Housing Downturn Takes Toll on Cities’ Revenue
In Palm Beach County, Fla., foreclosures rose to 4,830 in 2006 from 3,049 in 2005. And in just the first eight months of this year, the number hit 7,544, said Sharon R. Bock, the county’s comptroller and clerk. Vacant job positions in Ms. Bock’s office are going unfilled, and “it could get worse,” she said.

OJ Prices Jump As Citrus Land Shrinks
Florida lost 127,182 acres (17 percent of its total) in the 2006 crop census -- the second worst drop in history behind only a January 1986 freeze. The net loss was higher than the previous eight years combined.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture does not tie specific reasons to any acre lost, but growers and other industry officials say the problems are plain. Canker and greening forced the destruction of tens of thousands of acres of trees in the past decade, and bad hurricane seasons in 2004 and 2005 raked groves. Some farmers sold to developers when land prices skyrocketed the past few years, though recent slowing in the housing market probably stymied that trend.

Britain to claim more than 1m sq km of Antarctica
The United Kingdom is planning to claim sovereign rights over a vast area of the remote seabed off Antarctica, the Guardian has learned. The submission to the United Nations covers more than 1m sq km (386,000 sq miles) of seabed, and is likely to signal a quickening of the race for territory around the south pole in the world's least explored continent.

The claim would be in defiance of the spirit of the 1959 Antarctic treaty, to which the UK is a signatory. It specifically states that no new claims shall be asserted on the continent. The treaty was drawn up to prevent territorial disputes.

Quick Overview

• U.S. Housing starts were down 10.2% MoM and down 31% YoY.
  

• U.S. consumer prices rose 0.3% MoM and 2.8% YoY
  

• The adjustment from recent financial market turmoil is "far from over" though the situation seems to have improved, a senior New York Federal Reserve Bank official said.
  

• The Fed’s Beige Book said economic activity continued to expand in all Districts in September and early October but the pace of growth decelerated since August.
  

• The USDA is reporting the first Asian soybean rust finding in Indiana, in addition to several new cases in Iowa and Missouri

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that:
  Supplies of crude oil rose 1.8 million barrels to 321.9 million barrels.
• Supplies of gasoline rose 2.8 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil rose 1.2 million barrels.
  Refinery use fell from 87.8% to 87.3% of capacity.
  Gasoline demand fell 0.5% YoY
  Distillate demand rose 0.9% YOY
  The Strategic Petroleum Reserve increased by 500,000 barrels.
  
  

• The U.K.'s unemployment rate remained at 5.4%, down 0.2% YoY.
  
  

• The International Monetary Fund said that they expect world GDP to increase 5.2% in 2007 and 4.8% in 2008.

Life is harder now, some experts say

The basics, according to Warren, now take up close to three-fourths of every family's spending power (it was about 50 percent in 1973), leaving precious little left over at the end of the month — and leaving many families with no cushion in case of a job loss or health crisis.

Quick Overview

• Foreign investors slashed their holdings of US securities by a record amount as the credit squeeze intensified, according to the latest Treasury figures. Foreign investors sold $34.9 billion of U.S. securities in August while U.S. investors bought $34.5 billion of foreign securities. Overall $163 billion left the U.S. in August.
  
  

• U.S. industrial production was up 0.1% in September
  

• YoY consumer prices in the U.K. rose 1.8%.
  

• YoY consumer prices in the Euro area rose 2.1%.
  

• Canada met and kept its rate unchanged at 4.5%
  

• Manufacturing sales in Canada fell 1.7% in August
  

• Japan's housing starts fell 43% in August. The government began requiring stricter inspections to protect new homes from earthquake damage.
  

• Southern California home sales fell in September to the lowest level in two decades. It was the slowest month since the firm began keeping records in 1988, DataQuick said. The previous low was in February 1995 when 12,459 homes sold.
  

• Intel profits rose 43 %, beating estimates.
  
