Today

The University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment dropped from 95.5 to 94.2 in February, weaker than expected.
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The core U.S. PPI was up 0.8% in January, much more than expected and
the largest monthly gain in over six years. The jump in prices was blamed on higher prices for cars and cigarettes. Overall, producer prices were up 0.3% for the month. On the news US Treasury Bonds closed down 27/32. Perhaps afraid of an annualized inflation rate of 9.6 percent?----------
The U.K. posted a budget surplus of 6.6 billion pounds in January, more than expected and the most in three years. Corporate tax receipts in January were 31% higher than a year ago.
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Wholesale sales in Canada were up 1.1% in December to C$38.7 billion, the third monthly gain.
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France's GDP was up .8% in the fourth quarter and up 2.3% for all of 2004, the best performance in four years.
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Consumer prices in Germany were down .4% in January and up 1.6% YoY. The 12-month rate of inflation was therefore substantially slower than the 2.1 percent recorded in December
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The Brazilian firm, Safras e Mercado, estimated the current soybean crop at 61.2 million tons, less than the USDA's estimate of 63 million tons (1.7 billion bushels).
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The USDA said that there were 11.334 million head of cattle on feed as of February 1st, less than expected. January placements were up 7.5% and marketing’s were up slightly from a year ago. Cattle are expected to trade higher on Tuesday.
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World oil prices rose on fears of an Opec production cut amid expectations of colder weather in the United States' northeast, analysts said.
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Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, earned $10.27 billion in 2004, up 13% from the previous year. Revenues were up 11% to $288.2 billion.
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Emerging markets most popular for foreign property. Nick Clark, managing director of the Homebuyer Show, commented that opportunities to purchase property abroad are now within the reach of more people than ever.” Buying a property overseas has been a distant dream for many people for a long time," he said.
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The United States has been Japan's largest trade partner after the WWII. Therefore, it can be said that the development of Japan's economy depends on the US economy to a certain extent. However, the latest statistics of the Japanese government shows that Japan's trade with China surpassed that between Japan and the US in 2004 and China replaced the US as Japan's largest trade partner. Such a news intrigued extreme echoes in various circles of Japan.
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Copper prices at 16-year high amid strong Chinese demand. Copper has risen sharply over the past year as the strongest growth of the global economy for 30 years boosted the prices of commodities across the board..... Global inventory levels of the metal are at record lows but mining companies are beginning to increase the amount of copper they produce.