Iraq economy falls below pre-war levels
Senator Conrad, citing the special inspector general, said almost all economic indices showed Iraq was better off before the US had invaded. Republicans, too, are sceptical of administration claims of progress. Senator Chuck Hagel told Ms Rice on Wednesday he believed the situation was getting worse.

Sea levels likely to rise much faster than was predicted
Scientists have found that many of the huge glaciers of Greenland are moving at an accelerating rate - dumping twice as much ice into the sea than five years ago - indicating that the ice sheet is undergoing a potentially catastrophic breakup.

Quick Overview

• The U.S. producer price index rose 0.3% in January and up 5.7% YoY. Excluding food and energy, prices were up .4% in January.
  
  

• The United States should focus on its global trade shortfall with the rest of the world and not solely on the two-way trade gap with China, the president of the Asian Development Bank said on Friday.
  
  

• Class 8 truck orders in North America are off to a roaring start in 2006, with January’s total reaching an all-time monthly high of 43,100 units.
  
  

• The University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment dropped from 91.2 to 87.4 in February.
  

• Google Inc. on Friday criticized the Bush administration's demand to examine millions of its users' Internet search requests as a misguided fishing expedition that threatens to ruin the company's credibility and reveal its closely guarded secrets.
  
  

• Dow-Jones Newswire reported that the Ag Secretary of Minas Gerais said that 15% of his state's coffee crop has been lost to dry weather. Half of Brazil's coffee crop comes from the state of Minas Gerais.
  
  

• The International Copper Study Group said that in the first eleven months of 2005, world copper demand exceeded production by 154,000 tons – this with demand down 1% YoY and production up 4% YoY.
  
  

• Japan's GDP increased 1.4% in the fourth quarter of 2005, more than expected. For calendar year 2005, real GDP was up 2.8%. Japan's latest economic growth figures show that prices, as measured by the GDP deflator, were still declining in the October-December quarter, prompting fresh calls for the Bank of Japan to weigh carefully any decision to end its ultraeasy policy.
  

• Wholesale sales in Canada were up 0.4% in December. For 2005, wholesale sales were up 5.4%. Retail sales at Canada's large retailers were up 1.4% in December and up 5.9% for all of 2005.
  

Australian bird flu vaccine on its way

Releasing early results of a clinical trial on a vaccine to combat the deadly virus, CSL (csl.ASX:) chief scientific officer Dr Andrew Cuthbertson said the company was confident it was safe and effective.

Japanese Putting All Their Energy Into Saving Fuel
"We're saving [$100] a day at city hall by shutting off the heat,"

EPA Revokes Gasoline-Additive Mandate
States no longer will have to add corn-based ethanol or MTBE to gasoline to fight pollution — a requirement that costs as much as 8 cents a gallon — under rules announced Wednesday by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Amid China Threat US To Hold Mammoth Naval Operations In Pacific

Quick Overview

• The number of workers filing initial unemployment claims rose by 19,000 last week to 297,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
  
  

• U.S. Housing starts rose 15% in January, the biggest jump in 33 years, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
  
  

• The price of imported goods rose 1.3% in January, but just 0.2% excluding oil prices, the Labor Department said Thursday
  
  

• The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's index of business activity increased from 3.3 to 15.4 in February, stronger than expected.
  

• Retail sales in the U.K. were down 1.3% in January, the biggest drop in over a year.
  

• Argentina's gross domestic product expanded 9.1 percent in 2005, its fastest in 13 years, as construction and agriculture led the economy to its third straight year of robust growth
  

• The DoE said that underground supplies of natural gas were down 102 billion cubic feet to 2.266 trillion cubic feet. Supplies are now up 24% from a year ago.
  

• The USDA Drought Monitor continues to show drought conditions in the south-central U.S., reaching up to South Dakota and Illinois.
  
  
  

• Up to 15 to 20% of the wheat belt (HRW) will be vulnerable Saturday morning to bitter arctic cold temperatures in areas where enough snow cover fails to develop. The main threat to the crop is in northern Kansas and southern Nebraska."
  

K Street keeps growing
Early returns on end-of-year revenues show strong growth all along Washington’s lobbying corridor

Congressional Probe of NSA Spying Is in Doubt
Congress appeared ready to launch an investigation into the Bush administration's warrantless domestic surveillance program last week, but an all-out White House lobbying campaign has dramatically slowed the effort and may kill it, key Republican and Democratic sources said yesterday.

