Economy/Ecommerce

As expected, European Central Bank president Mario Draghi said that the ECB was going to start buying short- and medium-term government debt, especially that of Italy and Spain, the weakest large links in the euro zone.

Last week, investors seemed to pause while they were waiting for Fed chairman Ben Bernanke to speak some magical words. This week, the markets seem to be stuck in neutral waiting for ECB president Mario Draghi to outline his central bank’s plan to “save the euro,” to put it in (overly) dramatic terms.

CoreLogic reported on Tuesday that home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased by 3.8 percent in July 2012 compared to July 2011.

Investors waited all week for Ben Bernanke’s annual Jackson Hole, Wyo., end-of-summer speech, and the chairman of the Fed delivered… something.

While investors were anticipating Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s pronouncements from Jackson Hole the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that personal income increased $42.3 billion, or 0.3 percent.

The Federal Reserve released the latest edition of the Beige Book on Wednesday, more formally known as the “Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District,” which noted that the U.S. economy has been growing “gradually in July and early August across most regions and sectors.”

According to the most recent S&P/Case-Shiller report on housing U.S. home prices saw positive growth for all three headline composites year-over-year during the second quarter of 2012.

The Fed’s annual symposium at Jackson Hole, Wyo., is later this week, and Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will speak at the event on Friday, which has set off the latest round of speculation about whether the central bank will try to stimulate the economy once again.