A Fondness for Fossil Fuels
If we’re to have a hydrogen economy, we have to secure our supplies of natural gas.

US admits Iraq is terror 'cause'
THREE years after its invasion of Iraq the US Administration acknowledged yesterday that the war has become “a cause” for Islamic extremists worldwide and there is a risk of the country becoming a safe haven for terrorists hoping to launch fresh attacks on America.

Leftist trio seals Americas pact
The left-wing leaders of Bolivia, Cuba and Venezuela have signed a three-way trade agreement aimed at countering US influence in Latin America.

Quick Overview

• U.S. First quarter GDP was up 4.8% -- slightly less than expected. YoY, U.S. GDP was up 3.5%.
  

• The U.S. employment cost index was up 0.6% in the first quarter.
  

• YoY the GDP price deflator was up 3.3%.
  

• The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index dropped from 88.9 to 87.4 in April, weaker than expected.
  

• The Chicago Purchasing Manager' index was down to 57.2 form 60.4 in April.
  
  

• Canada's GDP was up 0 .2% in February and up 3.3% YoY.
  

• YoY the Euro zone consumer prices increased 2.4% in April .
  

• YoY consumer prices in Japan were up 0.3% in March
  

• The International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran was in defiance of the U.N. Security Council.

• Over 1.9 million shares of the silver ETF traded on the first day. This, if you assume that no real flipping occurred, means that 19 million ounces of silver now call the ETF home.
  (Some analysts estimate total world silver stocks at 500 mill oz . So 19 million would be 4%)
  

SEC okays Barclays silver ETF
Each share of the exchange-traded fund represents 10 ounces of silver and they will trade under the symbol SLV, Barclays said in a filing with the exchange. The price of silver has risen 44 per cent this year, in part because investors bet the Barclays fund will boost demand for the metal.

Senators to push for $100 gas rebate checks

Quick Overview

• U.S. Jobless claims were up 11,000 last week to 315,000.
  

• China raised its key interest rate from 5.58% to 5.85%.
  

• Ben Bernanke signaled that after one more interest rate increase the central bank may take a break, perhaps only temporarily, from a rate-raising campaign aimed at keeping inflation at bay.
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that underground supplies of natural gas were up 80 billion cubic feet last week to 1.851 trillion cubic feet.
  

• A registration statement for the Silver ETF from Barclays Global Investors was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The trust is expected to trade under the symbol "SLV”, and should start trading Friday.
  

The Health Report: White House Crisis - Medications Failing America!

She also felt that the remaining loyal 32% of Americans needed to start taking testosterone, upping their aggression level and pushing their belief in both George W. Bush and Jesus onto anybody they encountered.

Quick Overview

• Durable-goods orders increased by 6.1% last month to a seasonally adjusted $230.61 billion, the Commerce Department said. The market was looking for just a 1.6% increase. The unexpected strength marked the fifth gain in durables in six months. A key barometer of business spending - orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft - rose by 3.0%.
  
  

• U.S. new home sales were at an annual rate of 1.213 million units in March, up 14% from February's pace and more than expected, but down 7% from March of 2005. So far in 2006, new home sales are down 8.2% from a year ago.
  
  
  

• The U.K s. GDP was up 0.6% in the first quarter and up 2.2% YoY.
  

• Australia's consumer price index was up 3% in the first quarter.
  

• Argentina's central bank revised its forecast for 2006 economic growth to above 7 percent from about 6 percent in January.
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that:
  Supplies of crude oil were down 200,000 barrels to 345.0 million barrels.
  Supplies of unleaded gasoline were down 1.9 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil supplies were up 600,000 barrels.

Percentage of Uninsured Americans Rising
The percentage of working-age Americans with moderate to middle incomes who lacked health insurance for at least part of the year rose to 41 percent in 2005, a dramatic increase from the 28 percent in 2001 without coverage

Iraqi Strife Seeping Into Saudi Kingdom

"Saudi Sunnis are defending Iraqi Sunnis, and Saudi Shiites are defending Iraqi Shiites,"

Quick Overview

• U.S. Consumer confidence fell sharply to its lowest level in two months, once again weighed down by high gasoline prices, ABC News and the Washington Post said on Tuesday.
  

• ECB's Mersch said in Luxembourg that he sees a "gradually strengthening and broadening economy."
  

• Swedish trade balance March, out at 17.5B vs. 13.0B expected.
  
  

• The Bank of Canada raised its key interest rate by a quarter-percent to 4.00%,
  

• Germanys business confidence index increased from 105.4 to 105.9 in April, the highest reading in 15 years.
  

• South Korea's GDP was up 6.2% in the first quarter of 2006 from a year ago.
  

• The Conference Board's U.S. consumer confidence index rose from 107.5 to 109.6 in April, stronger than expected and the highest in four years.
  

• The National Association of Realtors said that U.S. existing home sales were at an annual rate of 6.92 million units in March, up 0.3% from February's. They also said there are 3.19 million homes for sale, some 5.5 months of inventory.

