The Rain Keeps Coming: No End in Sight This Week
So, a combination of record high crude oil prices and the current unfriendly weather for crops does not spell a return to cheap food any time soon, analysts say

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• (Dow Jones)--Trading in the global exchange-traded derivatives markets grew to a value of $692 trillion at the end of the first quarter of this year, a rise of over 28% from the last quarter of 2007, the Bank for International Settlements said Sunday.
  

• (AP)--Thousands of demonstrators fought with police after a protest over flour rations in a town on Egypt's Mediterranean coast.
  
  

• Argentina's farmers will lift their blockade on grain export sales starting Monday.
  

Soaring shipping costs fuel inflation

The cost of renting a Capesize ship, used to transport iron ore and coal, rose to $233,988 a day at the end of last week – a near 200 per cent jump since the start of the year when the cost stood at $80,000.

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• The U.S. unemployment rate rose from 5.0 to 5.5 % in May.
  
  

• Canada’s unemployment rate remained at 6.1% in May
  

• Germany’s industrial production fell 0.8% in April.
  

• World wheat production in 2008-09 will rise 8.3% YoY to 652 million metric tons, according to F.O. Licht.
  
  

• ASF delegates attending the 17th Asian Ship owners’ Forum (ASF) in Boao, China earlier this month have expressed "grave concern" that current container freight rates remained "insufficient," to cover the dramatic cost increases triggered by the high price of fuel and port congestion.
  

Quick Overview

• U.S. Jobless claims were down 18,000 last week to 357,000, lower than expected.
  

• The Bank of England kept its interest rate unchanged at 5.0%.
  

• House prices In the U.K. fell 2.4% MoM, and 3.8% YoY-- the biggest drop since April 1993 when they fell 4.9.
  
  

• The European Central Bank kept its interest rate unchanged at 4.0%. However Trichet said the central bank is considering raising rates as early as next month to tackle rising inflation
  

• Germany's factory orders were down 1.8% in April, the fifth consecutive decline.

• Corn and Beans rose as excessive rains in the U.S. Midwest flooded fields, slowing crop development, and increasing the risk of production losses.

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• U.S. worker productivity rose at an annual rate of 2.6% in the first quarter.
  

• U.S. labor costs rose at an annual rate of 2.2% in the first quarter, down from a 4.7% annual rate in Q4.
  

• The Institute of Supply Managements' index of services fell from 52.0 to 51.7 in May
  
  

• Australia's GDP rose 0.6% in Q1 and up 3.6% YoY.
  

• Retail sales volume in the Euro area fell 0.6% in April and down 2.9% YoY.
  

• Services in the U.K. fell from 50.4 to 49.8 in May.
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said:
  Supplies of crude oil supplies fell 4.8 million barrels to 306.8 million barrels.
  Supplies of gasoline rose 2.9 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil were unchanged
  Refinery use increased from 87.9% to 89.7% of capacity last week
  Gasoline demand fell 1.4%.
  Distillate demand rose 1.6%.
  
  

• YoY South Africa's gold production fell 17% in Q1. This was blamed on a lack of available electricity.
  

Monsanto Pledges Seeds to Double Crop Yields by 2030
The company is committed to doubling yields for corn, soybeans and cotton by 2030 from the levels in 2000, St. Louis- based Monsanto said today in a statement. New seeds also will reduce by one-third the amount of water and other resources needed to grow crops in the same period, Monsanto said.

Pickens Says CFTC Probe of Oil a `Waste of Time' (Update1)
``There's nothing to it to start with,'' Pickens said in interviews at an American Wind Energy Association conference in Houston. ``That's not what's happened. You have 85 million barrels a day of oil available in the global energy market and 86.4 million barrels a day of demand. So the price of oil is going to go up until you can kill demand.''

Commodity Regulator to Boost Disclosure on Agriculture Markets
Joseph Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, said May 20 he is considering legislation limiting large institutional investors in commodities markets. The legislation would aim at speculators and other investors who use commodities to hedge against swings in investment instruments such as stocks and the U.S. dollar, Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, said during a hearing.

