1 US Q3 growth faster than forecast (BBC) he US
economy grew much faster in the third quarter than first reported, official
figures have shown. It expanded at an annualised rate of 3.9% between July and
September, up from the 3.5% first estimated by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The rise, which follows a strong second quarter,
means the US has seen its strongest two consecutive quarters of growth for a
decade. Consumer spending was the biggest driver of the raised estimate. It
grew by 2.2% according to the latest estimate, which was higher than the
initial calculation of 1.8%. Consumer spending is closely watched as it
accounts for 70% of US gross domestic product (GDP).
The data suggests the US has shrugged off the slow
start to the year when heavy snow saw the economy shrink. Meanwhile, a separate
survey, showed US house prices rose by more than expected in September. The
closely-watched S&P/Case Shiller index jumped 4.9% year-on-year.
At the end of October, the US Federal Reserve said
it would not raise interest rates for a "considerable time". It also
ended its quantitative easing (QE) stimulus programme of buying financial
assets and creating new money to pay for them, aimed at stimulating the
economy.
2 Troops out as Ferguson sees more violence
(Ben Kesling, Pervaiz Shallwani & Mark Peters in The Wall Street Journal) Missouri
Gov. Jay Nixon said he would triple the National Guard presence in the St.
Louis region in the wake of widespread violence following a grand jury decision
not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael
Brown.
The governor said about 2,200 National Guardsmen
will be in the region, up from about 700 last night. The governor said National
Guard troops were protecting public property and key infrastructure, but would
be deployed to protect homes and businesses.
Protesters Monday night had set police cruisers on
fire, smashed windows and looted stores, while police responded by firing
nonlethal munitions and tear gas at crowds. By morning, more than 20 businesses
were burned and more than 60 people were arrested.
Meanwhile, protesters set out again in cities around
the country on Tuesday following protests Monday evening in cities from New
York to San Francisco.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/ferguson-grand-jurys-decision-sparks-fresh-violence-unrest-1416916181
3 Apple is first $700bn company (Nick Fletcher in
The Guardian) Apple set a record by becoming the first company to be valued at
$700bn. The iPhone maker was already the world’s most valuable business, but in
early trading its shares rose nearly 1% to $119.75, giving it a market
capitalisation of $701.7bn. This is higher than the GDP of all but the top 19
countries in the world.
Apple’s shares have risen around 60% this year, with
the success of its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus one of the main reasons behind
the surge. Last month it announced that it had sold a record 39.3m iPhones in
its third quarter, and predicted that its latest products would help it boost
sales by at least 10% over the forthcoming holiday period. It expects to sell
more in the Christmas quarter this year than it did in the whole of 2010.
Apple has been vying with oil company Exxon Mobil
for the accolade of the world’s largest company for a number of years, first
overtaking its rival in August 2011 before falling back after concerns that its
future products may not live up to past glories. It regained the top spot in
August 2013 after Exxon suffered from falling oil prices and weak earnings.
Exxon is now worth around $405bn, while Apple’s technology rivals Microsoft and
Google are valued at $392bn and $368bn respectively.
Analysts believe Apple could go even higher, with
Michael Corcelli, head of US fund Alexander Alternative Capital, saying he
expected its market capitalisation to reach $1trn next year. But Apple is not
the world’s most valuable company in history if inflation is taken into
account. CNBC calculated that Microsoft’s peak market capitalisation of $613bn
in 1999 would become nearly $875bn at 2014 prices.
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