General economy
- Fears major economies are slowing down, sending sovereign debt down to record lows
- global acknowledgement of a slow recovery combined with little inflation means central banks will keep rates near zero
- Fed chose to reinvest cash from maturing MBS; did not decrease size of its balance sheet
- YEN gains on USD as carry trades exited
- Agreed that Japanese economy is in a slowdown; debate is to which degree
- US purchase of previously own homes falls 27.2% in July (15 year low) - increased supply of unsold homes
- Ireland downgraded to AA- with a negative outlook
deals
- BHP Billiton placed hostile bid for Canadian PotashCorp. Potash: K2CO3, KCl (fertilizer)
