[ForexNews]

A giveback likely to come in auto sales
Here is what the CEO of Edmunds.com, the nation’s largest automotive information site, had to say: “Cash for Clunkers distorted the market in a way that benefited the industry for four weeks. Now, the payback begins”. The company said that half as many people are researching a new car purchase on their website as were looking during the peak of the clunker program. For more, take a look a page 1B of the USA Today, “With Clunker Program Over, Some Fear Sales Drought”. We forecast a rise to 13.2 million units in annualized vehicle sales for August from 11.3 million in July, but expect the sales rate to dip below 11 million in the fourth quarter.

Banking system still under stress
Federal regulators have approved guidelines to allow private equity firms to snap up failing US banks in a sign of how desperate the need is for new capital in the banking sector. The FDIC’s deposit insurance fund stood at $13.3 billion as of March, but since then 60 banks have failed at a cost of over $19 billion. While the FDIC has already provisioned for these losses, it is considering levying additional fees against the industry to help cover the cost of future bank failures. Turn to the front page of today’s Wall Street Journal for more, “Rules Eased on Bank Buyouts”.

Eating out is out of style
The global recession has prompted consumers across the globe to cut back on small pleasures like eating out. According to a survey just released by the research company NPD Group, restaurant traffic and spending is down not just in the US but worldwide. The UK and Spain suffered the biggest declines in traffic. In the US traffic fell 1.5%, though spending was up 2% from a year ago.

Toyota cuts global output
Have a look at page 14 of today’s Financial Times, “Toyota to Cut Output by 6% in Bid to Reduce Losses”. Toyota is poised to slash production by as much as 580,000 vehicles – almost 6% of global capacity – as global demand for cars declines.