Market bulls charged on Wednesday -- running U.S. stock futures, European stocks, the euro, oil and gold higher -- in the wake of a German court ruling that backs the country's participation in the euro zone's new bailout fund created to prevent the weakest euro economies from going bust. However, some economists warn that it's too early to sound the all-clear on the fate of the single currency bloc.
The most important court decision of 2012 will take place Wednesday in Germany, when the red-robed justices of the German Constitutional Court hand down a decision for which it is no hyperbole to say it could change the course of history. The Court is expected to rule over whether Germany is barred from contributing to the European Stability Mechanism, Europe's all-purpose bailout fund of which the German state is the major planned benefactor.
Chelsea could already be lining up a massive signing for the January transfer window.
The Spurs make some last minutes moves at the transfer deadline.
Spurs may send Rafael van der Vaart to the Bundesliga, according to reports.
Liverpool look set to be one of the more active clubs in the final days of the transfer window.
Seven key events in the next fortnight that will determine whether the now-four-year-old euro zone crisis results in Greece and perhaps also Spain leaving and even whether the monetary union will survive. Here is a list of the seven critical dates with their corresponding events.
The biggest event this week is Friday's Jackson Hole meeting. While this week's economic calendar is rather packed, Wall Street seems to care more about Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech at the Kansas City Fed's annual economic symposium.
he Markit Flash Eurozone PMI Composite Output Index, a measure of services and manufacturing order volumes, was 46.6 in August, down from 46.5 in July.
Chelsea remain likely to add to their squad before the close of the transfer window.
Despite signing two more players on Tuesday, Manchester United could still be active in the transfer market before the August 31 deadline.
European markets rose Tuesday as investors were hopeful that the European Central Bank (ECB) would soon announce stimulus measures to rejuvenate the faltering economy of the euro zone and regain the growth momentum.
Germany's central bank warned Monday that Europe's biggest economy could be stressed by the continent's endless financial crisis, with signs of a slowdown building even as it is being relied on ever more to prop up its neighbors
Asian stocks ended mixed last week as market players continued to wait for policy makers to come up with bold stimulus measures to boost the weakening global economy.
Following the signing of Robin van Persie, Sir Alex Ferguson hinted that Manchester United's spending may not be finished this summer.
Investors rewarded Portugal's efforts to trim its budget gap by sending the credit-default swaps on Portugal to a low of 725 basis points on Thursday, down from 1,515 in January and 1,237 in May, according to Bloomberg. The implied probability of Portugal defaulting on its debt fell to 46 percent from 73 percent.
European markets were mixed Thursday as investors remained cautious waiting for policymakers to announce monetary easing measures which could stop the weakening of the euro zone economy and revive growth momentum.
Most of the European markets fell Wednesday as investors were losing optimism on policymakers announcing stimulus measures to rejuvenate the weakening euro zone.
Major data releases aplenty are on the economic calendar next week. In the U.S., investors will focus on July retail sales, industrial production, and consumer prices. In the euro zone, second-quarter gross domestic product figures across the major economies and the German ZEW index are the main highlights.
Manchester United are closing in on their marquee summer signing, plus the latest on the club's scouring of the transfer market for a left-back.
Chelsea look set to remain busy in the transfer market as the start of the new Premier League season approaches.
Next week will be a reasonably quiet one for both the U.S. and the euro zone, but China will be dumping a whole bunch of macro data for July .