US Economy 

• Orders for durable goods increased by 0.1% in August with a large increase for demand in autos leading the way MarketWatch
• Jobless claims decreased last week to 305,000, which represented the lowest amount of claims since 2007  Bloomberg
• Q2 GDP remained at 2.5% for a third estimate, which further strengthened the Fed’s decision not to taper as the economy struggles to gain strong traction Forbes
• Personal income increased by a “healthy” 0.4% in August, beating July’s 0.2% increase, although suggesting that income growth remains weak by historical standards The Wall Street Journal

Housing

• Contracts for new home sales rose to 421K units, 7.9% increase relative to July, with home prices starting to level out The Wall Street Journal

World Economy

• Brazil’s economy grew by 7.5% in 2010 and only 0.9% in 2012 as inflation and public debt are adding even more risk to the unstable countryThe Economist

Miscellaneous

• In 2009 there were only 3 American companies in the world’s 10 largest firms by market value (Exxon Mobil, Microsoft and Walmart, check out “American Inc.’s” dominance in 2013  The Economist