The Traderszone Network

Asian stocks fell on Wednesday as fears of an entrenched global economic slowdown gripped investors, underlined by a weak factory survey from China, while the greenback firmed as investors fled to relatively safe-haven assets. S&P mini futures fell 1 percent after the weak China PMI. “The industrial sector in China remains a concern indicating that the economy is not out of the woods yet while the Fed’s comments last week indicate a glass half-empty view of the global economy,” said Tai Hui, chief Asia market strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management in Hong Kong.

A record year for debt-funded stock buybacks may soon become even more rewarding for shareholders. The Federal Reserve’s decision to delay raising interest rates for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis will likely encourage companies to take out more debt to repurchase their own shares or issue special dividends before the end of the year, adding to the almost $1 trillion that companies were already on pace to return to investors this year, fund managers and analysts say. While there is no way to track debt taken out for share buy-backs alone, U.S.

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Oil prices dipped on Wednesday, reversing early gains, as weak economic data from China weighed on commodities and added to the woes of an oversupplied market that has seen prices more than halve since June 2014. Crude edged up in early Asian trading after industry group the American Petroleum Institute reported that U.S. crude stockpiles fell 3.7 million barrels last week, with stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery point for U.S. crude futures alone down almost 500,000 barrels.

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Upper middle-class shoppers spooked by a whipsawing stock market and shoppers waiting till the last minute for the best deals could result in the weakest U.S. holiday sales season for retailers since the recession, AlixPartners said. This forecasted increase is on the low end of holiday sales performance since 2010, AlixPartners said in an advanced copy of a report given to Reuters. Holiday sales have averaged 3.9 percent in the last five years, the firm said.

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) will probably have to show there was some legitimate reason to install software that led to false vehicle emissions tests if it is to avoid U.S. criminal charges, lawyers said on Tuesday. As a result it is almost certainly exposed to very large civil penalties that could be imposed by the U.S. government, said attorneys with expertise in environmental prosecutions though not involved in the Volkswagen case.

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Attorney General Chris Koster on Tuesday filed papers in a Kansas City, Missouri state court seeking civil fines of up to $5,000 per tag against the Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (WBA.O) unit, and additional penalties if the tags are not removed. Koster said inspectors from his consumer protection unit found 1,306 expired tags at 49 of the 50 Walgreens stores they visited in Missouri from July 26 to Sept. 1, including two tags that expired in 2013.

Boeing Co (BA.N) Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg said on Tuesday he sees scope for additional 737 work going to China as the company continues to increase production rates of the single-aisle jetliner, though any changes would not come at the expense of U.S. jobs. “As we ramp up capabilities in China, including additional 737-related work, the actions that we’ll take are actions that will also allow us to grow jobs here in the U.S.,” Muilenburg said at an aerospace conference in Seattle organized by SAE International.

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