Seven Things You Should Know 11/13/2009

Seven Things You Should Know

November 13th 2009

1.  Earnings Season:  More than 80% of S&P 500 companies beat their earnings estimates this earnings season, the average stock that beat estimates went up 1.32% on its report day, while the average stock that missed estimates went down 3.43%.  (Source: Bespoke Investment Group)

2.  Jobless Claims:  First-time claims for jobless benefits dropped last week to a seasonally adjusted 502,000.  The four-week average of unemployment claims, which smooths fluctuations, dropped to 519,750, also the lowest in almost a year. It has fallen by more than 20 percent since its peak in the spring.  (Source: Labor Dep’t)

3.  China Industrial Production:  Chinese activity in factories and workshops increased by 16.1 percent in October compared to a year ago.  (Source: BBC News)

4.  Banking Reform: On Wednesday, November 11th, Senator Chris Dodd announced his banking reform bill, The Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2009.  It was 1136 pages long.  (Source: Senate.Gov)

5.  Gold Speculation:  Since the beginning of October, holdings in the world’s largest physically backed ETF, SPDR Gold Trust, have risen to 35.8 million ounces from 35.2 million ounces.  “All told, investors poured $552 million into gold bullion ETFs in October,” a Morningstar report said.  (Source: WSJ)

6.  Video Games:  Activision’s recent launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was an overwhelming success, with one-day sales in the United States and United Kingdom raking in an estimated $310 million USD.  (Source: Daily Tech)

7.  Econ Calendar:  Next week we get Retail Sales data on Monday, PPI on Tuesday and CPI on Wednesday.
Have a great weekend!