North American Drilling Boom for Schlumberger

Q3 profit more than doubles (NI of $1.7 3billion) leading to rise in share price of 5.4% (one of top gainers in SPX). Their Western Geco unit is also seeing some interest in surveying work. Although prospects in Gulf of Mexico look promising, there is likely to be more stringent process for deepwater permits following the BP oil spill.

Bank of America's Massive One-Off Charge and Banking Environment

BoA in Q3 2010 took a charge of more than $10bn for a revaluation of its credit and debit card business which is being adversely impacted by charge-curbing regulation. This netted out with profits to give a loss of $7.3bn. Apart from the "credit charge", BoA performance is very tied to the US mortgage market: data on foreclosures etc.

Goldman's Q3 profit was $1.73bn, down from last year (blamed on lower prop trading revs due to smaller volumes and lower volatility) although revenue from investment banking advisory increased.

Currency War and the Big Five Reservists

By buying dollars and other currencies, China holds down the value of the yuan and makes its exports more competitive. IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn does not like this and wants China to let the yuan appreciate, but China does not want to move too fast and hurt export businesses. China saves and exports, US spends and imports. This results in global imbalances.
Yuan in Chinese means round object or round coin. Difference between yuan and renminbi is like difference between Pounds and Sterling.
Last month South Korea's foreign reserves hit a record $290bn USD, the world's fifth. Who are the biggest? China, Japan, Russia and Taiwan. 80% of the world's largest FX reserve countries are in Asia. SK is one of the countries recovering fastest from the crisis. BoK estimates this year's growth to be 5.9%.