Quick Overview

• Ben Bernanke, said Congress should limit the massive holdings of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in an effort to limit any danger their debt poses to the overall economy.
  
  

• Holiday sales at U.S. retailers may rise 6% over last year, up from an earlier 5% forecast, according to the National Retail Federation, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday
  
  

• The average U.S. retail price of diesel fuel fell for the fourth straight week, declining 8.9 cents to $2.513 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported Monday.
  
  

• The South African Chamber of Mines said that gold production totaled 72.4 tons in the recent quarter, down 15% YOY.
  
  

• The USDA said that as of October 31st, there were 15.52 million pounds of frozen bellies in storage, down 3% from a year ago. Frozen pork totaled 443.9 million pounds, up 5% YoY.
  
  

• The USDA said that there were 1.14 billion pounds of frozen orange juice concentrate in cold storage, down 25% YoY.
  

• The Commerce Department said that retail sales over the Internet totaled $22.3 billion in the recent quarter, up 26.7% YoY. Internet sales now account for 2.3% of total retail sales.