Federal Open Market Committee

Here is a list of the top news items from this week on Wall Street:

1. The unemployment rate rose over 10% this week, marking the first time since 1983. Data from the labor department showed that employers cut another 190,000 jobs last month, pushing the rate of unemployment up from Septembers 9.8%. Although economists had been expecting the unemployment rate to drop to just 9.9%, shares rose sharply on Thursday, closing above the heavily-watched 10,000 level.

2. The Fed held its key interest rates at the 0-0.25% range this week. As this had been expected by traders, the real speculation was related to the language used in the FOMC statement: to keep rates "exceptionally low" for an "extended period".

3 ...

NEW YORK, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate was unchanged at 5.35 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.31 discount and origination points. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040122/FLTHLOGO ) The average 15-year fixed mortgage was down slightly to 4.72 percent while the larger jumbo 30-year fixed rate jumped to 6.50 percent. Adjustable rate mortgages were mixed, with the average 1-year ARM inching lower 5.27 percent and the 3-year ARM rising to 4.88 percent. Mortgage rates were mostly in a holding pattern leading up to a meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. And with the Fed delivering no surprises in their statement that followed, mortgage rates aren't likely to show much movement in response. The Fed's ongoing purchases of mortgage-backed debt are holding mortgage rates at compelling levels, but this won't be ...

Gold ticking a little higher ...

Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in September suggests that economic activity has continued to pick up. Conditions in financial markets were roughly unchanged, on balance, over the intermeeting period. Activity in the housing sector has increased over recent months. Household spending appears to be expanding but remains constrained by ongoing job losses, sluggish income growth, lower housing wealth, and tight credit. Businesses are still cutting back on fixed investment and staffing, though at a slower pace; they continue to make progress in bringing inventory stocks into better alignment with sales ...

CBOE Volatility Index ...