Quick Overview

• Fed Chairman Bernanke told an international monetary conference in Spain that further rate cuts were not likely because he was ``attentive'' to the impact of the weak currency.
  

• U.S. Factory orders rose 1.1% in April -- stronger than expected.
  
  

• GDP in the Euro area rose 0.8% in the first quarter and 2.2% YoY
  

• Australia kept its interest rate unchanged at 7.25.
  

• Ford reported a 16% drop in sales of light vehicles in May, as demand for pickups and SUVs continued to sag.
  

• GM said it will close four truck plants, and may drop its Hummer brand.

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• The Institute of Supply Management's manufacturing index improved from 48.6 to 49.6 -- better than expected.
  

• U.S. construction spending fell 0.4% from March's pace and 3.9% YoY.
  

• Australia's retail sales fell 0.2% in April, weaker than expected.

• The USDA said:
• 95% of the corn crop was planted and 63% of it was rated good to excellent This is down from 78% last year.
  
• 69% of the soybean crop was planted, down from a five-year average of 81%.
  
• 57% of the spring wheat crop was rated good to excellent. This is down from 85% last year.
  
• 47% of the winter wheat crop was rated good to excellent -- unchanged from last week.
  

Argentine alert as inflation spectre stalks half the world
Among the CPI rates - if you believe them - are: Ukraine (30pc), Venezuela (29pc), Vietnam (25pc), Kazakhstan (19pc), Latvia (18pc), Qatar (17pc), Pakistan (17pc), Egypt (16pc), Bulgaria (15pc), Russia (14pc), the Emirates (11pc), Estonia (11pc), Turkey (9.7), Indonesia (9pc), Saudi Arabia (9.6pc), Romania (8.6pc), China (8.5pc) and India (7.6pc).

Mexicans believe drug gangs winning war with gov't According to a poll by the newspaper, 53 percent of Mexicans think that drug traffickers hold the upper hand against government forces which are trying to clamp down on cartels that ship drugs to the United States.

Quick Overview

• U.S. personal incomes rose 0.2% in April
  

• U.S. Consumer spending rose 0.2%.
  

• The University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment fell from 62.6 to 59.8 in May,
  

• The Chicago purchasing managers' index increased from 48.3 to 49.1 in May,
  

• The U.S. core rate of personal consumption expenditures, an inflation gauge, rose 0 .1% in April and up 2.1% YoY.
  

• Unemployment rate for the Euro area remained at 7.1% in April. Consumer prices the Euro area rose 3.6% YoY
  

• Japan's consumer prices fell 0.1% in April, and rose 0.8% YoY.
  Japan’s unemployment rate rose from 3.8% to 4.0% in April.
  Japan’s household spending fell 2.7% YoY.
  

• YoY GDP in India rose 8.8%.
  India’s Finance Minister described inflation at 8.1% as worrisome.
  Canada’s GDP fell 0.1% QoQ, but rose 1.7% YoY.
  

• Pakistan’s central bank expects economic growth will come between 5.5% and 6% in fiscal 2008, down from 7% the previous year. The central bank forecasts that inflation would reach between 11% and 12% this year, up from 7.8 percent in 2007
  
  

• The International Grains Council released its latest estimate of world corn production at 763 million tonnes. This is up 1 million tonnes from their earlier estimate, but is down from last year's 777 million because of wet and cold weather in the US.

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• U.S. GDP rose 0.9% in the first quarter and up 2.5% YoY
  

• U.S. jobless claims rose 4,000 last week to 372,000
  

• Australia’s leading indicators fell 0.4% in March
  

• Germany's unemployment rate improved from 8.0% to 7.8% in May, the lowest in over 15 years.
  
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said:
  Supplies of crude oil fell 8.8 million barrels to 311.6 million barrels.
  Supplies of gasoline fell 3.2 million barrels.
  Supplies of heating oil rose 600,000 barrels.
  Refinery use remained at 87.9% of capacity.
  Gasoline demand fell 0.4% YoY.
  Distillate demand rose 1.2% YoY.
  Underground supplies of natural gas rose 87 billion cubic feet last week to 1.701 trillion. Supplies are down 16% YoY.
  

