Quick Overview

• The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity for the week ended February 3 decreased 1.2 percent to 619.3 from the previous week's 626.8.
  

• Leading indicators for Japan increased 0.5% in December to 101.1.
  

• Manufacturing production in the U.K. increased 0.3% in December, slightly more than expected.
  

• Mexico City authorities are likely to close a Sheraton hotel in the capital that threw out Cuban officials on orders of Washington, a move that angered Mexicans who say the country's sovereignty was abused.
  

• The Brazilian government estimated the 2006-2007 coffee crop at 42.0 million (60-kg) bags
  

• The U.S. DoE said that:
  Supplies of crude oil Crude oil were down 300,000 barrels last week to 320.7 million barrels.
  Supplies of unleaded gasoline were up 4.3 million barrels.
  Supplies of heating oil were down 1.6 million barrels.

Quick Overview

• Industrial output in Brazil expanded in December at its fastest pace in more than two years.
  

• Toyota earned roughly $3.3 billion in the quarter that ended on December 31st, up 34% from a year ago.
  

• Industrial production in Germany was down 0.5% in December.
  

• India's government said the economy will grow 8.1% this current fiscal year.
  

• Toronto stocks plunged 263 points on Tuesday, their biggest one-day drop since April 2004, as investors pocketed gains on energy and mining shares amid sharp declines in commodity prices.
  
  

• Shell CEO Jeroen Van Der Veer said that "The world is not running out of energy, the world is not running out of fossil fuels....we are a long way away from the peak."
  
  

Quick Overview

• Bush is asking Congress to increase federal spending by 2.3% in 2007 to $2.77 trillion with a projected shortfall of $354 billion.
  

• Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said on Monday that U.S. fourth quarter growth could be revised higher and the country's rampant housing market did not pose the danger that many think.
  

• Manufacturing orders in Germany were down 1.6% in December.
  

• Canada's building permits were up 9.3% YoY.
  

• Brazil's economy could grow faster if the government were to spend less and use its money more efficiently, Finance Minister Antonio Palocci said on Monday.

Will Europe’s Flat Tax Revolution Spread from East to West?
Under a flat tax, all households receive a generous family-based allowance, and are then taxed at a low rate on any income above that amount. Graduated tax rates are abolished and all loopholes are eliminated. This type of tax reform simultaneously creates a simple and transparent tax system and minimizes tax penalties on work, saving and investment. Free-market Estonia was the first to adopt a flat tax, implementing a 26 percent rate in 1994, not long after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The two other Baltic states followed in the mid-1990s, with Latvia choosing a 25 percent rate and Lithuania 33 percent. Learning from its neighbors, Russia shocked the world with a 13 percent flat tax that went into effect in 2001. The idea was taken up in 2003 by Serbia, which adopted a 14 percent rate. Slovakia climbed on the bandwagon the following year with a 19 percent rate, as did Ukraine, which chose 13 percent. Romania joined the flat tax revolution in 2005, with a 16 percent rate, along with Georgia, which chose 12 percent – giving it the honor (at least so far) of having the lowest rate.

Powell's Former Chief of Staff Lawrence Wilkerson Calls Pre-War Intelligence a 'Hoax on the American People' Tonight on PBS Program 'NOW'
"I recall vividly the Secretary of State walking into my office," Wilkerson tells NOW. "He said: 'I wonder what will happen if we put half a million troops on the ground in Iraq and comb the country from one end to the other and don't find a single weapon of mass destruction?'" In fact, no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq.

The War in Iraq Costs ? in $$$

Earmark -- It's $$$, Not Body Art

Blair-Bush deal before Iraq war revealed in secret memo

Quick Overview

• U.S. factory orders were up 1.1% in December and up 8.4% for 05.
  

• The University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment dipped from 91.5 to 91.2 in January.
  

• The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 4.7%, a 4 1/2-year low as businesses cranked up hiring in January.
  

• The ISM index of U.S. services fell from 61.0 to 56.8 in January, still a sign of expansion.
  
  

• Argentina's consumer prices climbed 1.3 percent in January, driven up by rises in tourism, health care and food costs, the Economy Ministry said on Friday.
  
  
  

• The USDA increased the permissible raw sugar imports for 2006 by 250,000 tons to 1,901,497 tons.
  
  

• An index of services in the Euro zone increased from 56.8 to 57.0 in January, the highest in two years.
  

• Eurostat estimated inflation in the Euro zone at 2.4% in January, up from 2.2% in December.
  

Much Talk, Mostly Low Key, About Energy Independence
...That leaves as a centerpiece of the administration's new energy strategy an emphasis on ethanol, which is rising in favor among alternative fuel sources. Ethanol production from corn in the United States still relies on subsidies, but ethanol made from sugarcane in Brazil competes handily with gasoline. In fact, it was only after Brazil's government exposed ethanol to market forces in recent years that its success became clear.

