Wholesale Inventories at 10am is the only piece of scheduled economic data tomorrow unless you count ECRI's weekly index at 1030am, and we'd recommend that you don't. Volume was fairly light yet again, hinting that this week may end up constituting more of a "hangover" from the dog days of summer as opposed to a proper and official beginning of the Fall months (this wasn't completely unforeseen, but in retrospect it may look like a no-brainer). Adding credence to that theory is the highly technical range-trading that has been transpiring over the past 3 sessions. The only wild-card to this whole thesis is Obama's speech tonight on job creation etc... There's a chance it'll move markets and provide some sort of guidance for Friday's trade (it's at 7pm so it won't affect today's domestic markets). All we can do in that regard is "wait and see." Either way, next week is much more robust, both in the sense that it has 5 full days, as well as more data (+auctions). Wholesale inventories are expected at +0.8% versus a previous reading of 0.6%.

(Reuters) - U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday said the central bank would spare no effort to boost disappointingly weak growth and lower unemployment but offered no details of steps monetary policymakers might take. "The Federal Reserve will do all it can to help restore high rates of growth and employment in a context of price stability," Bernanke said in comments prepared for delivery to the Economic Club of Minnesota.

In what could be taken as a bid to quell concerns among some of his colleagues that further monetary easing could spark inflation, the Fed chairman said a rise in prices this year is likely to be transitory. "We seelittle indication that the higher rate of inflation experienced so far this year has become ingrained in the economy," he said.

Other than offering a bit more detail on the outlook for inflation and emphasizing that sluggish growth is not enough to satisfy the Fed, Bernanke offered few fresh insights into thinking at the central bank on measures to aid the recovery. He largely reiterated remarks he made two weeks ago, repeating that the Fed has a range of tools to provide additional stimulus and is prepared to use them.

The Fed chairman warned that overzealous belt-tightening by the U.S. government in the near term could also slow down the "erratic" recovery. "Substantial fiscal consolidation in the shorter term could add to the headwinds facing economic growth and hiring," he said. (Reporting by Mark Felsenthal and Pedro Nicolaci da Costa; Editing by James Dalgleish)

(Reuters) - The European Central Bank signalled on Thursday that it had halted a cycle of interest rate rises begun just five months ago, saying euro zone inflation risks were no longer skewed to the upside and economic growth would be slow at best.

ECB President Trichet said there were "intensified downside risks" to the economic outlook for the 17-country euro zone, marking a significant change in stance from last month when the bank was focused on inflation risks.

"The change in tone firmly shelves rate hikes and even opens the door to rate cuts if the economic outlook deteriorates further," said ABN Amro economist Nick Kounis.

Trichet said inflation should fall below 2 percent in 2012 from 2.5 percent last month, and that price risks were "broadly balanced". That assessment marked a change from last month, when he said there were "upside risks to price stability".

"We expect the euro area economy to grow moderately, subject to particularly high uncertainty and intensified downside risks," Trichet told a news conference after the ECB left rates at 1.5 percent, following hikes in April and July.

"We are in a situation which is exceptionally demanding," Trichet said, making an impassioned defence of the ECB's record and its handling of the euro zone debt crisis when asked about calls from some in Germany for a return to the Deutschmark.

The ECB had delivered price stability "impeccably", he said, holding his last monthly news conference at the ECB's Frankfurt news conference before his term expires at the end of October. Next month, the ECB Governing Council meets in Berlin.

"I would like very much to hear the congratulations for an institution which has delivered price stability in Germany over almost 13 years at 1.55 percent approximately ... which is better than what has ever been obtained in this country over the last 50 years," he said, raising his voice and visibly moved.

(Reuters) - Members of a congressional "super committee," charged with finding at least $1.2 trillion in new deficit reductions, vowed to help get America's fiscal house in order when they met for the first time on Thursday. The panel of 12 congressional Democrats and Republicans acknowledged they had a tough road ahead of them and must keep open minds to reach an agreement. They used the opening meeting to make brief statements and set rules for operating. The committee has until only Nov. 23 to grapple with divisive questions of whether to cut popular social safety net programs and whether wealthy corporations or individuals should be taxed more -- and it is doing so with the 2012 national elections coming into focus. The two co-chairs tried to tamp down financial market expectations as both warned in nearly identical language that the super committee work product alone is not going to be able to solve all of the country's fiscal problems. Senator Patty Murray, the Democratic co-chair, said in an opening statement that Democrats and Republicans "certainly have some real differences" on how to achieve a deficit-reduction package. But she noted that super committee members so far "have refrained from drawing lines in the sand or carving out areas that can't be touched." She urged members not to be "boxed in or pigeonholed" by special interest groups. Signs of the pressure the panel was under were apparent from the beginning as a small group of labor union-backed protesters outside the room briefly interrupted the proceedings with chants of, "What do we want? Jobs. When do we need them? Now." Police quickly moved the protesters out of the building.

(By Kevin Drawbaugh and Donna Smith)

10yr yields are at their lowest levels in nearly 4 hours and MBS are at their highs of the day. Fannie 3.5's are up 11 ticks to 101-23 and 4.0's are up 8 ticks at 104-15. Definite possibility of reprices for the better if these levels hold or are improved upon. We do bear in mind though that Bernanke and Obama are yet to come, as well as the beginning of Fannie and Freddie 30yr MBS Settlement with tomorrow's "48 hour day." So lenders might be more conservative than they otherwise would be.

(Reuters) - Wells Fargo won a court ruling denying class-action status to more than 1 million black and Hispanic borrowers in a lawsuit accusing it of discriminating on mortgage rates and fees. Citing a recent landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of Wal-Mart, a U.S. District Judge said the Wells Fargo borrowers had too many differences to justify grouping them together in a single lawsuit. The ruling could force borrowers to pursue their claims individually or in smaller groups, which could result in higher costs and lower recoveries, or cause some plaintiffs to drop their claims altogether. In the case, six plaintiffs said Wells Fargo's "discretionary loan pricing procedures" allowed loan officers to impose higher rates, points and fees on minority borrowers than on white borrowers with similar credit profiles. Citing an analysis by an outside expert, the plaintiffs said this practice had a disparate impact on black and Hispanic borrowers, and violated the federal Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act. They sought to certify a class of borrowers from 2001 to the present. But Chesney said the plaintiffs failed to show there was any "common mode" by which loan officers exercised discretion to charge them more. She added that discretion "may have been exercised differently" in each borrower's case. "Merely showing that a defendant's policy of discretion has produced an overall race-based disparity does not suffice" for certification as a class-action, the judge wrote. A Wells Fargo spokeswoman, Vickee Adams, said the bank is pleased with Chesney's "well-reasoned" decision. Wells Fargo has faced other allegations it discriminates in home lending. Earlier this year, federal judges in Baltimore and Memphis, Tennessee rejected the bank's requests to dismiss lawsuits accusing it of steering black borrowers into home loans they could not afford, resulting in more foreclosures. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel)