of government debt, with such bond holdings representing 10 percent of household assets. So far, the evidence suggests that Italian households are not panicking.
Australian sharemarket extends losses after weak China survey | The Australian
HSBC issued the preliminary “flash” version of its monthly manufacturing purchasing managers index survey – a closely watched non-government view on how China’s economy is faring. The survey fell to a contractionary reading of 48 for November, compared to a mildly expansionary reading of 51 last month. A reading of 50 separates expansion from contraction.
via Australian sharemarket extends losses after weak China survey | The Australian.
EU Banks Struggle to Attract Deposits – WSJ.com
Deposit levels at five of Spain’s top six banks declined in the third quarter, while five of Italy’s largest lenders also reported declines, according to a report by analysts at Citigroup. In some cases, individuals pulling their money out of a bank are instead buying the bank’s bonds, which have offered hefty interest rates lately. But corporate clients, who find it relatively simple to move cash from one international bank to another, appear to have been especially aggressive in scaling back their deposits at southern European banks. Spain and Italy’s largest banks each reported declines of at least 10% in the quarter that ended Sept. 30.
Consumers May Be Spending More, but They’re Not Happy About It – Real Time Economics – WSJ
The percentage of Americans saying they were cutting back on their spending rose from 66% at the start of the year to 72% in September, where it has stayed for nine straight weeks. Spending, however, was up 5% in September from a year ago…..[it could be] that, more than two years into an anemic economic recovery, Americans are simply settling into a new routine, somewhere in between the forced austerity of the recession and the heady days that came before. Asked by Gallup whether they are watching their spending “very closely,” 88% of Americans said yes. That figure has hardly moved in two years.
via Consumers May Be Spending More, but They’re Not Happy About It – Real Time Economics – WSJ.
Unemployment Rates Drop in Most States – Real Time Economics – WSJ
Thirty-six states and Washington, D.C. posted declines in their unemployment rates in October. Nine had no change and five showed increases. Nationally, the unemployment rate declined to 9% from 9.1% last month. Fifteen states and Washington have rates higher than the national rate.
via Unemployment Rates Drop in Most States – Real Time Economics – WSJ.