Industrial production slumps 1.2% in August - MarketWatch

Industrial production slumps 1.2% in August - MarketWatch


 Industrial production slumped 1.2% in August, the largest one-month percentage drop since March 2009, the Federal Reserve reported Friday. Hurricane Isaac's impact on Gulf Coast region output was responsible for 0.3 percentage points of the drop, the Fed said. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a 0.3% drop for August. July's growth was revised down to 0.5% growth from a previously estimated 0.6% rise. Compared to August 2011, industrial production is up 2.8%. Capacity utilization fell to 78.2% from 79.2% in July


FDIC chief: Volcker Rule done by year-end - MarketWatch

  A top bank regulator on Friday said agency officials are working to release by year-end a final version of the so-called Volcker rule that would prohibit big banks from trading stocks and derivatives with their own money and significantly limit banks' investments in hedge funds and private-equity funds. "The regulators are working on it and I think that is the intention," said Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. acting chairman Martin Gruenberg to reporters after speaking to an American Banker conference. The FDIC and four other regulators are working to complete the effort after regulators introduced a 300-page proposal in October.