The video clips below provide a handy summary of the reports expected on the economic, financial and corporate front around the globe during the week ahead.

US: Retailers, health care

There still are 60 S&P companies left to report earnings, but markets will kick off against a backdrop of weaker jobs and mixed data. Major retail names will release results, and there’s also key legislation from Capitol Hill.

Europe: Barclays, Vodafone, A-B InBev

As telecom operators report results, Spain will be one of the main markets investors focus on. Barclays and A-B InBev also will report third-quarter results.

Asia: Economic data front and center

Chinese economic data will be front and center in Asia. Beijing will report inflation and trade

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MoneyGram International Inc. (MGI) announced the expansion of MoneyGram Rewards into Canada, a loyalty program that offers members fee discounts, receive notices, and fast and convenient money transfers.  MoneyGram Rewards were expanded earlier this year into Germany, Spain and France. It was first introduced in the U.S. in 2008 and now has more than 3.5 million customers who enjoy the benefits of membership, which include discounted transactions, a personalized card for expediting money transfers, quarterly statements and the ability to manage one’s account and profile online.  Further in September, MoneyGram added a feature to the program that allows members to be notified via SMS text message when their money transfer transaction has been picked up by the receiver.  The expansion of the program is a part of MoneyGram’s growth plans in Canada. In July, the company announced the roll-out of thousands of additional Canada Post ...

OUTLOOK The Alternative Energy industry is going through a recovery after absorbing the global recession and the cascading fall in global crude oil prices. Earlier this year, quite a few alternative energy companies were in the trough. Though these companies have recovered from their lows, their valuations are still significantly lower than their 52-week highs. The growth of alternative energy companies is closely tied to the fortunes of the economy. In its latest release, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicted that total U.S. electricity consumption will decline by 3.3% in 2009 before growing by 1.3% in 2010 as the improving economy coaxes a gradual recovery in electricity sales. In fiscal 2008, annual U.S. photovoltaic (PV) installed capacity grew by 63% year-over-year, bringing the cumulative installed capacity to 792MW. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) -- the U.S. trade association representing close to 500 companies ...

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA) reported earnings of 89 cents in the third quarter of 2009, up 16% from the year-ago period and a cent above the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Strong sales of Copaxone and in the respiratory business helped drive earnings in the reported quarter. Net sales increased 25% to $3.55 billion, with the Barr acquisition contributing to sales across different geographical segments. The strengthening U.S. dollar adversely impacted net sales by $160 million or 6%. Revenue performance across key business segments was mixed. While the Pharmaceuticals Sales segment posted growth of 27% with revenues coming in at $3.4 billion, the active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) segment reported an 8% decline in growth with sales coming in at $136 million. Pharmaceutical segment sales were driven by strong performances in the North American, European and International segments. The launch of generic versions of Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo ...

Well, it is not as if I relish rubbing salt into old wounds, but this quote from the a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8bb0da5a-c7dc-11de-8ba8-00144feab49a.html"latest piece by Ben Hall in Paris and Ralph Atkins in today's Financial Times/a is just too good to resist.br /br /blockquoteFrench manufacturing output rose at its fastest rate for nine years, according to a survey on Monday, confirming that France has become the economic powerhouse of continental Europe. Purchasing managers’ indices for manufacturing showed France performing significantly better than the continent’s other main economies – thanks to robust domestic demand./blockquotebr /br /a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SvASaIFOk2I/AAAAAAAAPjI/Xa0wjOVFc3A/s1600-h/france+manufacturing.png"img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 213px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399836193272533858" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ngczZkrw340/SvASaIFOk2I/AAAAAAAAPjI/Xa0wjOVFc3A/s400/france+manufacturing.png" //abr /br /Plenty of food for thought in this paragraph it seems to me. As a href="http://spaineconomy.blogspot.com/2009/10/french-rebound-continues-in-october.html"foreshadowed in this earlier post/a, it is the French economy - and not the German one - which is rebounding sharply, and this ...