Brazil's sugarcane industry produces about 160,000 barrels of oil-equivalent a day, assisting the country in achieving self-sufficiency in oil sometime this year, according to David G. Victor, director of the program on energy and sustainable development at Stanford University. Still, unlike Japan and China, which have plans to import Brazilian ethanol, the Bush administration has retained a 54 cent tariff on every gallon of imported ethanol.

"It's remarkable that we're not taxing fuel from Saudi Arabia while we're taxing fuel from Brazil," said Gal Luft, a co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, a research organization in Washington that specializes in energy issues.

Quick Overview

• Chain store sales rose in January, suggesting consumers are alive and well in the New Year and ready to power U.S. economic activity higher. Year-over-year sales increased 5.0% to 5.1% from the January 2005 level after a 3.5% to 3.6% gain in December.
  
  

• YoY U.S. productivity in the fourth quarter was down 0.6%, the first decline in over four years. For 2005 productivity was up 2.7%, the smallest gain in four years. Unit labor costs were up 2.5%.
  

• The International Monetary Fund should review exchange rate regimes with a more critical eye and be tougher on countries with unsustainable currency policies, U.S. Treasury Undersecretary Tim Adams said on Thursday.
  

• U.S. Jobless claims were down 11,000 last week to 273,000.
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that underground supplies of natural gas were down 88 billion cubic feet to 2.406 trillion cubic feet. Supplies are now up 14% from a year ago.
  

• The U.S. Congress voted to end the cotton subsidy program on August 1st.
  

• State-run oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, is considering building a US$226 million ethanol pipeline to meet a growing global demand of the sugarcane alcohol fuel.

Quick Overview

• An index of U.S. manufacturing growth fell for the third straight month from 55.6 to 54.8 in January, the Institute for Supply Management reported Wednesday.
  
  

• Construction spending rose a full 1% in December, the sixth straight increase, the Commerce Department reported.
  
  

• The unemployment rate in the Euro zone increased from 8.3% to 8.4% in December. For the EU-25, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.5%.
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that :
  Supplies of crude oil were up 1.9 million barrels to 321.0 million barrels.
  Supplies of unleaded gasoline were up 4.2 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil were up 1.8 million barrels.
  The bearish U.S. inventory data triggered a 2% drop in crude-oil prices and a more than 6% tumble in natural-gas futures.

Hands Off Google! ..It was therefore only a matter of time before ideologues, cretins, and government regulators – or do I repeat myself? – conspired to bring it down.

Taking a Byte Out of Free Expression .. But in reconsidering Google’s decision, I see potential benefits to the cause of liberty that go far beyond the superficial interest in making money. This optimism arises from the uncertainties that lie hidden in complex systems. The study of chaos informs us that our inability to identify and measure the seemingly endless factors at work within a complex world, makes outcomes increasingly unpredictable with the passage of time...

Quick Overview

• The Federal Reserve voted unanimously Tuesday to raise the benchmark U.S. interest rate a quarter-point to 4.5%. They also suggested that "further policy firming may be needed."
  
  
  

• U.S. consumer confidence jumped in January to the highest level in almost four years, the Conference Board said.
  
  

• Surface trade among the United States, Canada and Mexico rose 12% in November from a year earlier to $62.9 billion, the Department of Transportation said.
  
  

• The Labor Department said that the employment cost index rose 0 .8% in the fourth quarter, about as expected. For 2005, the index was up 3.1%, the smallest gain in nine years.
  
  

• The Chicago purchasing managers' index dropped from 60.8 to 58.5 in January.
  
  

• Yesterday's Texas Crop Weather report from the USDA said that only 1% of the winter wheat crop was rated good to excellent, but 88% was rated poor and very poor.

• The weather damage to wheat in the Ukraine is expected to be significant. They are a major exporter now but probably not in 06/07.
  

• The average retail price of diesel fuel rose 1.7 cents to $2.489 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported Monday.
  
  
  

• Canada's GDP was up 0.2% in November and up 3.0% YoY.
  

• Japans unemployment rate improved from 4.6% to 4.4% in December, better than expected – YoY household spending was up 3.2% in December.
  

Pentagon Can Now Fund Foreign Militaries

UN unveils plan to release untapped wealth of...$7 trillion (and solve the world's problems at a stroke)

Palace Revolt
For nine months, from October 2003 to June 2004, he had been the central figure in a secret but intense rebellion of a small coterie of Bush administration lawyers. Their insurrection, described to NEWSWEEK by current and former administration officials who did not wish to be identified discussing confidential deliberations, is one of the most significant and intriguing untold stories of the war on terror.

Quick Overview

• The Department of Commerce said that December’s personal incomes were up 0.4% while consumer spending was up 0.9%.
  
  

• Japan's retail sales were up 1.1% in 2005, the first annual increase in nine years. Industrial production was up 1.3% in 2005.
  
