Quick Overview

• The Mortgage Bankers Association said that its index of mortgage application increased 2.8% last week, the highest level this year.
  

• Consumer confidence in Australia increased to 115.5 in March, the highest score in over a year.
  

• YoY China's retail sales in the first two months rose a strong 14.7 %.
  

• Industrial production in the Euro area was down 0.2% in January and up 3.7% YoY.
  

• Asian soybean rust was found in a bin of soybeans that came from southeast Iowa last fall.
  

• The U.S. Energy Department (DOE) said that:
  Supplies of crude oil supplies were up 1.1 million barrels to 325.3 million barrels.
  Supplies of gasoline were down 2.5 million barrels.
  Supplies of heating oil were down 2.1 million barrels.
  Gasoline demand was up 2.8% YoY.
  Distillate demand was up 5.5% YoY.
  

• The Shanghai Futures Exchange is set to start zinc trading later this month.
  
  

• The Brazilian government may boost the amount of ethanol it blends with gasoline to 25%.

Quick Overview

• U.S. Retail sales rose 0.1% in February, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.
  

• The International Coffee Organization increased its estimate of the 2007-2008 world coffee crop from 110.5 to 112.0 million bags. It reduced its estimate of 2007 world consumption from 118 to 117.5 million bags.
  

• YoY China's consumer prices were up 2.7% in February.
  

• Question marks continue to hang over the US mortgage market. The Securities & Exchange Commission is investigating troubled subprime mortgage lender New Century, the firm has revealed.
  
  
  

• Special Report: Phantom Shares
  Bloomberg Television premieres a half hour Special Report called "Phantom Shares" on Tuesday, March 13, 2007 at 7:00pm, 9:00pm, and 10:00pm ET.
  

Quick Overview

Japan changed its economic growth figures for the fourth quarter to an annual pace of 5.5 %, the strongest growth in three years.

U.S. Senator John Thune, R-S.D., has urged federal officials to consider a proposal for using a 20% blend of ethanol in vehicles.

The U.S. government posted at $120 billion deficit in February, slightly larger than the deficit a year ago. For the first five months of the new fiscal year, the deficit is $162.2 billion, down 25% YoY.

The Coming Entitlement Meltdown
The National Taxpayers Union reports that Medicare will consume nearly 40% of the nation's GDP after several decades because of the new drug benefit. That's not 40% of federal revenues, or 40% of federal spending, but rather 40 % of the nation's entire private sector output!

Quick Overview

• Japans machinery orders rose 3.9 percent.

• U.S. Initial jobless claims fell by 10,000 last week, following the previous week’s gain to a 14-month high, the Labor Department said Thursday.
  
  

• The European Central Bank raised its interest rate from 3.50% to 3.75%.
  The European Central Bank expects real GDP growth of 2.5% in 2007 and 2.4% in 2008.
  

• The Bank of England left its interest rate unchanged at 5.25%.
  
  

• Available power reserve margins may fall below required levels in four to six U.S. regions by 2009, Merrill Lynch analyst Elizabeth Parrella wrote in a recent research report.
  

Quick Overview

• The Federal Reserve said consumer credit increased at an annual rate of 3.2% in January to $2.41 trillion.
  

• Australia's GDP rose 1.0% QoQ, and 2.8% YoY.
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that:
  Supplies of crude oil were down 4.8 million barrels last week,
  Supplies of gasoline were down 3.8 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil were down 1.5 million barrels.
  Gasoline demand was up 3.3% YoY
  Distillate demand was up 7.8% YoY
  

The yen also rises
A generally stronger yen may spread a little discomfort

Quick Overview

• U.S. Factory orders were down 5.6% in January, the biggest monthly drop in over six years.
  

• Dow-Jones Newswires reports that Brazil is considering increasing the ethanol content of their fuel from 23% to 25%.
  

• Eurostat changed its estimate of 2006 real GDP growth in the Euro zone from 2.7% to 2.6%.
  

• Britain’s retail sales were up 3.3% YoY.

Quick Overview

• The Institute of Supply Management's index of U.S. services dropped from 59.0 to 54.3 in February
  
  

• Global causes may on balance have boosted U.S. inflation, but globalization has not affected the ability of the Federal Reserve to influence U.S. financial conditions, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said.
  
  

• Japan's unemployment rate improved from 4.1% to 4.0% in January.
  Japan’s household spending rose 0.6% in January.
  Japan's corporate spending increased 16.8% QoQ.
  

• China will boost its 2007 defense budget by 17.8 % the most in five years.
  
  
  

• At its Outlook Forum, the USDA said they expect 2007-2008 U.S. ending stocks of:
  Corn to fall from 752 to 637 million bushels.
  Soybeans to fall from 595 to 370 million bushels.
  Wheat to increase from 472 to 506 million bushels.
  Sugar to fall from 1.695 to 1.215 million tons.
  Cotton to fall from 8.30 to 5.80 million bales
  
  
  

• The International Cocoa Organization expects a world production deficit of 103,000 tons for 2006-2007.
  
