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The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Mexico increased 0.8 percent and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) increased 0.5 percent in August.

The global wind industry will see a flat year in 2010, as measured in new megawatts capacity installed, compared to 2009, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The clean energy research firm said that onshore and offshore wind installations in 2010 are expected to total 37.7GW, down 2% from 2009, but are set to bounce back to 45GW in 2011. Bloomberg New Energy Finance expects the sector to continue to grow in the years that follow, with an average of 48GW to be added in years 2012-2013.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Australia increased 0.2 percent and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) increased 0.3 percent in August.

The OECD trade deficit in goods and services with the rest of the world continued deteriorating during the second quarter of 2010, according to new balance of payments data. The deficit was 62.2 $US billion in the second quarter of 2010, after a 37.4 $US billion deficit reported in the first quarter.

At the World Retail Congress in Berlin, Havas Media and MPG's unique analysis, Brand Sustainable Futures, revealed a positive yet diverse set of results and opportunities for retailers. In the largest analysis of its kind – incorporating the views of 30,000 consumers across 9 markets and 150 brands – Brand Sustainable Futures shows that retail is perceived to be a leading sector in sustainability, with over 85% of all retail brands within the analysis recording above average results.

The Corporate Executive Board, a leading research and advisory services company, released new data that indicates a 3.3 percent increase in IT operational budgets for 2011, following two years of zero growth. This finding is based on the benchmarking of projected IT spending, staffing and project data of CIOs and IT managers at 133 Fortune 1,000 Companies and collectively represents an IT spend of approximately $70 billion. Based on the projections, leading corporations are cautiously preparing for a return to growth.

The dominant social network sites of Europe and North America have yet to extend their reach into parts of Asia Pacific where local sites retain the leading consumer mind share and profitable business models, according to new research from Gartner, Inc.

Confirmed by the European Central Bank’s recent announcement of four percent growth in the EU, global payments volumes continued to grow in 2009, despite economic pressure from the financial crisis according to findings from the World Payments Report 2010, announced by Capgemini, RBS and Efma. This followed a period of overall growth in non cash-payments which accelerated to nine percent in 2008 from seven percent in 2007. The rate of growth in non-cash payments volumes in 2008 was far faster in developing economies, such as China (29 percent), South Africa (25 percent) and Russia (66 percent), than in mature markets, such as North America which had a growth rate of four percent.

According to Strategy Analytics’ latest research, the number of Internet users around the world that use social networks such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter will reach 900 million by the end of this year and increase to 1.85 Billion by the end of 2015. However, the Strategy Analytics report, “Global Social Network Market Forecast,” finds that there are already significant regional differences in the adoption of different social networks, as well as in business models for how social networks are monetized.

PRTM, a global management consulting firm, is releasing findings from “Bankruptcy and Consolidation in the Global Automotive Supply Industry 2010,” their third annual study of the winning and losing auto suppliers worldwide. The expanded 2010 study includes 560 suppliers with aggregate revenues of US$2.14 trillion in 2009 from Europe, North America, Japan, and South Korea, as well as from fast-growing auto markets including Brazil, China, and India.