  

• Kansas may be the next state to follow Minnesota’s lead in mandating biodiesel, if its legislature passes a bill introduced in the state Senate Jan. 19 that would require all diesel sold in Kansas to contain a blend of at least 2% of fuel derived from vegetable oils or animal fats.
  
  

• Exxon Mobil Corp. posted record profits for any U.S. company on Monday -- $10.71 billion for the fourth quarter and $36.13 billion for the year.
  

Savings Rate at Lowest Level Since 1933
The Commerce Department reported Monday that the savings rate fell into negative territory at minus 0.5 percent, meaning that Americans not only spent all of their after-tax income last year but had to dip into previous savings or increase borrowing.

Greenspan hikes into sunset
Tomorrow's session of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will be the last for Dr Greenspan, 79, after more than 18 years in which he has steered the Fed through economic golden years punctuated by recession and financial crisis.

Energy gap: Crisis for humanity?
Demand for energy, in all its forms, is rising
Supplies of key fuels - notably oil and gas - show signs of decline
Mainstream climate science suggests that reducing greenhouse gas emissions within two decades would be a prudent thing to do
Meanwhile the Earth's population continues to rise, with the majority of its six billion people hankering after a richer lifestyle - which means a greater consumption of energy.

Quick Overview

• The Department of Commerce's said that U.S. GDP in the fourth quarter was up an annual rate of 1.1%, a listless showing that was the worst in three years. For all of 2005, GDP was up 3.5%.
  

• New home sales were at an annual rate of 1.269 million units in December, up 2.9% from November's rate. For all of 2005, there were 1.282 million new homes sold, a new record high -- 6.6% more than the previous year.
  

• The USDA said there were 97.102 million head of cattle in inventory on January 1st, up 1.7% YoY.
  

• YoY Consumer prices in Japan were down 0 .1% in December.
  

• Mexico's central bank reduced the benchmark lending rate by half a percentage point to 7.75 percent. The bank said it has little room to keep cutting rates after bringing it down to a 15-month low.
  
  

• Exxon Mobil the world's largest oil company, expects that oil prices will fall as the current bullish cycle slows, the company's head of exploration operations said on Friday.

The bigger the balls, the smaller the brains
...males in some species "make an evolutionary trade-off between intelligence and sexual prowess",

'Suicide Seeds' Could Spell Death of Peasant Agriculture, UN Meeting Told Developed by multinational agribusinesses and the U.S. government, Terminator has the effect of preventing farmers from saving or replanting seeds from one growing season to the next...
...If commercialized, activists said, Terminator would force farmers to return to the market for seeds every year, adding to their annual costs. This also would spell the end of locally adapted agriculture through seed selection, because most farmers in the world today routinely save seeds from their harvest for replanting.

China to drive world economy as US stumbles: economists

Quick Overview

• A congressional report released on Thursday said the U.S. budget shortfall will hit $337 billion this year, a figure that is up $23 billion from an August estimate and excludes more funds needed for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
  
  

• U.S. Jobless claims were up 11,000 last week to 283,000.
  

• U.S. Durable goods orders increased 1.3% in December, more than expected. Excluding transport, orders were up 0.9%. For all of 2005, orders totaled a record high $2.51 trillion.
  

• Brazil's unemployment rate fell in December to its lowest level in nearly four years, slipping to 8.3 percent as fewer people actively looked for work during an economically sluggish holiday season, the government said Thursday.
  
  

• YoY Japan's December exports were up 17% and imports were up 27%, because of higher energy prices.
  

• USDA said tariffs charged on the Gulf to Japan trade route have averaged $36.33 a metric ton during the past three months, down from $50.08 a ton one year ago.
  
  

• Silver prices rose to hit a new 19-year high on fund-buying Thursday. Some of the move may be a "catch-up" to gains that previously had been occurring in gold, analysts said, and some buying is market speculation that Barclays Global Investors may win government approval to launch a silver exchange-traded fund.
  

• The DoE said that underground supplies of natural gas were down 81 billion cubic feet to 2.494 trillion cubic feet.
  

India sees record 75.5 million tonnes wheat output
NEW DELHI: India is expected to produce a record wheat output of 75.5 million tonnes this year, well above about 72 million tonnes in 2005, the Food Ministry said on Wednesday, but traders cautioned it was too early to make a call.

Tech leaders press Bush on U.S. competitivenessAfter decades of uncontested global dominance, the United States is now at risk of falling behind emerging powerhouse nations such as China and India, according to C&I believers. If we don't move fast to improve our education system, boost research funding and fix overly restrictive immigration laws, the U.S. will soon lose its place as the world's biggest and most inventive economy.

Environmental Report Rates New Zealand No. 1
The United States ranked below nearly every major country in Western Europe, although it outperformed Russia and several Eastern European nations, including Hungary and Poland