- The after-effects of Hurricane Katrina sent crude oil prices to a new record near $71 a barrel Tuesday as fuel traders braced for damage assessments of the storm on oil and gas rigs and refineries in the Gulf of Mexico and on the Gulf Coast, news services reported.
- Estimates of Hurricane Katrina’s economic damage were still coming in Tuesday, and ranged from $9 billion to as high as $26 billion, news services reported.
- Surging crude oil prices led to record demand for ethanol (Sugar, Corn, etc. ?) in June, according to data released by the U.S. Energy Information administration. The U.S. production of ethanol reached a record 343 million gallons, or 249,000 barrels per day in June, higher than the previous record of 245,000 set in February of this year.
- The number of orders placed with U.S. factories fell 1.9% in July to $387.8 billion, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday..
- The Conference Board said that its consumer confidence index increased from 103.6 to 105.6 in August, stronger than expected.
- Retail sales in Australia were down 1.0% in July.
- Retail sales in the U.K. showed another decline for the sixth consecutive month.
- Household spending in Japan was down 3.5% in July. Retail sales in July were down 2.2% and the unemployment rate rose from 4.2% to 4.4%.
- The U.S. poverty rate rose in 2004 for the fourth year in a row, driven by an increase in poor whites, the government said today.
- Surface trade among the U.S., Canada and Mexico rose 7.2% in June to $59.4 billion from a year earlier, the Department of Transportation reported.
- Dow Jones Newswires said that the coffee warehouses in New Orleans are under two feet of water, however it’s not clear how much actual damage there is.
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