Financial Schools Reviews

() - China recorded a larger than anticipated trade surplus in October despite exports falling short of expectations, state media reported on Wednesday.

Xinhua reported that a trade surplus of $27.1 billion was logged last month, higher than the $25 billion forecast by analysts.

Exports climbed 22.9% compared to a year ago in October, slightly off expectations for a 23.5% rise.

Imports jumped 25.3%, also missing expectations for a 28.5% gain.

() - Pending home sales in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased in the month of September, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Friday, with the group noting that the drop signals an uneven housing market recovery entering 2011.

NAR said its pending home sales index fell by 1.8 percent in September following an upwardly revised 4.4 percent increase in August. Economists had expected pending home sales to increase by 2.5 percent compared to the 4.3 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

A pending sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed.

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Australian investment banking major Macquarie has downgrade both ANZ and CBA on concerns of new capital ratio requirements resulting from the Basel III banking reform proposals.

The Basel III banking reforms, which will gradually be implemented over time, requires lenders to maintain a 6 per cent minimum tier one capital ratio, up from 4 per cent.

Craig Turton, banking analyst at Macquarie said that it was likely that CBA would have the lowest tier one capital ratio amongst the big four banks, which in a worst case scenario could fall to as low as 5.42 per cent.

Mr.

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Rewards credit cards are a success in marketing. I mean, who wouldn’t want rewards? They sound fun, beneficial and as if you are automatically getting more bang for your buck. Thus, simply revolving a credit card genre around the word “reward” raises segmental demand. However, this surface attractiveness also belies the fact that these cards are not for everyone.

Indeed, depending on your primary objective for credit card use, a rewards card may not be the cheapest or simplest option available to you. When you are shopping for a credit card you should have in mind one of three primary objectives—lowering the cost of debt, building credit and accumulating rewards. It is i

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() - Chicago-area business activity unexpectedly saw a faster rate of growth in the month of October, according to a report released by the Institute for Supply Management – Chicago on Friday, with the pace of growth in the region accelerating for the second consecutive month.

The ISM – Chicago said its Chicago business barometer rose to 60.6 in October from 60.4 in September, with a reading above 50 indicating growth. The increase came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the barometer to slip to a reading of 58.0.

An acceleration in the pace of production growth contributed to the faster overall growth, with the production index jumping to 69.8 in October from 64.3 in September.

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