Warning flags flutter on economy
"exits from these illiquid assets may get crowded from time to time."

Quick Overview

• Dollar fell to a fresh 7-month lows against the Euro, and a 3-month lows against the yen after a G7 announcement on currencies makes the first-time statement of singling out China urging it for further currency flexibility.
  
  

• The top U.S. manufacturing lobby group on Monday lauded calls from the Group of Seven rich nations over the weekend for China to allow the yuan to appreciate, and said multilateral pressure on Beijing was more effective than U.S. demands alone.
  
  

• UK Mar Retail Sales were up 0.7% and better than the 0.3% forecast
  
  

• Demand from the stainless steel industry could see nickel in a shortfall of over 27,000 metric tons at the end of 2006, wiping out 2005's surplus and taking market stocks back to historic lows, Macquarie Bank Ltd. said.
  
  

• The average price of regular gasoline jumped 24 cents to $2.91 a gallon in the two weeks ended Friday, according to the latest Lundberg Survey of filling stations released Sunday.
  
  

• Filling stations in the Northeast are reporting scattered shortages of gasoline as the industry struggles to move to more ethanol-blended fuel, the Associated Press reported.
  
  

• The USDA said there were 11.812 million head of cattle on feed.

Scientists find brain cells linked to choice

If choosing the right outfit or whether to invest in stocks or bonds is difficult, it may not be just indecisiveness but how brain cells assign values to different items, scientists said on Sunday.

The End of Dollar Hegemony
The artificial demand for our dollar, along with our military might, places us in the unique position to “rule” the world without productive work or savings, and without limits on consumer spending or deficits. The problem is, it can’t last.

Quick Overview

• The U.S. gross domestic product probably grew at an annual rate close to 5% in the first quater, which would be the fastest growth in 10 quarters.
  

• Japan's service industry index, was down 1.5% in February.
  

• Consumer spending in France was down 0.6% in March.
  

• Canadian consumer spending was down 0.4% in February.
  

• Taiwan’s unemployment rate improved from 3.92% to 3.87% in March.
  

• Crude-oil prices broke through $75 a barrel to hit a new record.
  

• Sweden said it had cut the dollar share in its foreign exchange reserves and Russia's finance minister questioned the dollar's preeminence as the global reserve currency.
  

• Copper rallied above $3 a pound to close its highest level on record.
  

• The USDA said there were 11.812 million head of cattle on feed on April 1st, up 8.6% YoY. March placements were up 5% YoY.
  

• The USDA said there were 67.8 million pounds of frozen pork bellies in storage, down 17% YoY. Frozen pork totaled 499.4 million pounds, down 8% YoY.
  

• The U.S. cocoa grind totaled 104,690 tons in the first quarter of 2006, up 2.7% YoY.
  
  

• The USDA said there were 1.01 billion pounds of frozen orange juice concentrate in storage on March 31st, down 36% from a year ago.
  
  
  

Iran, You Ran, Let's Bomb Iran
When all else fails and you're becoming Nixon 2.0, why not just nuke someone, and smirk?

The real first casualty of war
The dissident novelist Zdenek Urbánek told me, "In one respect, we are more fortunate than you in the west. We believe nothing of what we read in the newspapers and watch on television, nothing of the official truth. Unlike you, we have learned to read between the lines, because real truth is always subversive."

China Leads The World In Executions, Followed By Iran, Saudi Arabia And U.S.

Quick Overview

• The Labor Department said that jobless claims were down 10,000 to 303,000, less than expected.
  

• The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's regional manufacturing index increased from 12.3 to 13.2 in April.
  

• The Conference Board's index of U.S. leading indicators fell 0.1% in March to 138.4.
  
  

• Canada’s consumer price was up 2.2% in March.
  

• Japan's Exports exceeded imports by roughly $8.3 billion in March.
  

• The unemployment rate in Hong Kong was 5.2% in the first quarter of 2006
  

• The U.K.’s consumer price was up 1.8% in March.
  

• The Euro zone’s consumer price was up 2.2% in March
  
  

• The DoE said that underground supplies of natural gas were up 47 billion cubic feet to 1.761 trillion cubic feet.
  

Knowing Why Not To Bomb Iran Is Half the Battle
One of my teachers, a former chief of Israeli military intelligence, used to say that going to war is not like asking a girl out on a date. It is a very serious decision, to be made on the basis of carefully crafted answers to even more carefully crafted questions.

Quick Overview

• Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher said on Wednesday the U.S. economy can handle a housing slowdown and that oil-price pass-through to inflation had been manageable.
  
  

• Brazil's central bank cut its benchmark lending rate on Wednesday to a five-year low of 15.75 percent from 16.50 percent, the seventh straight cut since September to help bolster the economy as inflation eases.
  