Whistleblower says NSA violations bigger
A former NSA employee said Tuesday there is another ongoing top-secret surveillance program that might have violated millions of Americans' Constitutional rights.

Quick Overview

• Bernanke:
  Agrees some rate hikes may be needed.
  Inverted yield curve doesn't signal slowdown.
  Concerned about path of budget deficits.
  Economy less dependent on energy than in the past.
  Is in favor of using numeric inflation targets to improve the clarity and transparency of monetary policy.
  
  

• U.S. Industrial output fell 0.2 percent in January as warm weather slashed energy production at utilities by 10%.
  

• The New York Federal Reserve's index of regional manufacturing increased from 20.12 to 20.31 in February.
  
  
  

• Overall air cargo shipments rose 1.3% in December from a year earlier, but domestic shipments dipped, the Air Transport Association reported.
  
  

• The U.K.'s unemployment rate for October to December increased to 5.1% from 4.7%.
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that:
  Supplies of crude oil were up 4.9 million barrels last week to 325.6 million barrels.
  Supplies of unleaded gasoline were up 2.2 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil were down 700,000 barrels
  
  

• The Green Coffee Association said that U.S. coffee stocks were 4.95 million bags – up 282,693 bags.

U.S. federal government will give away $7 billion
Projections in the Interior Department's new budget estimate the federal government will permit the royalty-free pumping of $65 billion of oil and gas from federal land over the next five years, saving companies $7 billion, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Quick Overview

• U.S. retail sales were up 2.3% in January -- more than expected. Excluding autos, sales were up 2.2%.

• The Bush administration on Tuesday vowed tougher steps to make China play by global trade rules, including more enforcement staff and possible trade litigation.
  

• U.S. consumer confidence rose in the latest week, ABC News and The Washington Post said on Tuesday.
  

• The Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise official interest rates again for the 15th consecutive time at its next meeting on March 27-28.
  

• London inventories of copper are at 105,450 tons
  

• YoY consumer prices in the U.K. were up 1.9% in January .
  

• In 2005, GDP increased 1.3% in the Euro zone and 1.6% in the EU-25.

Quick Overview

• The Bush administration, facing rising political pressure over the record U.S. trade deficit, on Monday urged China to further liberalize its currency policy but predicted the trade gap would moderate.
  

• The U.S. labor market may be facing supply constraints that could make efforts to boost job growth with easy monetary policy backfire, Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Sandra Pianalto said on Monday.
  

• Retail sales in the U.K. were up 1.5% in 2005, online retail sales were up 29%.
  

• The Bank of Japan said that wholesale prices were up 2.7% in January YoY. There is speculation that Japan may shortly end its policy of low interest rates.
  

• The national average price for self-serve regular unleaded gasoline fell 3 cents to $2.30 a gallon over the past three weeks, according to the latest Lundberg Survey of filling stations released Sunday.
  
  

• Syria has switched all the state's foreign currency transactions to Euros from dollars amid a political confrontation with the United States, the head of state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria said on Monday.

Quick Overview

• The U.S. trade deficit widened to a record 725.8 billion in 2005. U.S. exports were up $2.3 billion in December to $111.5 billion while imports were up $3.3 billion to $177.2 billion.
  
  

• Brazil's advance to an investment grade rating is a matter of time now that the South American nation's economy is on a stable growth trajectory, Finance Minister Antonio Palocci.
  
  

• This year Brazils government has bought back $2.3 billion of about $90 billion of debt denominated in foreign currencies.
  

• YoY Japans producer price index was up 2.7% in January.
  

• Japans machinery orders were up 6.8% in December, more than expected.
  

• Canada's unemployment rate increased from 6.5% to 6.6% in January
  

• France's GDP increased 1.4% in 2005, down from 2.1% YoY.

Quick Overview

• The number of workers filing initial unemployment claims rose by 4,000 last week to 277,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.
  
  

• U.S. wholesale inventories rose 1% in December, the Commerce Department reported Thursday
  
  

• The Fed said its overall holdings of Treasury and agency debt kept for overseas central banks rose $3.391 billion in the week ended Feb. 8, to $1.546 trillion.
  
  
  

• General Motors and Ford Motor Co. are forming partnerships with energy companies on projects that could make ethanol a more mainstream fuel, USA Today reported Thursday.
  
  

• The USDA's 2005-2006 U.S. ending stocks estimate for:
  Corn was reduced from 2.426 to 2.401 billion bushels.
  Soybeans were increased from 505 to 555 million bushels. The stocks to use ratio is now 20%, the most in nineteen years.
  Wheat was unchanged at 542 million bushels.
  Sugar was increased from 1.320 to 1.661 million tons (this is due to higher import quotas).
  Cotton was increased from 6.90 to 7.00 million bales.
  

