Quick Overview

• U.S. factory orders rose 2.3% in December-- less than expected. Excluding transportation, orders rose 0.7%.
  
  

• Australian home price rose 12% in 2007,
  
  

• Producer prices in the Euro area rose 0.1% in December and 4.3% YoY.
  
  

• Bush wants to spend $3.1 trillion in 2008-2009, up 76% since1999.
  
  

• China is building an enormous logistics facility covering nearly 70 hectares for the newly-launched Sino-Germany Container Railway. It is predicted that the volume of Germany-bound boxes on this railway will reach 20,000 to 26,000 TEU by 2010 while Beijing-bound boxes will be about 10,000 TEU.