Oil crisis triggers fevered scramble for the world's seabed
Is it in the interests of mankind to tap deep-sea reserves? We may have no choice. The world has consumed one trillion barrels of oil already. The second trillion is located but not yet tapped, and will take us to 2035 or so. The third trillion eludes us. Any suggestions?

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• U.S. Durable goods orders fell 0.5% in April, better than expected. Excluding transport orders rose 2.5%.
  
  

• GDP in Malaysia rose 7.1% QoQ.
  

• (Bloomberg) Morgan Stanley said that Brent oil from the North Sea could ``easily'' reach $150 a barrel.
  
  

• Foreign exchange trading volumes surged 36% from 2006 to 2007.
  

Quick Overview

• The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index fell 14.4% YoY.

• The Conference Board said its monthly measure of consumer confidence fell to 57.2 from 62.3 in April -below Wall Street's estimate of 60.0.
  
  

• Australia’s, Rabobank, lowered its estimate of the country's wheat crop from 24.5 to 22.0 million tons, due to dry weather.
  

• China may reduce soybean-oil import tariffs from the current 9% to boost domestic supply, analysts said.
  
  

Corn Costs Signal Biggest Beef Surge Since 2003 as Herds Shrink
May 27 (Bloomberg) -- Enjoy your next steak, because prices from Shanghai to San Francisco are only going up.

The highest corn prices since at least the Civil War, based on Chicago Board of Trade data, mean U.S. feedlots are losing money on every animal they sell, discouraging production as rising global incomes increase meat consumption and a declining dollar spurs exports.

Quick Overview

• U.S. existing home sales fell 1% MoM to a 4.89 million-unit annual rate, the National Association of Realtors said.
  The median price of an existing home fell to $202,300 from $219,900 in April 2007.
  The number of previously owned unsold homes on the market at the end of April jumped to 4.55 million from 4.12 million in March. This represented 11.2 months' supply at the current sales pace.
  
  

• Index of services and manufacturing in Europe fell from 51.9 to 51.1 in May.
  

Quick Overview

• U.S. jobless claims fell 9,000 last week to 365,000.
  
  

• U.S. Home prices fell 1.7% in the first three months of 2008 from the previous quarter -- the largest quarterly price decline on record. YoY prices fell 3.1%.
  

• The U.S. DoE said that underground supplies of natural gas rose 85 billion cubic feet last week to 1.614 trillion cubic feet. Supplies are down 16% YoY
  

• Canada’s retail sales rose 0.1% MoM.
  

• U.K.'s retail sales fell 0.2% MoM.
  

• Euro zones industrial new orders fell 1.0% MoM and down 2.5% YoY.
  

• Shanghai port April volume rose 9%.
  

• YoY Chinese demand for diesel has increased 13%.

Welcome to the Greatest Show on Earth
America's war against Iraq had its roots in many improving impulses. According to John McCain and Alan Greenspan, however, the taproot sank into Iraq's oil fields; America wanted to secure its access to cheap oil, they say.

Unfortunately, this program - like all government meddling - backfired. The price of oil was only $25 a barrel when the war began in September of 2003. Yesterday, it hit $130 a barrel. And the war itself is expected to cost the nation $1 trillion or more. For all its efforts, the United States secured the most expensive energy in world history. (And then pushed food prices up to their highest levels in modern times too - keep reading…)

China, meanwhile, decided to take the capitalist road. Instead, of using military force to get oil, it simply bought it on the open market. It has sent its agents to secure, peacefully and honestly, long-term contracts for oil and the other natural resources it needs to feed its ravenous economy. Its buying is driving up prices for everything. But what would you expect?

Quick Overview

• U.S. producer price index rose 0.2% in April and up 6.5% YoY. Excluding food and energy, prices rose 0.4% in April and up 3.0% YoY.
  

• The Chicago Fed's index of national activity fellfrom -.98 to -1.17 in April
  

• Canada’s wholesale sales rose 0.6% MoM.
  

• Japan's index of service rose 0.3% in March.
  

• Germany’s Producer prices rose 1.1% in April.
  
