By Anne D. Picker, International Economist, Econoday
Monday, August 18, 2003

Last Week's Highlights
Into a week lacking in notable events came the great blackout of 2003 when most of the northeast U.S. and part of Canada were left in the dark. The "why did it happen?" phase is being addressed now that the utilities have slowly reconnected the millions of people affected. In Manhattan, residents could see the stars, normally obliterated by the island's lights. And residents became acquainted with their neighbors as people hung out on their buildings' stoops to escape the heat or had impromptu barbeques to use up food before it spoiled. At this writing just about everyone has once again regained their tenuous grip on power. Subways once again roared underground and traffic signals flashed their colors. New York mayor Mike Bloomberg opined that a three-day weekend in August wasn't such a bad thing as he urged those who had made it home on Thursday to stay there. Others labeled it a snow day in August. Markets had already wrapped up business for the day when the lights went out so there was no interruption in trading. Except for a mild hiccup, the financial markets were not affected by the power outage. Volume was quite light anyhow simply because it is mid-August.

For the first time since the week of June 16th, all indexes tracked here finished on the up side. With earnings season passing from view, investors - those not on vacation - bought shares thanks to some favorable economic data, especially in the U.S. And Japanese second quarter gross domestic product surprised on the positive side. It was up at a 2.3 percent annualized rate, slightly lower than the U.S. growth rate of 2.4 percent. Much weaker than Japan and the United States is European growth. But investors in Europe, looking forward to better things, were undeterred.

Last Week's Highlights   •   Global Stock Market Indexes   •   Recap of Global Markets   •   Currencies   •  Indicator Scoreboard

The Bottom Line   •   Looking Ahead