Options Wonderland

[3xBuBu]

Bernanke Says He Wouldn’t Rule Out Further Bond Buying
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said he would not rule out further bond purchases to boost growth and reduce unemployment, which he called a “grave concern.”

“The costs of nontraditional policies, when considered carefully, appear manageable, implying that we should not rule out the further use of such policies if economic conditions warrant,” Bernanke said today in a speech to central bankers and economists at an annual forum in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-31/bernanke-says-he-wouldn-t-rule-out-further-bond-buying.html

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment climbed to 74.3 from 72.3 the prior month. The gauge was projected to rise to 73.6, according to the median forecast of 60 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The preliminary reading for August was 73.6.

Orders to U.S. companies rose in July, reflecting a surge in demand for autos and commercial aircraft. But in a troubling sign of manufacturing weakness, a key orders category that tracks business investment plans fell by the largest amount in eight months.

Factory orders rose 2.8 percent in July, the biggest overall advance in a year, reflecting sizable gains in demand for motor vehicles and airplanes, the Commerce Department said Friday. But core capital goods orders, viewed as a good proxy for investment spending, plunged 4 percent, the fourth setback in the past five months.

The worry is that businesses have begun to scale back their plans to expand and modernize in the face of spreading economic weakness in Europe and such major U.S. export markets as China, Brazil and India.

Europe's financial crisis has pushed many countries in that region into recession, a development that threatens exports of U.S. goods.

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/31/4775795/us-factory-orders-rose-28-percent.html