• The USDA's 2005-2006 world ending stocks estimate for:
  Corn was unchanged at 128 million tons.
  Soybeans were increased from 53 to 54 million tons.
  Wheat was reduced from 145 to 142 million tons.
  Cotton was increased from 51 to 53 million bales.
  

• The USDA's estimate of the Florida orange crop remained at 158 million boxes, but the projected juice yield was increased from 1.55 to 1.58 gallons a box at 42.0 degrees Brix.
  

• Statistics South Africa said the country's 2005 gold production was down 12.8% YoY.
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that underground supplies of natural gas were down 38 billion cubic feet to 2.368 trillion cubic feet. Supplies are now up 23% YoY.
  
  

• The unemployment rate in Australia increased from 5.2% to 5.3% in January.
  

China may eradicate poverty by 2050
However, he was keen to point out that the current situation is still not that optimistic. The economic index of China in 2001 equaled that of the United States 100 years ago. China is lagging far behind developed countries in terms of urbanization, life-expectancy and adult literacy.

Another cyberdissident imprisoned because of data provided by Yahoo
Reporters Without Borders today condemned the US firm Yahoo ! for handing over data on one of its users in China which enabled the authorities there to send him to prison for eight years, the second such case that has come to light in recent months.

Quick Overview

• The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity for the week ended February 3 decreased 1.2 percent to 619.3 from the previous week's 626.8.
  

• Leading indicators for Japan increased 0.5% in December to 101.1.
  

• Manufacturing production in the U.K. increased 0.3% in December, slightly more than expected.
  

• Mexico City authorities are likely to close a Sheraton hotel in the capital that threw out Cuban officials on orders of Washington, a move that angered Mexicans who say the country's sovereignty was abused.
  

• The Brazilian government estimated the 2006-2007 coffee crop at 42.0 million (60-kg) bags
  

• The U.S. DoE said that:
  Supplies of crude oil Crude oil were down 300,000 barrels last week to 320.7 million barrels.
  Supplies of unleaded gasoline were up 4.3 million barrels.
  Supplies of heating oil were down 1.6 million barrels.

Quick Overview

• Industrial output in Brazil expanded in December at its fastest pace in more than two years.
  

• Toyota earned roughly $3.3 billion in the quarter that ended on December 31st, up 34% from a year ago.
  

• Industrial production in Germany was down 0.5% in December.
  

• India's government said the economy will grow 8.1% this current fiscal year.
  

• Toronto stocks plunged 263 points on Tuesday, their biggest one-day drop since April 2004, as investors pocketed gains on energy and mining shares amid sharp declines in commodity prices.
  
  

• Shell CEO Jeroen Van Der Veer said that "The world is not running out of energy, the world is not running out of fossil fuels....we are a long way away from the peak."
  
  

Quick Overview

• Bush is asking Congress to increase federal spending by 2.3% in 2007 to $2.77 trillion with a projected shortfall of $354 billion.
  

• Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said on Monday that U.S. fourth quarter growth could be revised higher and the country's rampant housing market did not pose the danger that many think.
  

• Manufacturing orders in Germany were down 1.6% in December.
  

• Canada's building permits were up 9.3% YoY.
  

• Brazil's economy could grow faster if the government were to spend less and use its money more efficiently, Finance Minister Antonio Palocci said on Monday.

Will Europe’s Flat Tax Revolution Spread from East to West?
Under a flat tax, all households receive a generous family-based allowance, and are then taxed at a low rate on any income above that amount. Graduated tax rates are abolished and all loopholes are eliminated. This type of tax reform simultaneously creates a simple and transparent tax system and minimizes tax penalties on work, saving and investment. Free-market Estonia was the first to adopt a flat tax, implementing a 26 percent rate in 1994, not long after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The two other Baltic states followed in the mid-1990s, with Latvia choosing a 25 percent rate and Lithuania 33 percent. Learning from its neighbors, Russia shocked the world with a 13 percent flat tax that went into effect in 2001. The idea was taken up in 2003 by Serbia, which adopted a 14 percent rate. Slovakia climbed on the bandwagon the following year with a 19 percent rate, as did Ukraine, which chose 13 percent. Romania joined the flat tax revolution in 2005, with a 16 percent rate, along with Georgia, which chose 12 percent – giving it the honor (at least so far) of having the lowest rate.

