Quick Overview

• Australia's GDP rose 09% in the first quarter of 2006 and up 3.1% YoY.
  

• Japan's index of leading indicators was unchanged in April, at 50.0.
  
  

• The Energy Department said:
  Crude-oil stocks grew last week by 1.1 million barrels to 346.6 million barrels, or 4 percent above year ago levels.
  Gasoline inventories grew by 1 million barrels to 210.3 million barrels, or 2.5 percent below year ago levels.
  Heating oil supplies were up 100,000 barrels.
  
  

• Over the past four weeks gasoline demand is 0.7 percent higher than it was during the same period a year ago.
  
  

• Retail diesel fuel prices this summer are expected to average $2.79 per gallon, 38 cents higher than last year, the Energy Department said.

Bankrupt Logic About China's Debts
..the massive problems facing Chinese banks, whose nonperforming loans total an estimated $700 billion, drew some strong responses. Before getting into one in particular, let me explain the issue in a nutshell. China isn't acting quickly enough to clean up the bad debts that have made its biggest banks technically insolvent.

Fed's Poole: Slowing economy won't reduce inflation
"If inflation turns out to exceed our expectations, our target range, I do not believe we can count on a slowing economy to bring inflation down, by itself, quickly," Poole, said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Tuesday.

Quick Overview

• Merrill economist David Rosenberg says “if the Fed hikes after the raft of soft data posted in recent weeks, then we can only draw the conclusion that in the name of rebuilding anti-inflation credibility, the central bank is willing to sacrifice the economy”
  
  
  

• YoY Brazil's industrial output fell 1.9% in April.
  
  

• Index of services in the Euro zone increased from 58.3 to 58.7 in May, the highest in five years.
  

Distracter in Chief
What uncharted realm lies beyond brazen cynicism? A wasteland of utter shamelessness, perhaps? A vast Sahara of desperation, where principle goes to die? Someday George W. Bush and the Republican right will be able to tell us all about this barren terra incognita, assuming they ever find their way home.

G-7's Push for Stronger Asian Currencies May Not Cut Trade Gap

Army Manual to Skip Geneva Detainee Rule
The Pentagon has decided to omit from new detainee policies a key tenet of the Geneva Convention that explicitly bans "humiliating and degrading treatment," according to knowledgeable military officials, a step that would mark a further, potentially permanent, shift away from strict adherence to international human rights standards.

Quick Overview

• Even though the U.S. economy is now slowing down, Bernanke on Monday called recent increases in inflation unwelcome and pledged to make sure surging energy prices don't make things worse.
  
  
• Japan's Ministry of Finance said that YoY corporate profits were up 4% in the first quarter.
  

• YoY Japan’s capital spending was up 13.9% in the first quarter.

Bush approval ratings hit new low in California
Poll reflects growing discontent with president, Congress
"We're in uncharted waters," said Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll. "All previous presidents who have dipped this low either resigned from office shortly thereafter or were voted out of office. Here we have a president who will be with us for 2 1/2 more years.

Invoking Secrets Privilege Becomes a More Popular Legal Tactic by U.S.
Facing a wave of litigation challenging its eavesdropping at home and its handling of terror suspects abroad, the Bush administration is increasingly turning to a legal tactic that swiftly torpedoes most lawsuits: the state secrets privilege.

More, Lots More
JUST in case your Uncle Bob or Aunt Sophie has been asking you "Exactly what the hell is going on in Iraq?" and you're looking for hard facts to help them get off the fence, here you are.

Ethanol dazzles Wall Street, White House Ethanol production in the United States is growing so quickly that for the first time, farmers expect to sell as much corn this year to ethanol plants as they do overseas.

"It's the most stunning development in agricultural markets today — I can't think of anything else quite like this," says Keith Collins, the U.S. Agriculture Department's chief economist.

The amount of corn used for ethanol, estimated at 2.15 billion bushels this year, would amount to about 20 percent of the nation's entire crop, according to department projections.

Even as ethanol devours corn and pushes prices higher, the president and Congress are calling for even greater ethanol use. Wall Street cannot seem to get enough of ethanol-related investments. Automakers are speeding ethanol-capable vehicles onto the road.

Is It Raining Aliens?
Stranger still, dozens of his experiments suggest that the particles may lack DNA yet still reproduce plentifully, even in water superheated to nearly 600˚F. (The known upper limit for life in water is about 250˚F.)

Why Hank Paulson?
And now, we are in a new stage. We have not a productive economy, but a speculative economy. We have a Treasury secretary to go with it. Goldman's first-quarter earnings report shows that of the firm's total intake of $10.34 billion, $6.88 billion was made largely from proprietary trading and investments. In effect, the firm is a hedge fund crossed with an investment bank. As CEO, Paulson's share of the take was $38.3 million in salary, stock, and options last year alone. And his net worth is estimated at $500 million. But we do not grudge the man or the cream he has licked off the platter. As leader the speculative economy, who else would you want except the leading speculator?

