“Losing money is the least of my troubles. A loss never troubles me after I take it. I forget it overnight. But being wrong – not taking the loss – that is what does the damage to the pocket book and to the soul.” – Jesse Livermore

1. Obama Administration Issues New Rules to Combat Tax Inversions — WSJ, the Treasury Department announced new tax rules late yesterday to deter U.S. companies from moving their domicile to countries with lower tax rates. The tax changes make it harder for companies to complete overseas mergers, and should they choose to invert, companies will face a hard time using the cash accumulated abroad. The new rules are effective immediately and apply to all deals that had not closed as of late last week.
2. US and allies attack Isis in Syria — FT, the U.S., joined by five Arab allies, launched the first air strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria last Monday, marking the first U.S. military intervention in Syria since the start of the country’s civil war. The U.S.-led strikes opens the war’s new front, and is on top of the extra funding approved by Congress last week to train Syrian rebels.
3. Pimco ETF Draws Probe by SEC — WSJ, the SEC is investigating whether the way bond giant Pimco values bond holdings may artificially boost the returns of its flagship fund. For the past several months, regulators have been probing Bill Gross’s $3.6B Total Return Fund (NYSEARCA:BOND), seeing if the ETF bought bonds at discounted prices, but then relied on higher valuations for the assets when calculating the holdings’ value.
4. Business spending lifts second-quarter GDP to 4.6% — MarketWatch, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) the value of all goods and services produced by the U.S. — grew at a real 4.6% annual rate in the second quarter, the Commerce Department reported. The even faster pace of growth stemmed from stronger exports and business investment than the government originally calculated. Spending on structures such as plants and office buildings was revised up to 12.6% from 9.4%, while spending on equipment was raised to 11.2% from 10.7%.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com: