The upcoming week will be a busy one for investors. The central banks of Britain, Australia, Switzerland and the European Monetary Union hold monetary policy meetings. While analysts think that the Bank of England might leave rates unchanged because the U.K. economy remains strong enough, no change is anticipated by the ECB after last month's 50 basis point cut. The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to cut rates by 25 basis points to 4.25 percent while the Swiss National Bank is expected to lower rates by 50 basis points to 1.75 percent. The Australian economy has remained surprisingly resilient in the face of the worldwide slowdown. The Swiss economy is directly affected by the sinking EMU economy.

Many of the more timely surveys should give clues on economic growth and sentiment in Europe and the United States. These surveys should be viewed as progress reports on how the economies are recovering from the September interruptions. Japan will finally release third quarter GDP on Friday, which is sure to be in negative territory. Investors will have plenty of information to digest and act upon in the coming week.

Introduction   •   Global Stock Market Indexes   •   Recap of Global Markets   •   Currencies   •  Indicator Scoreboard

The Bottom Line   •   Looking Ahead