“Never make predictions, especially about the future.” — Casey Stengel

1. Japan to Buy European Debt With Currency Reserves to Weaken the Yen — Bloomberg, Japan plans to use its foreign- exchange reserves to buy bonds issued by the European Stability Mechanism and euro-area sovereigns, as the nation seeks to weaken its currency, Finance Minister Taro Aso said. The purchase amount is undecided.
2. Growth in healthcare expenditure remains slack — Healthcare spending rose at a record low pace of 3.9% to $2.7T in 2011 as patients continued to cut back on medical services amid the economic slump. The growth was the same as in 2010 and 2009, and well below the 8% prior to the financial crisis. However, there are signs that the rise in spending could be speeding up again, with expenditure on drugs increasing by 2.9% in 2011 vs 0.4% in 2010, and on doctors’ visits by 4.3%.
3. China’s exports surged in December, Boosting Trade Surplus — per MarketWatch, China’s December exports jumped 14.1% from a year earlier, up from a 2.9% gain in November, while imports were up 6%, following on from zero growth the previous month, according to data released Thursday by the General Administration of Customs. Bank of America-Merrill Lynch noted shipments to the U.S. leapt 9.6% on year, while those to the euro zone edged up 1.9%, reversing from shrinking trade conditions in November, when the value of shipments contracted 2.6% and 18%, respectively.
4. China annual inflation slows in 2012 — According to the data from the National Bureau of Statistics in China, the Chinese consumers price index grew 2.5 per cent in the month, year-on-year. The producer price index, however, which is reflective of wholesale prices, dropped at a more-than-expected 1.9%.
5. Ford to hire 2,200 salaried staff in U.S. in 2013 — Ford (F) intends to recruit 2,200 white-collar workers this year in what would be the car-maker’s biggest expansion of new salaried positions in over ten years. Three-quarters of the jobs will be in engineering, manufacturing and IT as Ford expands and refreshes its product line-up globally, including in China, where the company plans to triple the number of models sold to 15.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:

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