Powell's Former Chief of Staff Lawrence Wilkerson Calls Pre-War Intelligence a 'Hoax on the American People' Tonight on PBS Program 'NOW'
"I recall vividly the Secretary of State walking into my office," Wilkerson tells NOW. "He said: 'I wonder what will happen if we put half a million troops on the ground in Iraq and comb the country from one end to the other and don't find a single weapon of mass destruction?'" In fact, no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq.

The War in Iraq Costs ? in $$$

Earmark -- It's $$$, Not Body Art

Blair-Bush deal before Iraq war revealed in secret memo

Quick Overview

• U.S. factory orders were up 1.1% in December and up 8.4% for 05.
  

• The University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment dipped from 91.5 to 91.2 in January.
  

• The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 4.7%, a 4 1/2-year low as businesses cranked up hiring in January.
  

• The ISM index of U.S. services fell from 61.0 to 56.8 in January, still a sign of expansion.
  
  

• Argentina's consumer prices climbed 1.3 percent in January, driven up by rises in tourism, health care and food costs, the Economy Ministry said on Friday.
  
  
  

• The USDA increased the permissible raw sugar imports for 2006 by 250,000 tons to 1,901,497 tons.
  
  

• An index of services in the Euro zone increased from 56.8 to 57.0 in January, the highest in two years.
  

• Eurostat estimated inflation in the Euro zone at 2.4% in January, up from 2.2% in December.
  

Much Talk, Mostly Low Key, About Energy Independence
...That leaves as a centerpiece of the administration's new energy strategy an emphasis on ethanol, which is rising in favor among alternative fuel sources. Ethanol production from corn in the United States still relies on subsidies, but ethanol made from sugarcane in Brazil competes handily with gasoline. In fact, it was only after Brazil's government exposed ethanol to market forces in recent years that its success became clear.

Brazil's sugarcane industry produces about 160,000 barrels of oil-equivalent a day, assisting the country in achieving self-sufficiency in oil sometime this year, according to David G. Victor, director of the program on energy and sustainable development at Stanford University. Still, unlike Japan and China, which have plans to import Brazilian ethanol, the Bush administration has retained a 54 cent tariff on every gallon of imported ethanol.

"It's remarkable that we're not taxing fuel from Saudi Arabia while we're taxing fuel from Brazil," said Gal Luft, a co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, a research organization in Washington that specializes in energy issues.

Quick Overview

• Chain store sales rose in January, suggesting consumers are alive and well in the New Year and ready to power U.S. economic activity higher. Year-over-year sales increased 5.0% to 5.1% from the January 2005 level after a 3.5% to 3.6% gain in December.
  
  

• YoY U.S. productivity in the fourth quarter was down 0.6%, the first decline in over four years. For 2005 productivity was up 2.7%, the smallest gain in four years. Unit labor costs were up 2.5%.
  

• The International Monetary Fund should review exchange rate regimes with a more critical eye and be tougher on countries with unsustainable currency policies, U.S. Treasury Undersecretary Tim Adams said on Thursday.
  

• U.S. Jobless claims were down 11,000 last week to 273,000.
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that underground supplies of natural gas were down 88 billion cubic feet to 2.406 trillion cubic feet. Supplies are now up 14% from a year ago.
  

• The U.S. Congress voted to end the cotton subsidy program on August 1st.
  

• State-run oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, is considering building a US$226 million ethanol pipeline to meet a growing global demand of the sugarcane alcohol fuel.

Quick Overview

• An index of U.S. manufacturing growth fell for the third straight month from 55.6 to 54.8 in January, the Institute for Supply Management reported Wednesday.
  
  

• Construction spending rose a full 1% in December, the sixth straight increase, the Commerce Department reported.
  
  

• The unemployment rate in the Euro zone increased from 8.3% to 8.4% in December. For the EU-25, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.5%.
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that :
  Supplies of crude oil were up 1.9 million barrels to 321.0 million barrels.
  Supplies of unleaded gasoline were up 4.2 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil were up 1.8 million barrels.
  The bearish U.S. inventory data triggered a 2% drop in crude-oil prices and a more than 6% tumble in natural-gas futures.

Hands Off Google! ..It was therefore only a matter of time before ideologues, cretins, and government regulators – or do I repeat myself? – conspired to bring it down.

Taking a Byte Out of Free Expression .. But in reconsidering Google’s decision, I see potential benefits to the cause of liberty that go far beyond the superficial interest in making money. This optimism arises from the uncertainties that lie hidden in complex systems. The study of chaos informs us that our inability to identify and measure the seemingly endless factors at work within a complex world, makes outcomes increasingly unpredictable with the passage of time...

