ECONOMY & MARKETS

The 17 members of the Eurozone share a common currency. This is a problem, however, because their economies are fundamentally different.

RBC Capital Markets recently published an interesting sell signal for the U.S. dollar early next month.

EUR/USD may be at an extreme valuation, which may suggest a sell signal for the pair, according to a model produced from Deutsche Bank FX.

There is a Greek credit default swaps controversy brewing.

The New York Stock Exchange and NYSE Amex Cash Markets invoked Rule 48 on Thursday after European leaders agreed to boost the region's bailout fund and struck a deal with private banks and insurers to accept 50 percent losses on Greek bonds.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Logitech International, Akamai Technologies, Citrix Systems, Wilshire Bancorp, and Acme Packet. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: TriQuint Semiconductor, AXT, Plexus, 21Vianet Group, and FBR.

Bank of Canada painted a darker picture of the domestic economy on Wednesday, warning of risks from a likely recession in Europe and continuing weakness in the United States.

There is no historical precedent for economies as indebted as the EU and U.S. to avoid default, said Gerard Minack, chief market strategist at Morgan Stanley’s Sydney office.

Apple has introduced its special Halloween App.

okia is leaving no stone unturned in the battle of the smartphones and has already started investing in future ventures where smartphones will be physically more flexible. The company warded off all possible talks of rumors regarding the device and came forward with a demo device at the Nokia World Show.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones futures and Nasdaq 100 futures rising 1.5 to 1.8 percent at 5:05 a.m. EDT.

The Lumia smartphones are expected to arrive next month.

Nokia has unveiled the two new Lumia smartphones – Lumia 800 and 710 – that will make use of Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform. Nokia’s Stephen Elop said that the company has high hopes with the launch of the two new devices.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Akamai Technologies, SonoSite, Green Plains Renewable Energy, Web.com Group, and InterDigital. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: TriQuint Semiconductor, Electro Scientific Industries, AXT, LHC Group, and Ancestry.com.

Despite an elevated level of risk aversion – and the fact that the source of the risk is the European debt crisis – the euro remains “surprisingly resilient” against the safe-haven U.S. dollar, said Samarjit Shankar, managing director at Bank of New York Mellon

Eurozone authorities still have not come out with many concrete figures on the European debt crisis bailout package.

On a multi-day/week basis, traders should perhaps short the Australian dollar against the Norwegian krone, according research from Richard Franulovich of Westpac Institutional Bank.

Developing Asian economies have outperformed G3 (U.S., EU, and Japan) economies by an average of five percentage points from 2000 to 2006, according to Western Asset, a leading global fixed-income manager.

Oil futures edged lower on Wednesday, giving up earlier gains due to pervasive investor jitters that Europe may fail to deliver a firm solution to its sovereign debt crisis.

The company blamed the revenue drop-off to a sharp contraction in European demand.

An increase in the price of edible silver leaf has not deterred confectioners from presenting sweets rolled in fine sheets of silver called varq, during the long festive season that ends with Diwali celebrations this week.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open for equities on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500, for the Dow Jones and for the Nasdaq 100 up 0.6 to 0.8 percent.

The top after market NYSE gainers on Monday were: Spartech, Cobalt International, Nelnet, CTS Corp, Ameriprise Financial, Briggs & Stratton, Lennar Corp, Sunoco Logistics Partners, Manitowoc and Methode Electronics.

The top after market NYSE Losers on Tuesday were: DeVry, Lincoln National, Las Vegas Sands, Discover Financial, FMC Technologies, Radioshack, MetLife, Interpublic Group of Companies, Alcoa and Capital One Financial Corp.

The companies that are expected to see active trade on Wednesday are: Automatic Data Processing, Boeing, Sprint Nextel, Amazon.com, Ford Motor, Lockheed Martin, FMC Technologies, Akamai Technologies, CA, ConocoPhillips, Exelon Corp and General Dynamics Corp.

European stock index futures fell on Wednesday, after Asian shares traded lower for most part on growing concerns that the outcome from a key meeting of European policymakers to contain the debt crisis may fall short of expectations.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Gen-Probe, Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Panera Bread, Transcept Pharmaceuticals, and F5 Networks. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Amazon.com, Human Genome Sciences, Masimo, Broadcom, and Century Aluminum.

Asian shares declined on Wednesday ahead of a key meeting of European policymakers later in the session, with concerns heightening that the outcome to contain Europe's sovereign debt crisis could fall short of expectations.

Canon Inc. (NYSE: CAJ) reported a 14.2 percent increase in third quarter earnings, due to ongoing cost cutting measures. Because of historically strong yen and lower production activities, the company lowered its full year 2011 outlook.