Happy Halloween! Today's a big day. The Fed's interest rate decision will come later this afternoon.
We also had great economic news. The government reported that the economy grew by 3.9% in the third quarter. That's the fastest growth rate in six quarters.
Despite rising worries about commodity prices, the GDP price index, the broadest measure of price changes in the economy, rose just 0.8% annualized, matching a nine-year low. Inflation hasn't been lower since John F. Kennedy's administration.
Also, USA Today has a fascinating take on third-quarter earnings season:
The big question: Was the third quarter as bad as it initially seems for U.S. companies, or are housing-related problems masking what was otherwise a respectable three months?Now that 307, or 61% of S&P 500 companies, have reported, the headline numbers are far from encouraging. Earnings have contracted 5.3% from a year ago, S&P says, the worst performance since the fourth quarter of 2001.
Thomson Financial, which measures results differently, says earnings are down 0.9% and that 22% of companies have missed estimates. That is only slightly worse than the average of 19% missing in the past eight quarters, Thomson says.
But if earnings from home-builder and financial companies are backed out, the S&P 500 earnings would have risen 13.1%, according to data from Nick Raich of National City. Eight of the 10 sectors posted 8% or greater earnings growth; five were in the double digits.
Finally, Google (GOOG) has broken $700 a share. The stock went public at $85 just three years ago!