  

• The U.S. produced 4.86 billion gallons of ethanol in 2006, up 24% YoY. U.S. ethanol demand totaled 5.4 billion gallons, a 33% YoY. According to the RFA, U.S. ethanol production capacity is 5.6 billion gallons with another 6 billion gallons under construction.
  
  
  

Quick Overview

• U.S. Personal incomes were up 1.0% in January, consumer spending was up 0.5%.
  

• The Institute of Supply Management's manufacturing index increased from 49.3 to 52.3 in February
  

• U.S. Construction spending was down 0.8% from December's pace and down 1.2% YoY.
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that underground supplies of natural gas were down 132 billion cubic feet to 1.996 trillion cubic feet. YoY supplies are down 13%.
  

Quick Overview

• The Bureau of Economic Analysis changed its estimates of fourth quarter GDP growth sharply downward, to 2.2% compared with a previous estimate of 3.5%.
  

• New home sales fell by 16.6%, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. The monthly decline was the biggest, since a 23.8 percent drop-off in January 1994. The median sales price of a new U.S. home rose $400 to $239,800.
  

• The Chicago PMI fell to 47.9%, its lowest level since April 2003, suggesting contraction. MoM the prices paid component rose to 63.2 from 54.9.
  
  

• The unemployment rate in the Euro area improved from 7.5% to 7.4% in January.
  

• The inflation rate in the Euro area improved from 1.9% to 1.8% in January
  

• Industrial production in Japan was down 1.5% in January.
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that:
  Supplies of crude oil were up 1.4 million barrels to 329.0 million barrels.
  Supplies of unleaded gasoline were down 1.9 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil were down 1.8 million barrels.
  YoY Gasoline demand over the past four weeks was up 3.6%
  

Quick Overview

• YoY Eurozone money supply grew at an annual rate of 9.8 percent in January.
  
  

• Shanghai’s composite index fell 9%.
  

• U.S. Durable goods orders were down 7.8% in January, weaker than expected. Excluding transport, orders were down 3.1% MoM.
  

• Consumer confidence rose from 110.2 to 112.5 in February, more than expected
  

• U.S. Existing home sales were at an annual rate of 6.46 million units in January, up 3% MoM, but down 4.3% YoY. There are 3.55 million homes for sale in the U.S. -- a 6.6 month supply.
  

US mortgage crisis goes into meltdown
Panic has begun to sweep the sub-prime mortgage sector in the United States after the bankruptcy of 22 lenders over the past two months, setting off mass liquidation of housing loans packaged as securities

Blow for beer as biofuels clean out barley
One consequence, he said, could be a long-term shift upwards in the price of beer. Barley and hops account for about 7-8 per cent of brewing costs.

Quick Overview

• Greenspan told a business conference in Hong Kong the U.S. economy may be about due for a recession.
  

• Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Shiozaki suggested the end of deflation is in sight.
  

• If the politicians in Washington do nothing, 23 million Americans will get hit by the alternative minimum tax next year, up from 4 million this year.
  
  

• Concern about subprime mortgage defaults continue.

Central Banks Diversify From Dollar, Survey Shows Central banks are still investing in riskier assets as they chase greater returns on yields. Sixty-nine percent said they were looking for more yield, having been forced to widen their asset range by a low-yielding environment.
More than half of the respondents said there is scope for central banks to diversify beyond traditional assets into equities, and around a third said banks should invest in commodities.

While you slumber, your brain puts the world in order Ever wondered why sleeping on a problem works? It seems that as well as strengthening our memories, sleep also helps us to extract themes and rules from the masses of information we soak up during the day.

Quick Overview

• U.S. jobless claims were down 27,000 to 332,000
  

• YoY German GDP was up 3.5% in the fourth quarter.
  

• The U.S. Energy Department (DOE) said that:
  Supplies of crude oil were up 3.7 million barrels to 327.6 million barrels.
  Supplies of gasoline were down 3.1 million barrels
  Supplies of natural gas were down 223 billion cubic feet to 1.865 trillion cubic feet.
  Supplies of heating oil were down 4.1 million barrels.
  U.S. gasoline demand was up 3.8% from YoY
  U.S. distillate demand was up 9.8% YoY.
  

• The USDA said there were 46.4 million pounds of frozen bellies in storage, down 15% YoY. Frozen pork inventories totaled 486 million pounds, down 8% YoY.
  

• The USDA said that, there were 729 million pounds of frozen orange juice in cold storage, down 32% YoY.

Corn Surges to 10-Year High as Rains May Limit U.S. Planting
Corn rose to a 10-year high in Chicago, extending this year's 12 percent rally, as wet weather in the Midwest threatened to prevent U.S. farmers from planting enough grain to meet surging demand for ethanol.

Quick Overview

• U.S. Consumer prices were up 0.2% in January and up 2.1% YoY. Excluding food and energy, prices were up 0.3% in January and up 2.7% YoY.
  

• U.S. index of leading indicators were up 0.1% in January, less than expected,
  

• The Bank of Japan raised rates from 0.25% to 0.50% by a vote of 8 to 1.