  

• The USDA predicts world sugar production down 2% in 2008-2009, with ending stocks down 3.5 million to 41.44 million tons -- 25% of annual use.
  
  

• The World Gold Council said world gold demand totaled 701 tons in the first quarter of 2008, down 16% YoY. World mine production totaled 593 tons.
  

• T. Boone Pickens predicted crude would reach $150 a barrel this year.
  
  
  

Quick Overview

• The Conference Board's index of leading indicators rose 0.1% in April.
  
  

• Construction output in the Euro zone fell 2.2% in March and down 1.4% YoY.
  
  

• Data Quick said home sales in southern California rose 22% in April.
  
  

• The USDA said:
  73% of the corn crop was planted, down from its five-year average of 88%.
  27% of the soybean crop was planted, down from its five-year average of 47%.
  94% of the spring wheat crop was planted.
  45% of the winter wheat crop was rated good to excellent, down from 47% a week ago.
  49% of the cotton crop was planted, down from its five-year average of 59%.
  
  

• The cost of scanning 100% of inbound containers to prevent terrorists smuggling into the U.S. has been estimated at more than US$500 per unit.

Barclays gets bullish over American shares
Barclays' closely-watched Signpost report says the US is at last beginning to claw its way out of trouble, while investors no longer seem spooked by every piece of bad news.

‘Superfood’ celery combats brain diseases The compounds luteolin and diosmin appear to block the inflammation that causes the brains of victims to start shrinking and dying. In animal experiments they reduced the levels of amyloid beta, which forms the sticky deposits that build up in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s.

Quick Overview

• U.S. Home construction rose 8.2% in April, making the biggest increase in two years. However, the rise was driven by a surge in multifamily housing, while single-family starts dropped.
  

• The University of Michigan said that its consumer sentiment index fell from 62.6 to 59.5 in May.
  
  

• Japan's GDP rose 3.3% in the January to March quarter.
  

• Canada’s retail sales rose 9.4%.
  

• Hong Kong’s GDP speeded up in the first quarter, rising 1.8% from the previous quarter, and 7.1% YoY.
  

• Freight cost for commodities such as iron ore and grains rose to a fresh all-time high Friday.

Consumer Price Index "GOVERNMENT ECONOMIC REPORTS: THINGS YOU'VE SUSPECTED BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK!"
In particular, changes made in CPI methodology during the Clinton Administration understated inflation significantly, and, through a cumulative effect with earlier changes that began in the late-Carter and early Reagan Administrations have reduced current social security payments by roughly half from where they would have been otherwise. That means Social Security checks today would be about double had the various changes not been made. In like manner, anyone involved in commerce, who relies on receiving payments adjusted for the CPI, has been similarly damaged. On the other side, if you are making payments based on the CPI (i.e., the federal government), you are making out like a bandit.

Quick Overview

• U.S industrial production fell 0.7% MoM, matching the largest decline since the one following Hurricane Katrina
  

• The Fed’s Philadelphia's index of manufacturing improved from -24.9 to -15.6 in May
  

• The Fed’s New York's index of manufacturing fell from +.63 to -3.23 in May,

• GDP in the Euro area rose 0.7% in the first quarter of 2008 and up 2.2% YoY.
  

• Japan's machinery orders fell 8.3% in March.
  

• Canada’s manufacturing fell 1.6% on the month.
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said underground supplies of natural gas rose 93 billion cubic feet to 1.529 trillion cubic feet.
  

Quick Overview

• U.S. Consumer price index rose 0.2% in April and 3.9% YoY-- less than expected. Excluding food and energy prices rose 0.1% in April, and 2.3% YoY.
  

• U.S. Mortgage applications rose 2.9% last week.
  
  

• YoY, China's industrial production rose 15.7% in April
  
  

• Industrial production in the Euro area fell 0.2% in March.
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said:
  Supplies of crude oil inventories rose 200,000 barrels last week to 325.8 million barrels.
• Supplies of gasoline fell 1.7 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil supplies rose 400,000 barrels.
  Refinery use rose from 85.0% to 86.6% of capacity.
  Gasoline demand fell 0.2% YoY.
  Distillate demand rose 0.8% YoY.