Short Sales Break Record on NYSE; Market Bulls Get More Bullish

May 29 (Bloomberg) -- Short sellers are betting against U.S. stocks like never before as the Standard & Poor's 500 Index approaches an all-time high. That's making some of the biggest bulls even more optimistic.
``What the short seller appears to be doing is doubling down,'' said Kenneth Fisher, who oversees about $40 billion as chairman of Fisher Investments in Woodside, California. ``You love to see it, because if you believe there is a basic driver to the bull market, they're going to get run over.''

Lower gout risk for coffee lovers
Drinking four or more cups of coffee a day may cut the risk of having a painful attack of gout, say Canadian scientists.

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• The National Association of Realtors reports U.S. existing home sales down 2.6% from March's pace and the lowest level in over three years. Current inventories of homes for sale represent an 8.4 month supply, the most in 15 years.

• July lumber rose its $10 daily limit.
  

• GDP in the U.K. rose 0.7% in the first quarter and up 2.9% YoY.
  

• Japans consumer prices were unchanged YoY.
  

• YoY goods shipped by truck in the U.S. fell by 2.7 percent in April.
  

• Container volumes on the Asia — Europe trade rose 20% in the first four months of the year.

Bernanke Warned by Real Estate Analysts:
Housing Collapse Is Much Worse Than You Say

"The housing market has softened much more than is being reported" by the Fed, and the National Association of Realtors (NAR), says JBREC

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• U.S. New home sales were up 16.2% from March's pace and stronger than expected. YoY new home sales are down 20%. New homes for sale in the U.S. are at a 6.5 month supply.
  

• U.S. Durable goods orders were up 0.6% in April, weaker than expected.
  

• U.S. Jobless claims were up 15,000 last week to 311,000.
  

• The USDA estimates 2007-2008 the world sugar production at 163.3 million tons up from 161.3 million tons YoY. World ending stocks are expected to rise 6.1 million tons to 45.1 million tons, or 29% of use.
  
  

• Taiwan GDP was up 4.2% YoY.
  
  

• Pakistan suspended wheat exports.
  

• The DoE said that underground supplies of natural gas were up 104 billion cubic feet last week to 1.946 trillion cubic feet.
  

Indians offer personal maths tuition on the web With private tutors costing £25-£50 an hour in Britain, Indian-based companies are now offering online GCSE maths tuition for just £50 a month for unlimited sessions to anyone with a broadband internet connection.

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• Canada's leading indicators was up 0.4%
  

• Reuters - Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Wednesday he feared a "dramatic contraction" in Chinese stocks.
  
  

• The DOE said that:
  Supplies of crude oil were up 2.0 million barrels to 344.2 million barrels.
  Supplies of gasoline were up 1.5 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil were down 900,000 barrels
  Gasoline demand was up 1.2% YoY
  Distillate demand was up 2.6% YoY.
  
  

• USDA estimated Brazil's coffee crop at 36.2 million bags.
  

• More than 60,000 birds have died of an outbreak of bird flu near the capital of Pakistan

1 in 8 Iraqis dies before fifth birthday "Unfortunately, this is becoming common," said Saad Mehdi, 35, a pediatrician at Ibn Al-Baladi.

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• An index of investor confidence in Germany increased from 16.5 to 24.0 in May, the highest score in 11 months.
  

• The U.S. House of Representatives voted to allow the government to sue OPEC for price manipulation -- the White House threatened to veto.
  
  

• The handling capacity of China's ports is expected to hit 8 billion tons and 170 million TEUs (twenty-foot container equivalent units) in 2010. The cargo handling capacity of all China's ports totaled 5.6 billion tons and 93 million TEUs in 2006.

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The Chicago Fed index of national activity rose from -.11 to -.10 in April.

The Foreign Policy of Ron Paul Ron Paul has always believed that foreign and domestic policy should be conducted according to the same principles. Government should be restrained from intervening at home or abroad because its actions fail to achieve their stated aims, create more harm than good, shrink the liberty of the people, and violate rights..
..How unusual, how incredibly strange, that Ron Paul, who has stood for these principles his entire public life, is criticized by some as a radical, outside the mainstream, and influenced by experimental ideas that are marginal at best. And why is he treated this way? Because he takes the ideas of Washington and Jefferson seriously, just as seriously as he takes the idea of freedom itself, and he does so in times when faith in Leviathan remains the dominant political ideology.

Kuwait Drops U.S. Dollar Peg in Blow to Gulf Currency Union
Kuwait unshackled its dinar from the tumbling U.S. dollar on Sunday and switched the exchange rate mechanism to a basket of currencies, throwing plans for currency union with other Gulf Arab oil producers into disarray.

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• The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index rose from 87.1 to 88.7
  

• The USDA said there were 11.297 million head of cattle on feed in the U.S. on May 1st, down 2.3% YoY. Placements were down 2.8% and marketing’s were up 2.0%.
  

• Canada's retail sales totaled C$34.0 billion in March, up 1.9% MoM and up 5.6% YoY.
  Hong Kong GDP was up 5.6% QoQ.
  

• China raised its one-year lending rate from 6.39% to 6.57%.
  

• China will widen the floating band of yuan against U.S. dollar for daily spot trading on the interbank market from 0.3 percent to 0.5 percent on May 21.
  