Quick Overview

• The Federal Reserve voted unanimously Tuesday to raise the benchmark U.S. interest rate a quarter-point to 4.5%. They also suggested that "further policy firming may be needed."
  
  
  

• U.S. consumer confidence jumped in January to the highest level in almost four years, the Conference Board said.
  
  

• Surface trade among the United States, Canada and Mexico rose 12% in November from a year earlier to $62.9 billion, the Department of Transportation said.
  
  

• The Labor Department said that the employment cost index rose 0 .8% in the fourth quarter, about as expected. For 2005, the index was up 3.1%, the smallest gain in nine years.
  
  

• The Chicago purchasing managers' index dropped from 60.8 to 58.5 in January.
  
  

• Yesterday's Texas Crop Weather report from the USDA said that only 1% of the winter wheat crop was rated good to excellent, but 88% was rated poor and very poor.

• The weather damage to wheat in the Ukraine is expected to be significant. They are a major exporter now but probably not in 06/07.
  

• The average retail price of diesel fuel rose 1.7 cents to $2.489 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported Monday.
  
  
  

• Canada's GDP was up 0.2% in November and up 3.0% YoY.
  

• Japans unemployment rate improved from 4.6% to 4.4% in December, better than expected – YoY household spending was up 3.2% in December.
  

Pentagon Can Now Fund Foreign Militaries

UN unveils plan to release untapped wealth of...$7 trillion (and solve the world's problems at a stroke)

Palace Revolt
For nine months, from October 2003 to June 2004, he had been the central figure in a secret but intense rebellion of a small coterie of Bush administration lawyers. Their insurrection, described to NEWSWEEK by current and former administration officials who did not wish to be identified discussing confidential deliberations, is one of the most significant and intriguing untold stories of the war on terror.

Quick Overview

• The Department of Commerce said that December’s personal incomes were up 0.4% while consumer spending was up 0.9%.
  
  

• Japan's retail sales were up 1.1% in 2005, the first annual increase in nine years. Industrial production was up 1.3% in 2005.
  
  

• Kansas may be the next state to follow Minnesota’s lead in mandating biodiesel, if its legislature passes a bill introduced in the state Senate Jan. 19 that would require all diesel sold in Kansas to contain a blend of at least 2% of fuel derived from vegetable oils or animal fats.
  
  

• Exxon Mobil Corp. posted record profits for any U.S. company on Monday -- $10.71 billion for the fourth quarter and $36.13 billion for the year.
  

Savings Rate at Lowest Level Since 1933
The Commerce Department reported Monday that the savings rate fell into negative territory at minus 0.5 percent, meaning that Americans not only spent all of their after-tax income last year but had to dip into previous savings or increase borrowing.

Greenspan hikes into sunset
Tomorrow's session of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will be the last for Dr Greenspan, 79, after more than 18 years in which he has steered the Fed through economic golden years punctuated by recession and financial crisis.

Energy gap: Crisis for humanity?
Demand for energy, in all its forms, is rising
Supplies of key fuels - notably oil and gas - show signs of decline
Mainstream climate science suggests that reducing greenhouse gas emissions within two decades would be a prudent thing to do
Meanwhile the Earth's population continues to rise, with the majority of its six billion people hankering after a richer lifestyle - which means a greater consumption of energy.

Quick Overview

• The Department of Commerce's said that U.S. GDP in the fourth quarter was up an annual rate of 1.1%, a listless showing that was the worst in three years. For all of 2005, GDP was up 3.5%.
  

• New home sales were at an annual rate of 1.269 million units in December, up 2.9% from November's rate. For all of 2005, there were 1.282 million new homes sold, a new record high -- 6.6% more than the previous year.
  

• The USDA said there were 97.102 million head of cattle in inventory on January 1st, up 1.7% YoY.
  

• YoY Consumer prices in Japan were down 0 .1% in December.
  

• Mexico's central bank reduced the benchmark lending rate by half a percentage point to 7.75 percent. The bank said it has little room to keep cutting rates after bringing it down to a 15-month low.
  
  

• Exxon Mobil the world's largest oil company, expects that oil prices will fall as the current bullish cycle slows, the company's head of exploration operations said on Friday.

