Looking Ahead: November 5 through November 9, 2012

Hurricane Sandy captured investors’ attention as the week began and forced New York markets to close for Monday and Tuesday. Despite the difficulties on the U.S. East Coast economic data were released in a timely manner — and they were mostly positive. However, that cannot be said about European data that showed unemployment continuing to grow while manufacturing continued to contract. In Japan, the Bank of Japan found it necessary to increase its asset purchase program. The Japanese government continued to apply pressure on the BoJ, threatening its independence. The big event this week is the U.S. presidential election on Tuesday. Investors are already looking past the election and to the resolution of the ‘fiscal cliff’ at year’s end. Three central banks meet — the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank. China’s monthly deluge of economic data is due along with global services and composite purchasing managers’ indexes. But the outcome of the election and its ramifications will occupy investors.