Quick Overview

• Economists raised their U.S. economic growth forecasts for this year's second half and said they expect the Federal Reserve to lift its interest rate target more as a result, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
  

• The US Budget deficit is declining. Economic growth and increasing corporate and individual tax revenues are expected to erase as much as 25% of the deficit the government had projected this year.
  

• Hurricane Dennis is a disappointment for farmers in central and northern Illinois who were hoping for some rain from the storm. The latest 6 to 10 day forecast from the National Weather Service is calling for above average temperatures and below average precipitation for most of the Midwestern U.S.
  

• European regulators raided Intel Corp. offices in Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy on Tuesday, two weeks after rival U.S. chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices filed lawsuits in Japan and the United States claiming Intel violated antitrust rules.
  

• BP Plc.'s Thunder Horse platform -- the brightest short-term prospect for raising U.S. oil production -- is tilting 20 to 30 degrees after Hurricane Dennis hit the Gulf of Mexico, but the company said it's too early to tell whether initial output will be delayed.
  

• The USDA's 2005-2006 U.S. ending stocks estimate for:
  Corn was reduced from 2.54 to 2.24 billion bushels.
  Soybeans were reduced from 255 to 210 million bushels.
  Wheat was increased from 619 to 700 million bushels.
  Sugar was increased from 759,000 to 904,000 tons.
  Cotton was increased from 6.20 to 6.70 million bales.
  

• The USDA's 2005-2006 world ending stocks estimate for:
  Corn was reduced from 121 to 114 million tons.
  Soybeans were reduced from 52 to 51 million tons.
  Wheat was reduced from 144 to 143 million tons.
  Cotton was increased from 44 to 49 million bales.
  
  

• The USDA reduced the 2004-2005 estimate of the Florida orange crop from 151 to 150 million boxes and reduced the estimated juice yield from 1.60 to 1.58 gallons per box at 42.0 degrees Brix.
  

• The International Coffee Organization's June Coffee Report lowered its estimate of world coffee production in 2005-2006 from 106 to 105 million (60-kg) bags. They also lowered the 2004-2005 estimation of the world coffee crop from 114 to 110.5 million bags. World consumption for 2004 was projected at 114.4 million bags.
  

• The International Coffee Organization lowered its estimate of Vietnam's 2005-2006 coffee production from 13.0 to 11.0 million (60-kg) bags.
  

• YoY Consumer prices in the U.K. were up 2.0% , the highest in seven years.

• Japan's government maintained its view on the economy on Tuesday, saying it saw signs that weakness was receding but that higher oil prices and lingering high-tech inventories were a worry.

• SA gold output falls 8,1% in May

• Spider mites thriving in dry Missouri soybean fieldsIF they are there during the early reproductive stages through about pod fill, we can count on an up to 40 to 60% yield decrease if that population is not addressed."