Hard hitting global and local news
The days of getting carpal tunnel syndrome from cutting meat are now over, at least as measured by a meat processing plant in Greece, shown in the video below. The video starts out a bit slow, but is rather fascinating once it gets going.
House speaker John Boehner made an incremental move in Obama’s direction in regards to tax hikes.
Car sales are up in the UK, but down 10% on average in the EU. Overall sales, including the UK, are down for the 14th consecutive month
Following many months of gloom – and seven consecutive quarters of declining growth – the Chinese stock markets are permitting themselves a frisson of excitement after China’s official manufacturing PMI rose to a seven-month high of 50.6 in November, from 50.2 in October. The higher PMI was propelled (unfortunately, I think) by a surge in construction activities
Those looking for a step in the right direction today can find it in the Financial Times Live Blog which announces “EU drops timetable for creating eurozone fiscal and banking union”. EU heads of state and government have started gathering in Brussels even though their summit isn’t scheduled to begin until 5pm.
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Today the Federal Reserve issued this Policy Statement Regarding Purchases of Treasury Securities and Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities . On December 12, 2012, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) directed the Open Market Trading Desk (the Desk) at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to purchase longer-term Treasury securities after the maturity extension program is completed at the end of December 2012, initially at a pace of about $45 billion per month. The FOMC also directed the Desk to continue purchasing additional agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) at a pace of about $40 billion per month. These actions should maintain downward pressure on longer-term interest rates, support mortgage markets, and help to make broader financial conditions more accommodative. The FOMC also directed the Desk to maintain its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from the Federal Reserve’s holdings of agency debt and agency MBS in agency MBS, and, in January, to resume rolling over maturing Treasury securities into new issues at auction.
The chart assumes a steady rise in labor force to the BLS 2020 projection of 164,360.
Please consider the Detroit News article Chrysler reinstates 13 workers fired for drinking on job . Chrysler Group LLC says it was forced to reinstate 13 workers who were fired from its Jefferson North Assembly Plant two years ago after being filmed by a local television station drinking and smoking what the network suggested was a controlled substance before and during work. "The workers followed the grievance procedure process outlined in the collective bargaining agreement between Chrysler and the United Auto Workers.