Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Quick Overview

  • The Federal Reserve on Tuesday boosted the fed funds rate for the 11th straight time and signaled that more rate hikes were probable even as the country recovers from the destructive effects of Hurricane Katrina.

  • Australia, Brazil and Thailand have accused the European Union
    of failing to comply with a World Trade Organization decision that its
    subsidies to sugar producers were illegal.

  • A group of commercial fishermen has filed a suit over alleged damage to fisheries caused by oil that spilled following Hurricane Katrina.

  • Land prices in central Tokyo rose for the first time since 1990 in the 12 months ended July 1.

  • OPEC on Tuesday offered up every last barrel of its spare production. OPEC agreed to keep their production at 28.0 million barrels a day, but will make another 2.0 million barrels of crude oil a day available for three months beginning on October 1st.

  • New construction on US housing units slipped 1.3 percent in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.009 million units. The decline was slightly larger than expected. Economists were calling for a decline to 2.025 million, from 2.042 million in July.

  • Texas refineries are still in Rita's anticipated path for later this week.

  • Canada's composite index of leading indicators increased 0.3% in August to 206.3. Wholesale sales were down 0.5% in July to C$39.7 billion, the first decline in six months.

  • Chile and China could sign a free trade agreement as early as November, linking the world's biggest producer and consumer of copper, Chilean President Ricardo Lagos told Reuters on Tuesday.

  • Italy's unemployment rate dropped from 7.8% to 7.7% in the second quarter, the lowest in over a decade.

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