Quick Overview

• U.S. consumer confidence in the economy fell to its lowest level since June 2004, driven down by the concerns over high gasoline prices and Hurricane Katrina's destruction along the Gulf Coast, ABC News and the Washington Post said on Tuesday.
  
  

• U.S. producer prices were up 0.6% in August and up 5.1% YoY. Excluding food and energy costs, prices were unchanged for the month.
  

• U.S. exports increased somewhat in July to $106.2 billion while imports fell a little to $164.2 billion.
  
  

• Hurricane Katrina's aftermath will have an isolated effect on the hiring prospects of U.S. employers, with nearly a third expecting to add to their payrolls in the fourth quarter, according to a survey by Manpower Inc., the Associated Press reported Tuesday.
  
  

• The federal government is beginning what some planners are calling one of the biggest bursts of federal housing development in U.S. history, the New York Times reported Tuesday.
  

• The U.S. government is considering temporarily reducing the tariff on Canadian lumber to make more building supplies available after Hurricane Katrina.
  
  
  

• The USDA's good to excellent crop rating for:
  Corn was 51%, unchanged from a week ago.
  Soybeans were 54%, unchanged from a week ago.
  Cotton was 65%, up from 64% a week ago.
  

• YoY Consumer prices in the U.K. were up 2.4% in August -- the most in eight years.
  

• Canadian exports totaled C$38.0 billion in July, up 2.1% on the month. Imports totaled C$32.2 billion, down 0.5% in July.
  

• YoY Retail sales in China were up 12.5% in August.

• The cost of shipping commodities such as iron ore, coal and crude oil is poised to rise through the rest of this year as Chinese steel mills and refineries increase imports, according to shipbroker Lorentzen & Stemoco said, Bloomberg reports .