Onus is on US, EU to save WTO talks: China
China has turned the tables on Washington by demanding that the United States and Europe do more to cut farm subsidies and tariffs to break a deadlock in global trade talks.

Quick Overview

• U.S. Inflation will likely stay contained but is at the top end of a price-stability zone and interest-rate policy should aim to move it down, Chicago Federal Reserve President Michael Moskow said on Friday.
  

• U.S. Employers added only 75,000 new jobs in May, the Labor Department said in a report that signaled slower economic growth and led financial markets to slash bets on further interest-rate increases. Average hourly earnings were up just 0.1%.
  
  

• U.S. Factory orders were down 1.8% in April.
  

Quick Overview

• First-quarter worker productivity jumped to 3.7% from 3.2% (annual rate) the Labor Department said Thursday
  

• The Labor Department revised Unit labor costs lower, from an annual rate of 2.5% to 1.6% in the first quarter. In the fourth quarter, unit labor costs were revised lower, from a 3.0% annual rate of gain, to a 0.6% decline.
  

• The Institute of Supply Management's index of U.S. manufacturing dropped from 57.3 to 54.4 in May, weaker than expected, but still a sign of expansion.
  

• Construction spending declined 0.1% in April, the first decline in almost a year, the Commerce Department said Thursday
  

• The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims rose by 7,000 last week to 336,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.
  

• The U.S. government should confront Tokyo about the unfairly low value for the yen that gives Japanese car makers an advantage of up to $3,000 per car sold in the United States, Chrysler Group Chief Executive Tom LaSorda said on Thursday.
  

• Bank of Japan board member Hidehiko Haru said on Thursday the central bank needs to keep supporting the economy with an easy monetary policy and is in no rush to end its zero interest rate policy.
  

• GDP in the Euro zone increased 1.9% in the first quarter YoY.
  

• U.K. Manufacturing index dropped from 54.0 to 53.2 in May.
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said that:
  Supplies of crude oil were up 1.6 million barrels at 345.5 million barrels.
  Supplies of unleaded gasoline were up 800,000 barrels
  Supplies of heating oil were up 1.0 million barrels.
  Supplies of underground natural gas were up 80 billion cubic feet to 2.243 trillion cubic feet, up 27% from a year ago
  

• OPEC, pumping almost as much as it can amid soaring oil prices, decided Thursday to keep its output steady, rejecting suggestions by Venezuela to cut production.
  

Quick Overview

• Worried about inflation, Federal Reserve policymakers at their May meeting considered raising a key interest rate by half a percentage point before opting for a quarter-point increase.
  

• The National Association of Purchasing Management's Chicago index of business activity increased from 57.2 to 61.5 in May, stronger than expected.
  

• Brazil's central bank lowered its benchmark lending rate on Wednesday to 15.25 percent from 15.75 percent, the eighth straight cut.
  

• Canada's GDP was up 0.1% in March and up 3.2% YoY
  

• Retail sales in Germany were up 2.8% in April, more than expected.
  

• Eurostat estimated 2.5% inflation in the Euro zone in May.
  

• YoY India's GDP was up 9.3% in the first quarter of 2006
  

• YoY Malaysia's GDP increased 5.3% in the first quarter.
  

Quick Overview

• U.S. consumer confidence dropped from 109.8 to 103.2 in May by the most since Hurricane Katrina last fall, the Conference Board said.
  

• Retail sales in Japan were down 0.6% in April and down 2.4% YoY.
  

• Australia's retail sales were up 1.4% in March, more than expected.
  

Americans Living Abroad Get a Nasty Tax Surprise
He said rough calculations showed that a married couple paid $300,000, of which $20,000 was a housing allowance, would see their income tax bill rise by about $20,000 and their employer's cost by about $40,000. Most countries exempt their citizens overseas from income taxes, so the law will give companies an incentive to hire Australians, Britons, Canadians and other nationalities for whom they do not have to pay additional taxes.

Bush and Rove May Find `It's the Economy, Stupid' Won't Work One explanation for the public malaise may be the distribution of prosperity. Total compensation for Americans fell to 65.4 percent of national income in 2005, down from 66.2 percent in 2001, Federal Reserve figures show. At the same time, corporate profits rose to 12.3 percent of national income, up from 8.5 percent in the year Bush took office.

Neo-cons question Bush’s democratisation strategy
Short-term economic costs of the empire have been bearable, says Mr Fuller, but long-term indicators show it is not sustainable – massive domestic debt, growing trade imbalances, an extraordinary gap in wealth between rich and poor Americans, the growing outsourcing of jobs.

