Quick Overview

• The average price of U.S. retail diesel soared by a record 34.6 cents to $3.144 a gallon, also a record, the Department of Energy reported Monday.

• Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) announced plans to build its first owned biodiesel production facility in the US. This 50 million gallon facility will be located in Velva, North Dakota, and will use canola oil as its primary feedstock. ADM also is planning to build biodiesel plants in Mexico, Missouri and Mainz, Germany.

• Orders placed with U.S. factories rose 2.5% in August to $395.2 billion, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

• 63 offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico were destroyed by Hurricane Rita, and some drilling platforms with major damage could be off-line until next year, the U.S. Interior Department said on Tuesday.

• The Group of Seven top economic powers needs to move urgently to correct global imbalances in savings and investment or face the risk of worldwide deflation within a decade, Canada's central bank governor said on Tuesday. (Did he say WORLDWIDE DEFLATION?)

• Brazil's real widened losses on Tuesday after the central bank bought dollars on the local foreign exchange market for a second straight day, while stocks slipped after topping 32,000 points for the first time.
  

• Japan wants to cut 10 percent of government jobs over the next five years.
  
  

• Japan's 10-year bonds slumped, pushing yields to the highest in almost a year, after a government sale of the debt drew the weakest demand in 19 months.
  

• Kyodo news reported that Japan's Food Safety Commission is apt to recommend the acceptance of U.S. and Canadian cattle under 20 months of age as rapidly as this December.
  

• Unemployment rate in the Euro zone rose from 8.5% to 8.6% in August. YoY the unemployment rate is down from 8.9%.