Consumers feeling bite of soaring cost of living

U.K. Trade Gap Widens to Record on Higher Imports

Quick Overview

• Federal Reserve minutes released today showed members voted 9 to 1 to increase the federal funds rate by a quarter-percent to 3.75% -- giving plenty of hints there will be more hikes to come.
  

• Brazil's stocks and currency rose on Tuesday as Fitch Ratings signaled it may soon upgrade the country's sovereign ratings, boosting even more the allure of high-yielding Brazilian assets.
  

• Machinery orders in Japan were up 8.2% in August -- stronger than expected.
  

• China's National Development and Reform Commission said that they expect China's economy to grow 9.2% this year and 8.5% in 2006
  

• Yesterday’s discovery that Brazil has a problem with foot-and-mouth disease may lead to a likely cut in beef exports.
  

• The European Cocoa Association announced that YoY grindings in the third quarter of 2005 were up 8.6%. For the first three quarters of 2005, Europe's cocoa grinding were up 5.6% YoY

World must hurry to save environment or face global poverty, UN official warns
With some 60 per cent of the planet's ecosystem currently being degraded by human activities, the global community must take speedy action or else face a future of 6 billion people “scratching around trying to survive,” the head of the United Nations environmental agency said today.
“You cannot continue to drive a car if all you do is put petrol in the tank,” he warned. “It needs servicing, parts require replacing and we must pay for the roads and infrastructure on which it runs.

China research spending to outpace EU in five years
In just five years, China will proportionally be spending more on research and development (RD) than the European Union, the Financial Times reported Monday.

Quick Overview

• New offers from the United States and the European Union to cut aid to their farmers could herald a breakthrough in deadlocked global trade talks, just two months before a deadline for a treaty, ministers said Monday
  

• It's still tough to read how badly Katrina and Rita hurt the economy, but data show Americans reacted in their usual way -- by going shopping
  

• The DoE said the number of closed refineries is down to eight, resulting in a daily loss of 900,000 barrels of gasoline.
  

• Brazil's coffee trees are in need of rain this month for the flowering, but the near-term outlook is calling for dry weather. Hurricane Stan may have also damaged some coffee crops in Mexico and Central America last week.
  

• Dow-Jones Newswires said the International Sugar Organization is predicting 2005-2006 world production of 149.6 million tons and consumption of 150.6 million tons.
  

• YoY Singapore's GDP was up 6.0% in the third quarter.
  

• Gold futures in New York settled at a near-18-year high on Monday as fund buying on the back of economic worries and strong investment demand extended the metal's recent rally, traders and analysts said.
  

• French industrial production increased by 0.8 percent from July, when the output had dropped a revised 0.7 percent.
  

Drug Rehab For George
Do you hear little voices speaking to you sometime? I do; well, I mean I used to. Officially speaking, they stopped. Excepting for yesterday, yesterday the little voice in my head said, "Go gambling and play machine number 161." So I did. And wouldn’t you know it? I won. Really! I started with $60 and wound up $840. Darn if that little voice in my head isn’t giving me some great advice… Sometimes.

Ray Kurzweil calls for 1918 flu genome to be 'un-published'
"The decision by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services to publish the full genome of the 1918 influenza virus on the Internet in the GenBank database is extremely dangerous and immediate steps should be taken to remove this data," says inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil.

Bird flu fight lifts biotech stocks
Shares of biotechnology companies developing treatments to fight a possible outbreak of avian flu rose on Friday as delegates from around the world met to discuss plans for battling the illness.

Greenspan concerned about interest-free loans and other riskier mortgages
"In the event of widespread cooling in house prices, these borrowers, and the institutions that service them, could be exposed to significant losses," Greenspan said recently.

Southwest bars woman over T-shirt obscenity
A Washington state woman says she intends to press a civil rights lawsuit against Southwest Airlines for barring her from one of its flights because of a message on her T-shirt.
..Here we are trying to free another country and I have to get off an airplane in midflight over a T-shirt.

Signals of the End of the Dollar Standard

As Voltaire said in 1729 “paper money eventually goes down to its intrinsic value – zero.”

Quick Overview

• The Department of Transportation said Thursday that its transportation services index for July fell 0.3% from June, the second consecutive decline.
  