To provide for the common defense by requiring all persons in the United States, including women, between the ages of 18 and 42 to perform a period of military service or a period of civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, and for other purposes.


IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 14, 2006

Easy-to-get loans cause thousands to lose homes
What is known is that, rich and poor alike, South Florida homeowners are on a collision course with the fast-money mortgages and loose state regulation that injected extra risk into a region ripe for exploitation.

As the state's red-hot real estate market grew hotter, thousands of new brokers and brokerages obtained licenses to operate in Florida. That coincided with the availability of new types of loans, which gave far too many middle-income buyers who couldn't afford it a shot at living in a half million-dollar home.

Bush 'planted fake news stories on American TV'
"The public obviously expects their news reports are going to be based on real reporting and real information. If they are watching an advertisement for a company or a government policy, they need to be told."

Congress reveals its double standard
But if one of their own – no matter what party or what wrongdoing is suspected – is the recipient of a little intrusion from the executive branch, well, then, something must be done.

Mike Farrell on "Baghdad ER"

John F. Kennedy said America would never start a war. Well, it has now, and its architects have damaged our character, poisoned our standing in the world and soiled the soul of what was once the greatest nation in the history of the world.

What May Come of the Haditha Massacre?
We ought to set our sights a bit higher, and begin in a serious way to politically destroy those people in Washington who placed our young men and women in Iraq, on such a frivolous and insincere mission. Those worthy of a criminal punishment include much of the Senate, many in the House, and of course, our great decider, his untrustworthy Vice President, and their Pentagon senior staff.

Apple Loses Bid to Unmask Bloggers' Sources
A California appeals court has smacked down Apple's legal assault on bloggers and their sources, finding that the company's efforts to subpoena e-mail received by the publishers of Apple Insider and PowerPage.org runs contrary to federal law, California's reporter's shield law, and the state Constitution.

Retiree benefits grow into 'monster'
Taxpayers owe more than a half-million dollars per household for financial promises made by government....Federal, state and local governments have added nearly $10 trillion to taxpayer liabilities in the past two years, bringing the total of government's unfunded obligations to an unprecedented
$57.8 trillion.

Tony Blair Will Make Britain Look Like It Lost To The Nazis
A government engaging in escalating criminal actions and becoming more and more secretive should not be watching and tracking us as if we're all criminals. A full run down of why the 'so what if you have nothing to hide?' argument is a total fraud can be found here.

Report: Jet stream shift is expanding the Earth's tropics and deserts

Quick Overview

• Consumer personal spending rose 0.6% in April, while personal incomes were up 0.5%. The core rate of personal consumption spending was up 2.1% YoY up from 2.0% in March.
  

• The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index dropped from 87.4 to 79.1 in May, about as expected.
  
  

• Consumer prices in Japan were up 0.3% in April and up 0.4% from a year ago. Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said that Japan's economy remains in deflation, although price conditions are improving.
  

• The Barclays silver ETF posted its first decline in holdings.

• The National Weather Service's 6 to 10-day forecast is expecting above average temperatures and below average rain for the winter wheat states of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.
  
  

Quick Overview

• The U.S. economy grew at a revised 5.3% annual rate in the first quarter, a half-percentage point higher than previously reported, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
  

• The Commerce Department said the core rate of personal consumption spending, was up 2.0% in the first quarter from a year ago, down from a 2.4% gain in the fourth quarter.
  
  

• Existing home sales dropped 2% in April, the National Association of Realtors said.
  

• The U.S. Labor Department said that jobless claims were down 40,000 last week to 329,000.
  

• Truck makers sold 24,297 heavy-duty trucks in April, a 19.2% increase over April 2005, marking the 30th-straight month of YoY expansion.
  
  
  

• The USDA said that 2006-2007 world sugar ending stocks are expected to fall, from 30.97 to 30.92 million tons, 21% of annual use, matching the lowest stocks to use ratio in nine years. Brazil is expected produce 30.34 million tons, up from 27.1 million tons last year.
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that underground supplies of natural gas were up 83 billion cubic feet last week to 2.163 trillion cubic feet, up 29% YoY.

• GDP in the U.K. was up 0.6% in the first quarter and up 2.2% YoY.

Quick Overview

• Federal Reserve Board Governor Randall Kroszner said on Wednesday the U.S. central bank must consider the lags with which interest rate changes affect the economy, saying it looked set to slow.
  

• U.S. Durable goods orders were down 4.8% in April, weaker than expected. Excluding transport, orders were down 1.1%.
  

• U.S. New home sales were at an annual rate of 1.198 million units in April, up 4.9%. For 2006, new home sales are down 11% YoY.
  

