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Wall Street Breakfast: China Q3 GDP Slows To 7.3%
Oct. 21, 2014 6:30 AM ET | Includes: AAPL, ABBV, AGN, AMZN, CBS, EVC, FDX, FMCC, FNMA, IRDM, JPM, LGDDF, OROCF, QQQ, SHPG, SPLS, SPY, TOT, TTM, UPS, VRX, ZQK

Economy
China's economic growth slowed in the third quarter to its weakest in more than five years as it battled a slumping real-estate market and weak domestic demand and industrial production. The world's second-largest economy grew 7.3% between July and September from a year earlier, slightly above the 7.2% forecast by analysts but slowing from 7.5% in Q2. The GDP data reinforces expectations that Beijing will need to unleash further stimulus to avert a sharper slowdown.

The nation’s chief housing regulator, Mel Watt, announced a new program yesterday which will allow more home-buyers to get loans at lower rates and with much smaller down payments. The program will also attempt to reassure banks that have had to pay tens of billions of dollars to settle legal cases arising from the housing boom and bust and buy back bad loans sold to Fannie (OTCQB:FNMA) and Freddie (OTCQB:FMCC). "We know this issue has contributed to lenders’ imposing credit overlays that drive up the cost of lending,” announced Watt.

The panel chosen to pick candidates for Hong Kong's 2017 election could be made "more democratic", says the territory's leader Leung Chun-ying, just hours before the start of the first public talks between pro-democracy student leaders and government officials. Expectations are low for a major breakthrough in today's talks, although the statement was the first indication of a possible concession to pro-democracy protesters who have blocked city streets for weeks.

Stocks
Apple shares +2.1% premarket after the tech giant posted big profits and smashed FQ4 earnings expectations. Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) net profit rose 13% to $8.5B, EPS came in at $1.42 and revenue jumped to $42.1B from $37.5B. Sales of iPhones, including the new iPhone 6 models released last month, helped propel the company to a record-breaking quarter and offset the slowing sales of the iPad.
more http://seekingalpha.com/article/2577755-wall-street-breakfast-china-q3-gdp-slows-to-7_3-percent