Market Commentary
Brian Stutland
On the back of declining Chinese industrial profits Premier Wen Jiabo “urged for measures to boost exports, such as faster payment of export tax rebates, greater use of export credit insurance, and reduced inspections and fees to ease the burden on companies. He also said that financial products for hedging foreign exchange risk should be expanded” (Bloomberg).

The IFO survey in Germany has shown that for the fourth time in a row firms have become more pessimistic. This is concerning considering that the Euro is near multiyear lows against the dollar, which is beneficial to Germany’s export driven economy.

A California court ruled on August 24th that Samsung infringed on 6 of 7 of Apple’s patents and must pay Apple $1 billion in damages. This has sent shares of Samsung down 7.5% and Apple up 2.5% premarket. On Sept. 20th a US district judge Lucy Koh will hear Apple’s request for a complete US sales ban on Samsung devices such as the Galaxy S and S II smart phones and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 computer.

In US markets this week traders will be looking forward to chairman Bernanke’s speech in Jackson Hole on Friday. We would not be surprised to see the light summer volume to continue along with tight, choppy trading ahead of Bernanke’s speech.