Morning Journal--Debt, deficits and growth

  News on Stocks in Our Portfolios

 

Ecolab (ECL): Q3 EPS of $0.87 in-line. Revenue of $3.02B (+74.1% Y/Y) misses by $50M.

Cummins (CMI): Q3 EPS of $1.86 misses by $0.04. Revenue of $4.1B (-11% Y/Y) misses by $50M.

Economics

   This Week’s Data

            The August Case Shiller home price index rose 0.5% versus expectations of a 0.7% increase.

            http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2012/10/update-house-price-seasonality.html

            The International Council of Shopping Centers reported weekly sales of major retailers up 0.5% versus the prior week and up 2.7% versus the comparable period a year ago.

            Weekly mortgage applications fell 12% while purchase applications dropped 8%.

            http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2012/10/mbarefinance-applications-decrease-in.html

   Other

            This is a great piece on debt, deficits and growth. It is a bit long but is today’s must read:

            http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-10-30/guest-post-debt-and-deficits-killing-economic-prosperity

Politics

  Domestic

Beware the coming regulatory tsunami (medium):

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/oct/29/the-coming-regulatory-tsunami/

I like Chris Christie but he has this one wrong (medium):

http://www.aei-ideas.org/2012/10/more-on-price-gouging-diasters-dont-change-market-forces-market-prices-are-even-more-important-after-a-disaster/

George Will on the entitlement mentality (medium):

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/will102712.php3