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The average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage decreased this week to 5.23 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.47 discount and origination points.

The annual growth rate of the outstanding amount of debt securities issued by euro area residents decreased from 11.0% in October 2009 to 9.6% in November. For the outstanding amount of quoted shares issued by euro area residents, the annual growth rate was 2.7% in November 2009, the same as in October.

In November 2009 compared with October 2009, seasonally adjusted industrial production grew by 1.0% in the euro area (EA16) and by 0.9% in the EU27. In October production fell by 0.3% and 0.7% respectively.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index™ (LEI) for Spain declined 0.5 percent and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index™ (CEI) decreased 0.3 percent in November.

More companies are employing mature enterprise risk management practices to enhance organizational value and resiliency, according to the findings of Aon's 2010 Global Enterprise Risk Management Survey.

A new study released by Bankrate, Inc. shows that the majority of Americans think wealth is beyond their reach and that it won't be easier to get rich any time soon.

The Deloitte Consumer Spending Index dipped slightly in December primarily due to a decline in real wages, but it remains near its highest level since 2004. The Index attempts to track consumer cash flow as an indicator of future consumer spending.

There were 2.4 million job openings on the last business day of November 2009, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The job openings rate was little changed over the month at 1.8 percent. The openings rate has held relatively steady since March 2009. The hires rate (3.2 percent) and the separations rate (3.3 percent) were essentially unchanged in November. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the total nonfarm sector by industry and geographic region.

According to a new study by BDO, one of the nation’s leading accounting and consulting organizations, capital markets executives at leading investment banks are bullish on the U.S. initial public offering (IPO) market for 2010. More than two-thirds (68%) believe IPO activity will increase this year compared to 2009, with almost a quarter (24%) describing the increase as substantial. Only 5 percent of the survey participants expect a decrease in IPOs in 2010, while 27 percent forecast activity as flat with 2009. Overall, bankers predict a 25 percent increase in the number of U.S. IPOs in 2010. They expect these offerings to average just over $400 million ($409M) in size.

Despite emerging relatively undamaged by the financial crisis, the US property-casualty industry still faces serious tests in 2010, according to Ernst & Young's Global Insurance Center 2010 U.S. Property-Casualty (P/C) Insurance Industry Outlook.