  

• U.S. payrolls fell by 35,000 jobs in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the unemployment rate rose to 5.1% in September from 4.9% in August, the Labor Department reported Friday
  
  

• U.S. Wholesale inventories rose 0.5% in August, the most in four months, the Commerce Department said Friday.
  
  

• U.S. Rail freight and intermodal traffic rose for the week ended Oct. 1 compared to a year earlier, and traffic in September also increased over last year despite two big hurricanes, the Association of American Railroads said.
  
  

• The International Atomic Energy Agency and its chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons…the Bush administration may not be extremely pleased.
  
  

• A Ministry of Commerce report said that China's trade surplus could triple to as much as 100 billion dollars this year.
  
  

• U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Friday China needs to act "soon" to let its yuan currency become more flexible and he will tell Chinese officials that in person next week.
  
  

• Germany's industrial production was down 1.6% in August.
  
  

• Japan's index of coincident economic indicators increased from 30.0 to 88.9 in August, a sign of expansion.
  
  

• London inventories of copper continue to fall, they are at 70,475 tons.
  
  
  

• December gold is at a new contract high because of concerns over inflation and strong global demand.
  
  
  

• Canada's unemployment rate improved from 6.8% to 6.7% in September, the lowest since 1976.

Record low for home affordability in California
Soaring prices in California's housing market have shut out a record 86 percent of households from buying a typical home with a traditional down-payment,

Climate Change More Rapid Than Ever?
According to the calculations of scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, over the next century the climate will change more quickly than it ever has in the recent history of the earth. These results come from the latest climate model calculations from the German High Performance Computing Centre for Climate and Earth System Research.

GE raises full-year outlook

Venezuela moves reserves out of US Treasuries

U.S. Retailers' Sales Rise 4%, Exceeding Estimate

Quick Overview

• Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher on Thursday said core inflation was near the top of its acceptable range, echoing hawkish remarks he made earlier this week that signal more rate hikes to come.
  

• Domestic air cargo shipments rebounded from a 5% drop in July to climb 0.6% in August in year-over-year comparisons, the Air Transport Association reported Thursday.

• The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits rose by 21,000 last week as storm-related applications increased.
  

• The U.S. Minerals Management Service said that 20% of oil production and 34% of natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico is operating again
  

• The DoE said that underground supplies of natural gas were up 44 billion cubic feet last week to 2.929 trillion cubic feet. YoY supplies are down 5%.
  

• The U.S. Census Bureau said that soybean oil stocks totaled 1.73 billion pounds at the end of August, down from 1.99 billion pounds last month.
  

• A NAFTA panel told the U.S. government that its method for computing Canada's softwood subsidies is incorrect and needs revision.

• China is poised to unveil a new roadmap for the world's seventh-biggest economy that scraps a long-standing policy of faster growth in favor of improving social services and curbing widespread environmental devastation.
  
  

• Brazilian stocks dropped more than 3% on Thursday while the currency was lower by 1% as foreign investors increased their aversion to riskier assets.

Chart of the day

How many shares of the Dow Ind. Index does it take to buy the average U.S. house?

Quick Overview

• The U.S. Department of Energy showed that YoY demand for unleaded gasoline over the past four weeks was down 2.8% -- signaling that the recent price spike has damped demand.
  
  

• The USDE said that:
  Crude oil supplies were down 300,000 barrels to 305.4 million barrels.
  Unleaded supplies gasoline were down 4.3 million barrels
  Heating oil supplies were up 400,000 barrels
  
  

• The Institute for Supply Management's index of U.S. services dropped from 65.0 to 53.3 in September, less than expected.
  

• There does not seem to be much risk of huge surge in inflation but policy-makers must be alert to potential price pressures, Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Thomas Hoenig said on Wednesday.
  

• Thomas Hoenig also said the U.S. economy should shake off the impact of recent hurricanes without too much trouble and enjoy strong growth next year and beyond,
  

• Tokyo's Nikkei stock average hit a new four-year intraday high before finishing the morning session slightly weaker.
  

• London inventories of copper were down 1,375 tons today to 74,975 tons, so copper is making new contract highs.
  
  

• An index of services in the U.K. decreased from 55.2 to 55.0 in September.
  

• An index of services in the Euro zone increased from 53.4 to 54.7 in September, stronger than expected.
  
  

• The Reserve Bank of Australia kept its overnight rate unchanged at 5.50
  

Chart of the day

How many ounces of gold does it take to buy the average U.S. house?


