The week that was:
Bank regulators gave the industry a break and did not close any banks last week. Without a doubt, the major finance and investing news this week came from Dubai. Dubai World, the state-owned investment conglomerate, announced that it would delay debt payments. The announcement sent shockwaves around the world as it seemed to confirm fears of a bubble forming in emerging markets. On Thursday, while U.S. markets were closed for Thanksgiving, most equity markets around the world plunged about 3%. Safe trades dominated, strengthening reserve currencies of the US Dollar and the Japanese yen and sending credit default swaps substantially higher. When US markets opened for a shortened trading day on Friday, much of the panic had calmed and though US equities opened about 2% lower they ended the day about 1.7% lower than Wednesday's close. Europe's indexes recovered about 1% on Friday. Net global declines were notable on the week, but no catastrophic. See attached article #2 for a global summary.
On Sunday the UAE central bank announced that it would provide credit facilities to local and international banks in the Emirates.
What to look for next week:
9am Tuesday - ISM Manufacturing Index (55 consensus. A reading > 50 indicates growth)7:30am Friday - Employment Situation (consensus is for 100k job losses, and 10.2% unemployment rate)
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