Bankruptcies in the US rose by almost 30% last month; people in the housing foreclosure process were 97% above January 2007, jingle mail is no longer someone making a poor Christmas joke: it’s the sound of letters being delivered to American banks with home keys inside after people have walked away rather than stay and watch the value of their houses, units, flats, etc drop any further.

A day of losses brought the markets down to a six week low, as continuing credit market concerns overwhelmed investors and banks once again led the declines.

The national construction activity has expanded in February but at a slower pace than the previous month due to renewed weakness in house and apartment building, a survey has shown.

While Australia’s economy slowed in the December quarter, it won’t be enough to satisfy the gloomy folk at the Reserve Bank or change their thinking on interest rates.

The Bank of Japan will hold another meeting in Tokyo tomorrow at which a non-decision will be made to leave interest rates at the official 0.50%, meaning it will not have changed for a year.

Wall Street rose, fell and then bounced a touch at the end on mixed business and economic news, but for the third time this week, commodities was where the action was.

It would have been music to the ears of an Australian Reserve Banker.

The Australian stockmarket remained buoyant today with resources stocks leading the way after commodity prices rose overnight and US stocks finished higher.

First there was the surprise boost to estimates for new private capital spending for 2008-09, now we’ve got confirmation that national income (measured by the terms of trade) is going to rise to record levels over the 18 months, thanks to a renewed surge in export revenues from our resources boom.

Unlike the statement after the February 5 meeting, which was followed up by the hawkish Statement of Monetary Policy and then the release of the February 5 meeting’s minutes, yesterday’s statement didn’t push the RBA’s stance any further.

Did the Australian economy hit a pothole or speed bump in January? The surprise slowdown in retail sales figures for the month suggest it may have hit an unexpected hole after consumer confidence fell sharply in the month and continued falling in February.

One thing is certain; we won’t get an interest rate rise next month because the Reserve Bank board meets on April 1 and would anyone there want to be known for saying ‘April Fool’ to millions of Australian mortgagees by increasing interest rates to 7.5%?

Australian shares finished flat after trading in positive territory for most of the day, as banking stocks followed the downward lead from Wall Street.

Here’s something the Reserve Bank board meeting will look at and have a little shudder as it considers the size of the interest rate rise today.

Tomorrow’s National Accounts for the December quarter look like being a bit mixed, if the business indicators for December released yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics are any guide.

The big share market sell off ran out of puff in the US overnight, where it started on Friday.

The Reserve Bank revealed this afternoon that the board had decided to boost the cash rate by 0.25% for the second month in a row, “to contain and reduce inflation over the medium term”.

Australian shares fell by 0.5% for the fourth consecutive day as credit market worries continue to grip investor sentiment.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed today that growth in retail spending was flat in January as shoppers began to curb spending due to rising interest rates and the global credit crunch.

Not even the sage of Omaha, Warren Buffett, could escape the impact of the subprime crisis, credit crunch and slowing economy in the last quarter of 2007, and although the year as a whole was another when his Berkshire Hathaway company outperformed the broader market as measured by the S&P 500.

The key event for all local markets this week is the Reserve Bank board meeting tomorrow and subsequent rate decision at 2.30 pm.

A big week for commodities last week as yield and profit hungry financial investors continue to pile into the sector desperate for performance after the disasters of credit markets.