Zurich Financial Services Group (Zurich) is pleased to announce the below senior management appointments, effective immediately, to Zurich’s and Santander’s Madrid-based joint-venture holding company which will be named Zurich Santander Insurance America, S.L. The appointments are related to Zurich’s and Santander’s long-term alliance in Latin America as announced earlier this year. Link: Click Here

Myriad's Next Generation Alien Technology Brings Android to Apple. Myriad Alien Dalvik 2.0 to extend Android apps to tablets, TVs, automobiles and more, creating new revenue opportunities and opening up Android ecosystem to new sectors. Alien Dalvik 2.0 to remove technological barriers to create consistent user experiences and mobilize content across multiple platforms and screens, taking the headache out of fragmentation and content management. Link: Click Here

Cicor is awarded a major aerospace contract. The Microelectronics Division of the Cicor Group (SIX Swiss Exchange: CICN), a leading, internationally operating group headquartered in Boudry (Switzerland) specialising in printed circuits boards, microelectronics and electronic solutions, today announced the signing of a framework agreement with Hamilton Sundstrand to manufacture hybrid/electronic modules. The order represents a volume of EUR 8 million over the next three years. Link: Click Here

 
Tecan Initiates CEO Succession Process. The Tecan Group (SIX Swiss Exchange: TECN) today announced that the Board of Directors has initiated a succession process for the top management position. In the coming months, the Board of Directors will elect a new CEO who will continue implementing Tecan's growth strategy. Link: Click Here

Adval Tech Group: New Head Consumer Goods Division. Jason Lu is the new member of the Group Executive Management of the Adval Tech Group. The 41 year old Chinese will assume the management of the Consumer Goods Division in November 2011 and thereby succeeds Neo Age Seng, who – as already announced in the press release on May 16, 2011 – will leave the Adval Tech Group. Link: Click Here



Economy
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ECB Watching: From monetary to financial stability. There are responsibilities according to the Treaty, there are responsibilities according to the Stability and Growth Pact, and we are urging every partner institution and entity concerned to live up to their responsibility. We think that living up to responsibility would improve and not deteriorate growth prospects in Europe. Because, again, it would improve confidence, and confidence […] is the key to growth. Link: Click Here

UK: BoE launch GBP75bn of QE2. More aggressive than expected. The BoE decided to increase QE by another £75bn at their October meeting, to £275bn. The decision was expected to be finely balanced, with economists generally anticipating a £50bn expansion at either the October or November BoE meeting (with some risks of £75bn). Hence, by expanding QE both at the early end of expectations and at the upper end of expectations, the policy move was somewhat more aggressive than expected. Consequently, 10yr gilt yields fell around 8bp on the news, and sterling fell from around $1.545 to around $1.530. Link: Click Here

ECB leaves interest rates unchanged: Focus now on the press conference where we expect additional liquidity-providing operations. The ECB announced that the Governing Council had decided to leave official interest rates unchanged at today's meeting. Our view had been narrowly in favour of an interest rate reduction, based on the rapid economic deterioration in the euro area. Link: Click Here

German factory orders weaken further in August. Factory orders fell by 1.4% on the month, below our forecast (-0.5%) and the consensus (0.0%). The decline was driven by weaker domestic demand (-3.2%) for both investment goods (-3.8%) and consumer goods (-4.0%). We note, however, that some of the decline likely reflects summer vacations primarily taking place in August this year. Link: Click Here