A few of the more important reading items and links for October 8th :
- Europe banks need to adjust their portfolios – "The six largest British banks have 54 billion pounds ($95 billion) of debt to refinance by April, triple the amount of the year-ago period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. HSBC, the U.K.'s biggest bank, and No. 2 RBS each have about 11.5 billion pounds of debt due, while Barclays Plc has 15.9 billion pounds maturing, the data show. "
- Royal Bank of Scotland Plunges 39% – "On Monday, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered its long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings for RBS to A+/A-1 from AA-/A-1+, citing a deterioration of credit risk and concern about how the bank would complete plans to raise capital."
- Indonesia closes markets…. – That would be its worst weekly drop since at least April 1983, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.
- Yang blew it! – Yahoo and Google last week agreed to delay an ad partnership that could have added $800 million a year to Yahoo's sales.
- Fed backs commercial paper – Just after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up about 79 points, or 0.8%, at 10034.67. The S&P 500 was up 0.8% at 1065.07, helped by a nearly 4% gain in its energy sector. The Nasdaq Composite was up 1.1%, trading at 1882.57.
- FRB: TAF – FAQ – The FED is coming with an auction, although the markets were looking for a rate cut. Living in a world of socialized expecations is helping volatility and hurting markets.
