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On the heels of reports that credit companies are in a rush to raise interest rates to historic highs and implement new fees before regulation that limits such action takes effect, Consumers for Competitive Choice (C4CC), a diverse, national coalition of Americans including consumers and small businesses who support a consumer-focused economy, has just released a study titled, "The Credit Card Con," which examines the industry’s notoriously bad acts.

Developing countries can shift to lower-carbon paths while promoting development and reducing poverty, but this depends on financial and technical assistance from high-income countries, says a new World Bank report presented here. High-income countries also need to act quickly to reduce their carbon footprints and boost development of alternative energy sources to help tackle the problem of climate change.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index™ (LEI) for the U.K. increased 1.0 percent, and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index™ (CEI) increased 0.2 percent in September.

The weekly average rate borrowers were quoted on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace for 30-year fixed mortgages decreased two basis points last week to 4.84 percent, down from 4.86 percent the week prior, according to the Zillow Mortgage Rate Monitor, compiled by leading real estate Web site Zillow.com®. Rates for 15-year fixed mortgages fell two basis points to 4.29 percent from 4.31 percent, and 5-1 adjustable rate mortgages fell eight basis points to 3.71 percent, from 3.79 percent the week prior.

The European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) recorded a total of 326 cases of restructuring in the European Union between 1 July and 30 September 2009, involving some 119,000 announced job losses and 36,000 announced job gains. Restructuring activity as captured by the European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) has continued to reflect more normal levels of activity in the recent quarter. The surge in restructuring-related job loss that the ERM captured in the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 shows no sign of returning. Although most economic indicators point to an end of the economic downturn, it is unclear how labour markets will fare once public stimulus programmes have come to an end.

The percent of American single-family homes with mortgages in negative equity fell to 21 percent in the third quarter, down from 23 percent in the second, as home values stabilized in the short term and more underwater homeowners lost their homes to foreclosure, according to the third quarter Zillow Real Estate Market Reports.

Fitch Ratings says that Sweden and Finland's approval of the Nord Stream gas pipeline project to ship Russian natural gas to Germany, significantly decreases potential future EU gas supply risk. The approval of the EUR7.4bn pipeline also mitigates a significant regulatory risk to the project itself that could have resulted in it being delayed.

The Conference Board Employment Trends Index (ETI)™ increased for the second consecutive month. The ETI now stands at 89.3, up 0.7 percent from the revised September figure. The index is down 13.2 percent from a year ago.

OECD composite leading indicators (CLIs) for September 2009 point strongly to growth in Italy, France, United Kingdom and China, while tentative signals of expansion have emerged in Canada and Germany. A recovery is clearly visible in the United States, Japan and all other OECD economies and major non-OECD economies. Although expansion signals can be observed in several countries, these signals should be interpreted with caution, as the expected improvement in economic activity, relative to long term potential levels, can be partly attributed to a decrease in the estimated long term potential level and not solely an improvement in economic activity itself.

comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, released its Q3 2009 retail e-commerce sales estimates, which showed that U.S. online retail spending totaled $29.6 billion, down 2 percent versus year ago. Q3 2009 represents the first time on record that consecutive quarters have seen negative e-commerce spending growth compared with the same quarter the year prior.