  

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• U.S. Jobless claims were down 5,000 last week to 293,000, the lowest in four months.
  

• The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's index of regional manufacturing increased from 0.2 to 4.2 in April, stronger than expected.
  

• U.S. Index of leading indicators was down 0.5% in April with eight of the ten components showing a decrease.
  

• Japan's GDP was up 0.6% in the first quarter of 2007 and up 2.0% YoY.
  

• Canada's consumer price index was up 2.2% YoY, down from a 2.3% gain in March.
  

• The International Copper Study Group is forecasting that world production of copper will exceed use by 270,000 tons this year and by 520,000 tons in 2008.
  

• The DoE said that underground supplies of natural gas were up 95 billion cubic feet at 1.842 trillion cubic feet.
  

• Fed Chairman Bernanke says the central bank is considering tougher rules to crack down on abusive practices by mortgage lenders. But he says the economy should escape without significant harm from the problems in the subprime market.

Ron Paul Said It
Plenty of reasonable people can disagree about foreign policy. What's really strange is when one reasonable position is completely and forcibly excluded from the public debate.

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• U.S. Housing starts were at an annual rate of 1.528 million units in April, up 2.5% MoM and better than expected. For 2007 housing starts are down 26% YoY.
  

• U.S. Industrial production was up 0.7% in April, stronger than expected.
  
  

• U.K.’s Unemployment rate. remained at 5.5% in the first quarter
  

• China's industrial production increased 17.4% YoY.
  

• Greece’s GDP rose 4.6% QoQ
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that:
  Supplies of crude oil were up 1.0 million barrels last week to 342.2 million barrels.
  Supplies of gasoline were up 1.7 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil were up 1.6 million barrels.
  Gasoline demand was up 1.0% YoY
  Distillate demand was up 3.1% YoY.
  

U.S. Median Home Price Tumbles to 2-Year Low in Slump

The city with the biggest drop in median home price in the first quarter was Elmira, New York, with a 15 percent decline to $75,300, making it the cheapest housing market in the nation

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• U.S. consumer price index rose 0.4% in April and 2.6% YoY. Excluding food and energy costs, prices were up 0.2% in April and up 2.3% YoY.
  

• New York Federal Reserve's index of manufacturing increased from 3.80 to 8.03 in May.
  

• The National Association of Homebuilders said that its index of homebuilder confidence dropped from 33. to 30 in May, the most pessimistic reading in 15 years.
  
  

• GDP in the Euro area rose 0.6% in the first quarter and 3.1% YoY,
  

• YoY Consumer prices in the U.K. rose 2.8% in April
  

• Japan's machinery orders were down 4.5% in March, weaker than expected.
  

• YoY Indonesia's GDP was up 6.0% in the first quarter
  

• India may consider raising the ethanol content in its gasoline blends to 10% from the current 5%.
  

• Czarnikow expects world sugar production at 162.7 million tons in 2006-2007, exceeding consumption by 6.9 million tons.
  
  

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• Japanese wholesale prices rose 0.8% MoM and climbed 2.2% YoY.
  

• Japan’s current account surplus rose 36.9% -- a record high. On a seasonally adjusted basis the current account surplus rose 63.3% MoM, following a 19.2% monthly decline in February.
  

• Retail sales in New Zealand rose 1.3% MoM.
  

• Producer prices in the U.K. were up 2.5% YoY
  

• The Florida Department of Citrus said there were 78.2 billion gallons of frozen orange juice concentrate in inventory, down 15% YoY.
  

• AAA said U.S. average gasoline prices climbed to a record-high average of $3.073 a gallon.
  

Quick Overview

• U.S. Producer prices rose 0.7% in April and 3.2% YoY. Excluding food energy, prices were unchanged.
  

• U.S. Retail sales in April fell 0.2% MoM and rose 3.0% YoY.
  

• Producer prices in China were up 2.9% in April from a year ago, up from a 2.7% gain the previous month.
  

• Industrial production in India was up 12.9% YoY.

• Canada's unemployment rate unchanged at 6.1% in April.
  
  

• The USDA estimates 2007-2008 ending stocks of:
  Corn at 947 million bushels, up from 937 million bushels in 2006-2007.
  Soybeans at 320 million bushels, down from 610 million bushels in 2006-2007.
  Wheat at 2.216 billion bushels, up from 2.087 billion bushels in 2006-2007.
  Sugar at 1.34 million tons, down from 1.72 million tons in 2006-2007.
  Cotton at 6.4 million bales, down from 9.5 million bales in 2006-2007.

• The USDA's 2007-2008 world ending stocks estimate of:
  Corn is 90 million tons, down from 93 million tons in 2006-2007.
  Wheat is 113 million tons, down from 120 million tons in 2006-2007.
  Cotton at 50 million bales down from 55 million bales in 2006-2007.
  
• Even though US corn ending stocks are estimated to be above last year, the stocks to use ratio is likely to be lower, down to 7.6% from 8.1% for 2006/07.
  
  

• The USDA expects U.S. beef production to for 2008 up 6.7%.
  

• The USDA expects 2008 pork production to be up 0.8%
  

• The USDA estimates the Florida's orange crop at 131 million boxes and juice yield of 1.65 gallons a box at 42.0 degrees Brix.