  

• There's been another round of new record highs for crude oil on fears of an escalating conflict between Turkey and Kurds in northern Iraq.
  

Quick Overview

• Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Monday that a weaker dollar would have some inflationary impact but that expectations for slower growth may stem price rises.
  

• The New York Federal Reserve's regional index of manufacturing rose from 14.7 to 28.8 in October.
  

• Canada's index of leading indicators rose 0.4% in September.
  

• The World Trade Organization ruled the U.S. provides illegal subsidies to cotton growers, giving Brazil the right to impose sanctions on up to $4 billion worth of U.S. goods.
  

Quick Overview

• U.S. Producer prices rose 1.1% in September and 4.4% YoY.
  

• U.S. Retail sales rose 0.6% in September. Without transport sales rose 0.4%
  

• Industrial production in the Euro area rose 1.2% and 4.3% YoY.
  

• Industrial production in India rose 10.7% YoY.
  

• The USDA's 2007-2008 U.S. ending stocks estimate of:
  Corn increased from 1.675 to 1.997 billion bushels.
  Soybeans are unchanged at 215 million bushels.
  Wheat was lowered from 362 to 307 million bushels.
  Sugar increased from 1.802 to 1.899 million tons.
  Cotton increased from 6.2 to 6.4 million bales.
  

• The USDA's 2007-2008 world ending stocks estimate of:
  Corn increased from 105 to 110 million tons.
  Soybeans increased from 50 to 51 million tons.
  Wheat was reduced from 112 to 107 million tons.
  Cotton increased from 52 to 55 million bales.
  

• The USDA estimates the 2007-2008 Florida orange crop at 168 million boxes, up from 129 million boxes YoY. Juice yield is predicted at 1.60 gallons a box, down from 1.65 gallons per box YoY.
  

• The income gap between the wealthiest and poorest Americans grew to its widest level since the 1920s
  

• China's foreign exchange reserves, the world's largest, rose to $1.434 trillion in Q3.
  
  

Quick Overview

• The U.S. deficit in international trade of goods and services shrank 2.4%.
  

• Australia's unemployment rate fell from 4.3% to 4.2%.
  

• The International Coffee Organization kept its guess of 2007-2008 world production and consumption unchanged at 114 and 122 million bags.
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that:
  Supplies of crude oil supplies fell 1.7 million barrels to 320.1 million barrels
  Supplies of gasoline rose 1.7 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil rose 1.0 million barrels
  Gasoline demand fell o.4% YoY
  Distillate demand rose 1.3% YoY
  Underground supplies of natural gas rose 73 billion cubic to 3.336 trillion cubic feet.
  
  
  
  

Quick Overview

• Consumer confidence in Australia fell 0.3%.
  
  

• The Baltic Dry Index passed 10,000 for the first time since its inception in 1985.
  

• Crude oil rose on speculation that Turkish forces may attack Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq
  

Global warming hits Cereal production hard
According to the first study on the impact of climate change on global food production from 1981 to 2002, fields of wheat, corn and barley throughout the world have produced a combined 40 million tonne less a year because of the increase in temperatures caused by human activities.

....”Most people tend to think of climate change as something that will impact the future, but this study shows that warming over the past two decades has already had real effects on the global food supply,” said Christopher Field, co-author of the study and director of Carnegie Institution's department of
global ecology.

Quick Overview

• The Dow and S&P 500 closed at records after minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting showed inflation expectations were contained, leaving open the question of whether another rate cut is near.
  
  

• Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis President William Poole said the deprecation of the dollar should not hit inflation, owing to the limited pass-through from the currency via import prices.
  
  
  
  

• India has extended its export ban of wheat for an indefinite period, while allowing the restriction-free import of wheat indefinitely .
  
  

• Heating oil customers will pay an average of 22 percent more this winter than last and natural gas customers will pay 10 percent more, the Energy Department estimated.
  
