China’s economy has continued to slow at the start of the fourth quarter of the year with October reporting sluggish figures for industrial production, retail sales and urban investment.

The weakness in global oil prices took Brent crude, the so-called global marker crude type, to under $US80 a barrel for the first time in more than four years this morning.

The quarterly survey of house price movements form the Australian Bureau of Statistics has confirmed what we already know – Sydney is driving house prices higher.

Business conditions jumped sharply last month, but business confidence fell in a conflicting reading from the latest monthly survey of business from the National Australia Bank.

Deflation fears have returned to analysis of the Chinese economy for a second time in a month after there was no change in the near five year low annual inflation rate of 1.6% in October, and yet another steep fall in producer prices.

Economic conflabs dominate the coming week, especially in Australia. There’s the annual APEC meeting in Beijing midweek, and then the 2014 G20 Leaders meeting in Brisbane.

Warren Buffett’s investment in the faltering UK retail giant, Tesco, cost his Berkshire Hathaway company dearly in the third quarter, with the company taking a huge multi million dollar write off.

Sharemarkets ended on a mixed note Friday. The Dow and the S&P 500 had small gains on the day, while Nasdaq fell, European markets lost, while it was a similar story for Asia, but not for Australia and Japan.

Mixed news from China’s October trade report, with exports rising, but not by as much as expected, imports rising, again just short of forecast, and a near record trade surplus of well over $US40 billion resulted for the second month in the past three.

China’s trade figures for October will be issued tomorrow and another big trade surplus is expected as imports continue to perform weakly.

A rebound in the value of the US dollar and another fall in the price of iron ore saw the Aussie currency hit new four year lows overnight Wednesday.

Another rough night for iron ore and oil which means downward pressure on the prices of local energy and iron or producers, led by Woodside and BHP Billiton.

The release of the Apple iPhone 6 sent Australian retail sales soaring in September, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics reporting a stronger than expected 1.2% rise in the month, seasonally adjusted.

The Reserve Bank sat on its hands for yet another month, leaving the cash rate steady at 2.5%, despite the first evidence emerging for stronger than expected September quarter economic growth.

Oil was whacked lower in late trading in European and US trading after Saudi Arabia again surprised by cutting prices for US customers.

Westpac (WBC) wrapped up the bank reporting season yesterday and a muted end was had by all in contrast to the strong gains seen around the interim reports in May, and a year ago for the 2012-13 full year figures.

Nothing in yesterday’s flow of economic data to make the Reserve Bank board think about changing the current 2.5% level for the bank’s cash rate.

Gold was whacked for a second successive day and took a hard fall on Friday around the world as investors abandoned the metal in the wake of the end of the Fed huge easing campaign, and then the sudden expansion of the similar spending program by the Bank of Japan, at one point trading at levels not seen since 2010, as the dollar surged in the wake of the surprise move from the Bank of Japan to expand its easing program.

What the Fed took away, the Bank of Japan gave back to the punchbowl in what was an astounding end to a big week for global finance.

From a horse race in Melbourne tomorrow, to the mid-term polls in the US, a central bank meeting here and offshore, and the key monthly jobs data in America and in Australia, it will be one of those enormous weeks for the Australian and world economies.