Friday, September 23, 2005

Quick Overview

  • Almost 30% of U.S. oil-refining capacity is offline because of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, Bloomberg reported Friday.

  • Mexico's central bank on Friday pushed interest rates 25 basis points lower for the second straight month to revive a tepid economy.

  • China's central bank surprised the markets this morning by saying that they would increase the Yuan's daily allowable range from 1.5% to 3.0% for the non-dollar currencies.

  • Brazil's stocks closed at a new all-time high on Friday for the third time this week, while the national currency surged to a fresh 41-month high .


  • The United States is under rising pressure to make hard concessions on farm subsidies after a Friday meeting with three other trade powers failed to break a deadlock that threatens global trade talks.

  • November lumber closed up its $10 daily limit again, at $326.00, with traders anticipating a lot of re-building activity after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

  • The USDA said that there were 10.0 million head of cattle on feed as of September 1st, up slightly from a year ago. August placements were down 5% from a year ago and marketing’s were up 6%

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