Recent surveys suggest that only half of all companies in western Germany and only a quarter of those in the east are now bound by industry-wide settlements.

ECONOMIST: Germany

Goldman Sachs (nyse: GS - news - people ), kicking off the Street's fiscal third-quarter earnings season, described trading during the slow summer months as "choppy" and "range-bound" and reported sharply lower revenues from most of its trading activities compared with a very strong second quarter.

FORBES: Goldman's Speed Bumps