The bigger the balls, the smaller the brains
...males in some species "make an evolutionary trade-off between intelligence and sexual prowess",

'Suicide Seeds' Could Spell Death of Peasant Agriculture, UN Meeting Told Developed by multinational agribusinesses and the U.S. government, Terminator has the effect of preventing farmers from saving or replanting seeds from one growing season to the next...
...If commercialized, activists said, Terminator would force farmers to return to the market for seeds every year, adding to their annual costs. This also would spell the end of locally adapted agriculture through seed selection, because most farmers in the world today routinely save seeds from their harvest for replanting.

China to drive world economy as US stumbles: economists

Quick Overview

• A congressional report released on Thursday said the U.S. budget shortfall will hit $337 billion this year, a figure that is up $23 billion from an August estimate and excludes more funds needed for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
  
  

• U.S. Jobless claims were up 11,000 last week to 283,000.
  

• U.S. Durable goods orders increased 1.3% in December, more than expected. Excluding transport, orders were up 0.9%. For all of 2005, orders totaled a record high $2.51 trillion.
  

• Brazil's unemployment rate fell in December to its lowest level in nearly four years, slipping to 8.3 percent as fewer people actively looked for work during an economically sluggish holiday season, the government said Thursday.
  
  

• YoY Japan's December exports were up 17% and imports were up 27%, because of higher energy prices.
  

• USDA said tariffs charged on the Gulf to Japan trade route have averaged $36.33 a metric ton during the past three months, down from $50.08 a ton one year ago.
  
  

• Silver prices rose to hit a new 19-year high on fund-buying Thursday. Some of the move may be a "catch-up" to gains that previously had been occurring in gold, analysts said, and some buying is market speculation that Barclays Global Investors may win government approval to launch a silver exchange-traded fund.
  

• The DoE said that underground supplies of natural gas were down 81 billion cubic feet to 2.494 trillion cubic feet.
  

India sees record 75.5 million tonnes wheat output
NEW DELHI: India is expected to produce a record wheat output of 75.5 million tonnes this year, well above about 72 million tonnes in 2005, the Food Ministry said on Wednesday, but traders cautioned it was too early to make a call.

Tech leaders press Bush on U.S. competitivenessAfter decades of uncontested global dominance, the United States is now at risk of falling behind emerging powerhouse nations such as China and India, according to C&I believers. If we don't move fast to improve our education system, boost research funding and fix overly restrictive immigration laws, the U.S. will soon lose its place as the world's biggest and most inventive economy.

Environmental Report Rates New Zealand No. 1
The United States ranked below nearly every major country in Western Europe, although it outperformed Russia and several Eastern European nations, including Hungary and Poland

Quick Overview

• U.S. Existing home sales were at an annual rate of 6.6 million units in December, down 5.7% from November's pace. There are 2.8 million homes for sale in the U.S. -- a five month supply.
  

• China's GDP was up 9.9% in 2005 to $2.3 trillion. That puts China in the number five position,
  just behind Britain, Germany, Japan and the United States. .

• YoY Mexico's economy expanded a slower-than-expected 2.7 percent in November.
  
  

• GDP in the U.K. was up 06% in the fourth quarter and up 1.8% for all of 2005.
  

• YoY Consumer prices in Australia were up 2.8%
  

• The Ifo index of business confidence in Germany increased from 99.7 to 102.0 in January
  

• South Korea's GDP was up 4.0% in 2005.
  

• Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday it is developing the Ford Escape Hybrid E85, a research vehicle marrying hybrid electric power and ethanol capability
  
  
  

• The Chinese National Bureau of Statistics said that:
  2005 Cotton Output was 5.7 Mln MT, down 9.8% YoY.
  Total grain output in 2005 rose 3.1% to 484 million tons.
  Meat production for the year rose 6.3%.
  2005’s Oilseed and sugar output were unchanged from 2004.
  
  Ag Minister Du Qinlin said that, although grain output has risen in the past two years, production has still failed to meet demand. He says it will be increasingly difficult to boost output due to China's growing population, water shortages, and a decrease in the size of farm lands.
  Du said that China will likely face a shortage of grains next year, as demand is expected to exceed output by 15 million tons, demand for grains are expected to reach 495 million tons in 2006.
  China also said that they imported 1.39 million tons of sugar, up 14% from a year ago.
  
  

• There is speculation that a decision may be nearing on a Barclays silver ETF.
  
  

• Regulators in India will allow mutual funds to launch gold ETF’s.
  
  
  

• The DoE said that:
  Supplies of crude oil were down 2.3 million barrels to 319.1 million barrels.
  Supplies of unleaded gasoline were up 3.2 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil supplies were up 1.6 million barrels.