Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Quick Overview

  • (Reuters) - Regulators have told Bank of America Corp it needs $34 billion of capital to withstand a deep economic downturn, as the U.S. government prepares to release results of industrywide stress tests

  • Retail sales in the Eurozone fell 0.6% MoM and down 4.2% YoY

  • Euro zone's composite index of manufacturing and services rose from 38.3 to 41.1 in April

  • Service index in the U.K. rose from 45.5 to 48.7 in April

  • Norway lowered its interest rate from 2.0% to 1.5%.

  • Fujian port volume rose 6.6% in Q1.

  • The USDA estimates that Brazil will produce 36.85 million metric tons of sugar in 2009-2010, up from 32.4 mmt YoY.

  • (Bloomberg) -- Global sugar demand will exceed output by 7.8 million metric tons in the current year, almost double the previous estimate, as farmers harvest smaller cane crops in Asia, the International Sugar Organization said.

  • The USDA estimates that Brazil will produce 28.45 billion liters of ethanol in 2009-2010, up from 26.85 billion liters YoY.

  • Fortis Bank estimates 2008-9 world coffee production at 134.2 million (60-kg) bags and consumption at 127.7 million bags.
  • In 2009-2010, Fortis expects world Coffee production at 141.3 million bags and consumption at 128.9 million bags.

  • Fortis Bank expects world Cocoa production at 3.60 million tons and production 64,000 tons short of world consumption.

  • The U.S. Department of Energy said:
    Supplies of crude oil rose 600,000 barrels to 375.3 million barrels
    Supplies of gasoline fell 200,000 barrels
    Supplies of heating oil rose 900,000 barrels.
    Refinery use rose from 82.7% to 85.3%.
    Gasoline demand fell 0.9% YoY
    Distillate demand fell 14.1% YoY.

  • (Spiegel) The power of the three big US rating agencies, Moody's, Fitch and Standard & Poor's, remains unbroken. By awarding high ratings to junk securities, they fueled financial market excesses. Now they are taking countermeasures by brutally downgrading securities. In doing so, they are making the crisis even worse.

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