In California you'll need about 1200 ounces

Quick Overview

• The average price of U.S. retail diesel soared by a record 34.6 cents to $3.144 a gallon, also a record, the Department of Energy reported Monday.

• Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) announced plans to build its first owned biodiesel production facility in the US. This 50 million gallon facility will be located in Velva, North Dakota, and will use canola oil as its primary feedstock. ADM also is planning to build biodiesel plants in Mexico, Missouri and Mainz, Germany.

• Orders placed with U.S. factories rose 2.5% in August to $395.2 billion, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

• 63 offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico were destroyed by Hurricane Rita, and some drilling platforms with major damage could be off-line until next year, the U.S. Interior Department said on Tuesday.

• The Group of Seven top economic powers needs to move urgently to correct global imbalances in savings and investment or face the risk of worldwide deflation within a decade, Canada's central bank governor said on Tuesday. (Did he say WORLDWIDE DEFLATION?)

• Brazil's real widened losses on Tuesday after the central bank bought dollars on the local foreign exchange market for a second straight day, while stocks slipped after topping 32,000 points for the first time.
  

• Japan wants to cut 10 percent of government jobs over the next five years.
  
  

• Japan's 10-year bonds slumped, pushing yields to the highest in almost a year, after a government sale of the debt drew the weakest demand in 19 months.
  

• Kyodo news reported that Japan's Food Safety Commission is apt to recommend the acceptance of U.S. and Canadian cattle under 20 months of age as rapidly as this December.
  

• Unemployment rate in the Euro zone rose from 8.5% to 8.6% in August. YoY the unemployment rate is down from 8.9%.

Newsview: Economy Could Add to GOP Woes
Bush's pledge to spend "whatever it costs" to rebuild the Gulf Coast and the high bill for the Iraq war will keep swelling the deficit and limit his options for fighting an economic downturn. A recession would mean fewer dollars flowing into the treasury and force the government to pay out more benefits to the poor and those idled by the hurricanes.

10th planet has moon companion
"Having a moon is just inherently cool - and it is something that most self-respecting planets have, so it is good to see that this one does, too."

Louisiana Ecological Harm Called Unprecedented
The environmental damage from hurricanes Katrina and Rita is unparalleled in its scope and variety, scientists say, with massive oil spills blanketing marshes, sediment smothering vast fishing grounds, and millions of gallons of raw sewage scattered in New Orleans and along the 400-mile Louisiana coast.

High Oil Prices Met With Anger Worldwide
Rising fuel prices are stoking popular anger around the world, throwing politicians on the defensive and forcing governments to resort to price freezes, tax cuts and other measures to soothe voter resentment.

Diesel costs ail truckers
The 30-year-old independent truck driver has parked his truck and won't get back in it until diesel prices fall below $3 a gallon.

Kohn, Long Shot for Fed Chief, Helped Shape Greenspan's Views

No matter whom President George W. Bush picks as a successor to Alan Greenspan in the next few months, Donald Kohn is likely to wield large influence over the way the Federal Reserve thinks about interest rates and the U.S. economy.

Quick Overview

• U.S. Manufacturing rose unexpectedly from 53.6 to 59.4 in September, much stronger than expected the Institute for Supply Management said Monday.

• U.S. construction spending gained 0.4% in August, the Commerce Department reported Monday
  

• Rising gas prices and a shift to more fuel-efficient models has cut into sales of SUV’s in September. GM sales fell 24% from a year earlier, while Ford sales dropped 19.5%. At the same time, falling resale values for traditional SUVs are making it harder for car owners who want to trade for less gas-thirsty vehicles.

• President Bush is ready "to do whatever it takes" including, if necessary, tapping government stocks of heating oil to counter supply shortages this winter, his energy secretary said Monday.
  

• Traders are watching a storm that is expected to reach Florida's east coast by tomorrow - November orange juice was up 2.00 to 104.30.
  

• Japan's Tankan index of business confidence increased less than expected from 18 to 19.
  

• March sugar closed up 0.30 cent at 11.53 cents a pound driven by ethanol demand and crop damage in the gulf.
  
  

• Soybean Oil closed at a two-month high driven by potential biodiesel prospects.
  

• The dollar hit a 16-month high against the yen on Monday, buoyed by expectations for more interest rate rises in the United States and a slightly disappointing survey of corporate sentiment in Japan.