_Economy and Finance

Eco Analysis - US Housing: New home sales rose modestly in October (B. Jones) ■ Closings on newly constructed dwellings moved higher in October The number of newly constructed dwellings going to contract rose by 1.3% to a five-month high seasonally adjusted annual rate of 307,000 in October. The reported level of activity last month was below both our (330,000) and the median Street projections (315,000), however. Moreover, back-month revisions shaved 15,000 off the previously posted tallies for July through September.

2011.11.10 04:44 AM Eco Analysis - Norway CPI: Up by 1.4% in October (A. Annenkov) Headline CPI in Norway rose by 1.4% yoy in October, down from 1.6% in September, in line with market expectations. Core inflation remained unchanged at 1.2% yoy, also in line with expectations. Prices of air fares, electricity and food & non-alcoholic beverages were the main contributors to the deceleration in inflation, while clothing & footwear and alcoholic beverages & tobacco contributed positively. Electricity prices fell less than expected and could imply a downside risk in the coming months.

2011.11.10 04:37 AM Eco Analysis - French inflation fractionally up, at 2.5% in October, Euro area inflation set to be firm at 3.0% (M. Martinez) ■ Overall price pressures remained firm in October in France and in the euro area Inflation remains firm, despite the fact the euro debt crisis is curbing economic growth. Consumer price inflation in France edged higher in October. The harmonized rate increased to 2.5% yoy from 2.4%, while the national measure rose from 2.2% to 2.3%. Separately, the German HICP was slightly higher than the preliminary estimate (+0.1% mom, +2.9% yoy). Despite this fact, there is no change in our forecast for the euro-area measure, which is still expected to have been steady at 3.0% yoy (+0.3% mom). All these data indicate that overall price pressures remained firm in October in the euro area. Indeed, HICP probably rose by 5.1% on a 3 month annualized basis in the euro area in October (France: 3.3%, Germany: 1.1%, Italy: 13.4%, Spain: 6.4%).

Eco Analysis - US Employment Report: Don't be misled by the October prints (B. Jones) 2011.11.04 06:34 AM ■ October job gains failed to match our forecasts, but revisions placed levels even higher The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that nonfarm payrolls climbed by 80K in October, or by 104K after adjusting for continued pink-slipping by governmental entities. While last month's payroll gains failed to meet our and the Street's expectations, significant upward revisions to the previously reported figures for August and September actually left the October tallies well above projected levels. August was almost doubled from 57K to 104K, while another 55K jobs were added to the original 103K September estimate. It is worth nothing that this is the second consecutive report that saw the BLS' prior projections boosted about roughly 100K jobs.