A spectre is haunting Europe, but this time it is not the spectre of revolt by the popular masses, or even one of yet another wave of bank bailouts. No, the spectre which is currently stalking the corridors of Europe's most prestigous institutions is one of a Spanish economy which stays on a flatline while Europe's other economies, one by one, start to struggle back to life. And the main reason that this particular ghostly image is giving everyone so many sleepless nights is because Europe's current institutional structures, and especially the monetary policy tools available at the ECB are scarcely prepared for such a nighmare eventuality.br /br /br /strongFrance Is Recovering, And The Rebound Is Robust/strongbr /br /First it was just a rumour, then it was a possibility, and now it has become a reality - some of Europe’s economies are springing back into life. But only some. It ...

French telecom giant France Telecom (FTE) has reported operating results for third-quarter 2009 with revenue falling 6.4% year over year to €12.69 billion (US$18.1 billion), primarily due to unfavorable exchange rate fluctuations (British pound versus Polish zloty) and reduced mobile termination rates (inter-operator fees). Revenue was also hurt by the recession-driven discontinuation of landline phone use by customers.       EBITDA & Margin France Telecom, which operates two of the leading telecom brands in Europe (Orange and Wanadoo), reported EBITDA of €4.6 billion (US$6.6 billion) which declined 8% from the year-ago quarter, resulting in a fall in EBITDA margin to 35.9% from 36.6%. This decline is a result of stringent price regulation and adverse currency exchange swings. Revenue by Key Markets Reported revenue in France (46% of group sales), the company’s largest market, declined 1.6% year over year to €5.9 billion (US$8.4 billion) ...

eDoorways Corp. today discussed the “LEARN” doorway and demoed its eC Device at the Ibero-American Science and Technology Education Center’s (ISTEC) XVIIth Annual General Assembly on the Campus of the University of New Mexico (UNM) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. The presentation made earlier this week was so popular that the 200 people in attendance from various parts of Latin America, Spain, Portugal and the US requested a second demonstration.

The theme of this year’s General Assembly is “Using Technology to Enable Collaboration, and Collaboration to Advance Science and Technology.” Speakers included Founder and Executive Vice President of ISTEC, Dr. Ramiro Jordan, Dr. David J. Schmidly (President of UNM), Martin J. Chavez (Albuquerque, NM Mayor) and Dr. Mauro Miskulin (ISTEC President), amongst other esteemed educational, political and corporate guests. Also included was eDoorways’ lead consultant Ajene Watson, Managing Member of Ajene Watson

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Well, I never thought I would have to wait very long to get some confirmation of my last post on things that could go bump in the night in France, but even I wasn't expecting confirmation of what I was trying to get at so quickly. Now, according to a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f7e77b94-c2e0-11de-8eca-00144feab49a.html"Frank Atkins in The Financial Times this morning/a:br /blockquoteThe eurozone has reported the first year-on-year fall in bank lending to the private sector, strengthening the case for the European Central Bank to maintain its ultra-loose interest rate policy. The latest eurozone credit statistics indicated lending had been scaled back at an unprecedented pace, even though signs have become stronger that the 16-country region’s economy has stabilised./blockquotebr /br /What are we talking about here?br /br /Basically bank lending to the euro area private sector shrank by an annualised 0.3 percent in September, according to the European Central Bank's monthly report, making ...

Whoever would have thought that some people once called economics the most dismal of sciences? Certainly, as the current crisis goes on and on, those of us who consider ourselves to be economists scarcely are able to find the time to squeeze in a dull moment, even here and there. But even at a broader level, interest in that most dismal of dismal topics - the theory and practice of central banking - seems now to fire up levels of enthusiasm here in Spain that make even the appetising prospect of a forthcoming Real Madrid-Barça football match pale in intensity. Even if it is the case, I have to admit, that the everyday Johnny (or Jill) come lately sitting in the bar still - truth be told - prefers the sports columns of the daily newspapers, or the lacivious details of the latest romantic adventure of one of the rich ...