  
  

• The U.S. Labor Department said the consumer price index was up 0.4% in March and up 3.4% from a year ago. Excluding food and energy, prices were up 0.3% in March and up 2.1% YoY.
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that:
  Supplies of crude oil were down 800,000 barrels to 345.2 million barrels.
  Supplies of unleaded gasoline were down 5.4 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil were down 300,000 barrels.
  
  

• London copper inventories are at 119,050 tons.
  

Will China's next big export be inflation?
Ordinarily in international trade, when a country pours lots of goods on to the global market and runs a large trade surplus, as China has, foreign exchange markets would tend to push up the value of that country’s currency. That, in turn, would make those products more expensive in the rest of the world — a factor that would tend to offset, at least in part, the low-inflation benefits of those cheap exports.

Sand covers one-eighth of China
Sand covered about one-eighth of China from April 14 to 18 and about 330,000 tons of sand fell in Beijing on Sunday night.

Dead zone linked to farm subsidies
Sometime this summer, a lifeless expanse of water about the size of Connecticut -- maybe a little bigger, maybe a little smaller -- will form off the state's coast.

Quick Overview

• U.S. Consumer confidence rose slightly in the latest week despite soaring gasoline prices, a survey showed on Tuesday.
  
  

• US PPI for March was out at +0.5% vs. 0.4% expected, but less Food and Energy out at +0.1% vs. 0.2% expected.
  

• U.S. New housing starts fell 7.8% in March to the lowest level in a year, the Commerce Department reported.
  

• Federal Reserve officials meeting in late March felt the U.S. central bank was nearly done raising interest rates, minutes from the meeting released on Tuesday showed.
  

• The USDA reduced the winter wheat crop that is rated good to excellent from 41% to 39%.
  

• The average price of a gallon of diesel fuel continued to rise, up 11.1 cents to $2.765 a gallon, the Energy Department said.

Quick Overview

• Federal Reserve monetary policy must stay "vigilant" because of the risk of higher U.S. inflation, Chicago Federal Reserve President Michael Moskow said.
  

• The dollar fell against most major currencies Monday after a media report suggested that China might reduce its purchases of U.S. Treasuries, and amid speculation that U.S. interest rates may have peaked.
  

• The U.S. Treasury said there were $99.5 billion in net foreign purchases of long-term U.S. securities.
  

• The New York Federal Reserve's regional index of manufacturing dropped from 29.03 to 15.81 in April, weaker than expected.
  
  

• Japan's consumer confidence index increased from 47.9 in December to 48.2 in March, the best reading in 14 years.
  

• The Chinese government said that GDP was up an annual rate of 10.2% in the first quarter of 2006, stronger than expected.
  

• Canada confirmed its fifth case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in a six-year old dairy cow.

• The U.S. Green Coffee Association said that U.S. coffee stocks were up 81,769 bags in March, at 5.28 million bags.
  
  

Quick Overview

• The U.S. Commerce Department said that March retail sales were up 0.6%. Excluding autos, sales were up 0.4%. February’s, retail sales were changed higher, from a 1.4% decline to a 0.8% decline.
  

• The U.S. Commerce Department said that business sales were down 0.6%

• U.S. Jobless claims were up 12,000 last week to 313,000, more than expected.
  

• The University of Michigan's April consumer sentiment index increased from 88.9 to 89 -- better than expected.
  

• Canada's manufacturing shipments were C$50.7 billion in Feb -- down 2.2% form Jan.
  

• Retail sales in New Zealand were up 1.9% in Feb. -- Stronger than expected.
  

• Japanese corporate bankruptcies fell in the past business year, marking the fourth straight year of decline and their lowest level in a decade, helped by an improving economy and greater financial aid for small firms.
  

• Japan's government stuck to its view the economy is recovering in a monthly report on Friday, but said it has yet to emerge from price deflation.
  

• A possible new case of mad cow disease in Canada upset the U.S. cattle markets on Thursday
  

• The World Trade Organization ruled again that U.S. duties on Canadian lumber are in violation of international trade rules.
  

• Goldfields Minerals Survey said that world gold mine production increased 2% in 2005 and they are expecting a 4% increase in 2006.
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that underground supplies of natural gas were up 19 billion cubic feet at 1.714 trillion cubic feet

Quick Overview

• The U.S. government ran a budget deficit of $85.47 billion in March.
  
  

• European 2005 GDP was up 1.3% in the Eurozone and up 1.6% in the EU-25.
  

• The U.K.s unemployment rate was 5.1% in the December to February quarter, up from 5.0% a month ago. The leading economic indicator for the U.K. was up 0.8% in February.
  

• Canadian exports were down 3.5% in February and imports were down 4.6%.
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that:
  Supplies of crude oil were up 3.2 million barrels last week to 346.0 million barrels.
  Supplies of unleaded gasoline were down 3.9 million barrels
• Supplies of heating oil were down 1.4 million barrels.
  

• The U.S. Commerce Secretary said that China has agreed to ease its ban on U.S. beef.