Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Quick Overview

  • U.S. monetary tightening will return as the key issue in 2011 and policy cannot stay loose indefinitely, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said


  • UK current account deficit grew to GBP10.5 billion in the final three months of the year, the biggest since the second quarter of 2009.

  • Hutchison Whampoa’s 2010 profit rose 47% YOY.

  • Bloomberg: Managers at U.K. oil giant BP PLC could face manslaughter charges for decisions made before the Gulf of Mexico explosion that killed 11 workers and triggered the worst oil spill in U.S. history last spring.

  • Bloomberg: The cost of shipping liquefied natural gas may advance 67 percent to a five-year high as Japan replaces its crippled nuclear industry with power plants burning fossil fuels.
  • Japan's recent earthquake and tsunami and its ongoing nuclear crisis haven't affected the government's schedule for tenders to import grains.
  • Japan's jobless rate drops to 4.6% in February
  • Radiation levels in Fukushima No 2 were strong enough to prevent crews entering the area, stalling efforts to restore the unit’s electrical and fuel-cooling systems. Doses of 1,000 millisieverts per hour were detected in the water, Tepco and nuclear safety officials said.
  • Goldman Sachs: Japan's tsunami and nuclear reactor scare have put up to 20% of its meat production at risk.
  • Bloomberg: Copper will lead a rally in base metals this year as increased consumption in China reduces inventories and higher prices encourage stockpiling, according to researcher Brook Hunt, a Wood Mackenzie company.

  • Israel raises rates to 3%

  • Biggest restaurant chain? Sandwich group Subway is the new leader with 33,749 locations around the world, compared to 32,737 for McDonald’s, according to Subway spokesperson Les Winograd.

  • The prices of single-family homes in 20  cities fell 1.0% in January, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index. This is the sixth straight monthly decline.

  • S&P cut Portugal's credit rating to BBB- from BBB

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