Business

One quarter after Americans unexpectedly spluged on recreational vehicles (and, more predictably, healthcare) US spending has returned to a more normal pattern in Q3.

Thanks to the spike in Amazon's stock price overnight after blow-out earnings (for AWS), CEO Jeff Bezos has added almost $7 billion to his net worth - pushing him above Microsoft founder Bill Gates to become the world's richest person...

Bezos, 53, has added $18.1 billion to his fortune this year.

As Bloomberg reports, Bezos briefly surpassed Gates on an intraday basis on July 27th but this move looks considerably larger... unless like then, AMZN gives it all back today.

Authored by Kevin Muir via The Macro Tourist blog,

Remember when Bank of Canada Governor Poloz surprised the market with a second rate in early September? It caught the market off-guard as the market had priced in much less than a 50% chance of a hike.

Here is the chart of the BAX futures and CAD on the day Poloz shocked the market with the second unexpected hike.

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, Wall Street quickly trimmed its Q3 GDP forecasts from 3.0% to the low/mid 1% range, expecting a substantial, if brief, adverse impact on US growth from the storm devastation.

• U.S. Economy Expected to Show Momentum, Despite Storms (WSJ)
• As Trump tax comes to floor, failure could spell stocks selloff (Reuters)
• Washington’s Biggest Mystery: What’s in the Republican Tax Plan? (BBG)
• Spain set to impose direct rule in Catalonia as crisis spirals (Reuters)
• Catalans Send Emissary to Madrid to Plead for a Deal (BBG)
• Catalan Leader Runs Out of Options as Streets Demand Secession (BBG)
• Trump releases some JFK files, blocks others under pressure (Reuters)