By Daniel Costello

Good Morning Planet Money readers: For those of us from Boston, it's not the easiest morning but we still congratulate the Yankees on a good win. Moving on, here's the top-line business news out this morning:

The Bank of England voted Thursday to keep pumping cash into the UK economy by 25bn pounds, a sign that it remains worried about the economic outlook despite early signs of a recovery.

As expected, the Bank left interest rates unchanged at 0.5 percent. Later on Thursday, the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank, which sets monetary policy for the 16-nation euro region, left its key rate at a record low 1 percent.

The move to boost spending by pumping more cash into the British economy, known as quantitative easing, was expected by many economists after recent data suggested the country could remain mired in recession for many more months.

Toyota Motor continued the good news in the global car industry this week, announcing it returned to a profit in the latest quarter and cut in half its estimated annual loss.

Ford and General motors as well as Japanese rivals Honda and Nissan all recently reported rosier earnings just months after the global economic crisis brought the car industry to a standstill.

The better-than-expected sales helped Toyota book a 21.8 billion yen, or $242 million, profit for the July-September period after three consecutive quarterly losses.

After weeks of partisan debate, the Senate voted on Wednesday to lengthen unemployment benefits by up to 20 weeks and to extend the $8,000 home buyer tax credit. The closely watched legislation would extend jobless benefits in all states by 14 weeks. The bill is expected to be passed by the House and signed by the President.

In entertainment, Scripps Networks, the operator of the Food Network and HGTV, announced on Thursday the it will pay $1.1 billion to add the Travel Channel to its stable of lifestyle cable. The takeover offer far exceeds expectations when the bidding began this summer at $600-$700 million.

categories: Morning Report

9:05 - November 5, 2009

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