  

Study: GM corn might affect ecosystems
Assistant Professor Todd Royer said the study suggested pollen and other plant parts containing toxins from genetically engineered Bt corn are washing into streams near cornfields.
The researchers determined consumption of Bt corn byproducts produced increased mortality and reduced growth in caddisflies -- aquatic insects that are related to the pests targeted by the toxin in Bt corn.
Royer noted caddisflies are a food resource for higher organisms, such as fish and amphibians.
"If our goal is to have healthy, functioning ecosystems, we need to protect all the parts," said Royer. "Water resources are something we depend on greatly."

Quick Overview

• U.K.’s Producer prices rose 2.7% YoY.
  

• Factory orders in Germany rose 1.2%
  

EPA Asked to Regulate Ship Emissions
Marine vessels are responsible for nearly 3 percent of the world's greenhouse gases — equal to the amount generated by all cars in the U.S. — and ship emissions are projected to grow by more than 70 percent by 2020 as global trade expands, according to the petitions.

"If the U.S. is to do its part in reducing the threat of global climate disruption, then EPA must limit the global warming emissions from ships that enter the ports of the United States," Brown said.

Quick Overview

• U.S. jobless claims rose 16,000 last week to 317,000, more than expected.
  

• U.S. factory orders fell 3.3% in August.
  

• The Bank of England and the European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged.
  

• Brazil predicted that the soybean crop will total 59.7 million tons in 2007-2008, up slightly from this year's harvest. They also predicted a 52.3 million ton corn crop, up from 51.0 million tons this year.
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that underground supplies of natural gas were up 57 billion cubic feet to 3.263 trillion cubic feet. Supplies are down 2% YoY.
  

• Canada estimated its wheat crop at 20.64 million tonnes, up slightly from the July guess of 20.3 million tonnes. This compares to 25.27 million tonnes last year.
  
  

• So far this year, Asian soybean rust has been found in 162 U.S. counties. More than likely not causing much damage to this year's crop.

Quick Overview

• The Institute of Supply Management said its index of services dropped from 55.8 to 54.8, about as expected.
  

• Democratic leaders in the U.S. Congress called for the appointment of a "mortgage czar" to help stem a jump in foreclosures.
  

• Australia's retail sales rose 0.7% in August.
  

• Retail sales volume in the Euro area rose 0.1% in August, and 1.0% YoY.
  

• Nine environmental groups called for annual investments of 1 billion reals to bring destruction of the Amazon rain forest to a halt by 2015.
  

• AWB Ltd. estimates the Australian wheat crop at 13 million tons.
  

• The U.S. Grain Council estimates China's corn crop at 139 million tons ( 5.5 billion bushels), down 6 million tons from last year.
  

• Brazils coffee crop needs rain, but the forecast is sunny and dry for the next ten days.
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that:
  Supplies of crude oil were up 1.2 million barrels to 321.8 million barrels.
  Supplies of Gasoline were down 100,000 barrels
  Supplies of heating oil down 200,000 barrels.
  Refinery use rose from 86.9% to 87.5% of capacity last week.
  Gasoline demand rose 0.1% YoY
  Distillate demand fell 0.4% YoY
  
  
  

Quick Overview

• The National Association of Realtors said that its pending homes sales index was down 6.5%
  

• The unemployment rate in the Euro area was 6.9% in August.
  YoY producer prices in the Euro area were up 1.7%.
  

In Wiki-Politics, Ron Paul and Mike Gravel Lead the Field
At this time during the run up to the last presidential election, Wikipedia was in its infancy. In July of 2003, the online encyclopedia attracted less than half a million US visitors. Fast forward four years. In July of 2007 over 41 million people, or 1 in 4 people online in the US, visited the site. Wikipedia is now the 12th most visited website and is likely to play a significant role in informing and influencing those who will choose our next president.

Quick Overview

• The Institute of Supply Management's U.S. manufacturing index dropped from 52.9 to 52.0 in September.
  
  

• Japan's Tankan index was unchanged at +23 in September, better than expected
  

• Manufacturing in Europe fell from 54.3 to 53.2 in August.