• The Bank of Canada increased its key interest rate from 4.00% to 4.25% and suggested that it may pause a while before needing to increase rates any further.
  

• Canada's composite index of leading indicators was up 0.5% in April
  

• Japan's service index, was down 0.6% in March, weaker than expected.
  Japan's trade surplus fell 31.8 percent in April from a year earlier to 646.2 billion yen as a surge in the cost of imports prompted by high oil prices offset a steady rise in exports, government data showed on Thursday.
  

• The head of the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday renewed his call for greater currency flexibility in some Asian countries even though recent trends in exchange rates were moving in the right direction.
  
  

• Members of an Indonesian family who died of bird flu may have infected one another and health experts are tracing anyone who had contact with them, the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday.
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that:
  Supplies of crude oil were down 3.0 million barrels last week to 343.9 million barrels.
  Supplies of unleaded gasoline were up 2.1 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil were up 1.0 million barrels.

• The World Gold Council said that 2005 world gold demand totaled 836 tons, down 16% YoY. Mine production totaled 607 tons, up 5% YoY.
  

• The Silver Institute said today that silver mine production totaled 642 million ounces in 2005, up 3.4% YoY. Total demand totaled 864.4 million ounces, up 3.0% YoY
  

• The International cocoa Organization increased its estimate of the world production shortfall in 2005-2006 from 87,000 tons to 161,000 tons, or 37% of annual use.
  

Why Does the NSA Engage in Mass Surveillance of Americans When It's Statistically Impossible for Such Spying to Detect Terrorists?
No matter how sophisticated and super-duper are NSA's methods for identifying terrorists, no matter how big and fast are NSA's computers, NSA's accuracy rate will never be 100% and their misidentification rate will never be 0%. That fact, plus the extremely low base-rate for terrorists, means it is logically impossible for mass surveillance to be an effective way to find terrorists.

April durable goods orders tumble 4.8 percent
Even when transportation orders were stripped out, orders for goods meant to last three years or longer unexpectedly fell 1.1 percent.

Iran Requests Direct Talks on Nuclear Program
"You know, two months ago nobody would believe that Mr. Khamenei and Mr. Ahmadinejad together would be trying to get George W. Bush to begin negotiations,"


For telecoms, a storm of lawsuits awaits
"Having been blacklisted from working in television during the McCarthy era, I know the harm of government using private corporations to intrude into the lives of innocent Americans,"

Think tank's immigration study challenged by critics

Quick Overview

• U.S. Consumer confidence hit a six-month low in the latest week, pushed down by high gasoline prices and a rise in broader inflation, ABC News and the Washington Post said on Tuesday.

• The Bank of Japan should stick to its policy of guiding key short-term rates near zero percent until inflation is sufficiently high to avoid the risk of renewed deflation, the OECD said in a semi-annual report on Tuesday.
  

• Standard & Poor's raised its outlook on Japan's long-term sovereign rating to positive from stable on Tuesday, citing improved economic and fiscal prospects.
  

• YoY Hong Kong's GDP was up 8.2% in the first quarter.
  

• Chile's economy grew at an annual pace of 5.1 percent during the first quarter.

Quick Overview

• Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher on Monday said U.S. inflation was running too high for comfort, but the central bank had until the end of June to decide how that might impact interest rates.
  

• Venezuela will recommend cutting oil production at an OPEC meeting on June 1, Venezuela's oil minister said Monday.
  

• Mainichi News reported that seven of ten prominent economists expect the Bank of Japan to raise the interest rate in July. However Vice Finance Minister Koichi Hosokawa said the Bank of Japan should keep interest rates at zero to support the economy.
  

According to Barclays IShares Silver ETF Website the trust now holds 907,291,198 ounces of silver as of 5/19/06.
This is up from 69,992,918 ounces on 5/17/06 .. a typo??

Quick Overview

• The Federal Reserve needs to consider the lags with which interest rate changes affect the economy, Kansas City Fed Bank President Thomas Hoenig said on Friday, noting inflation already looked set to slow.
  
  

• U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Friday he was confident the Federal Reserve will protect growth by keeping inflation in check, and denied the Bush administration was softening its strong-dollar policy.
  

• Japan's GDP was up 0.5% in the first quarter of 2006 and up 3.0% for fiscal year 2005-2006, stronger than expected. The Bank of Japan agreed to keep the interest rate near zero.
  
  

• YoY Producer prices in Germany were up 6.1% in April, the most in nearly 14 years.
  

• Germany's Parliament approved increasing the value-added tax from 16% to 19%.
  

• France's GDP was up 0.5% in the first quarter of 2006.
  

• U.K.’s Treasury had a 1.4 billion pound surplus in April.
  

• The USDA said there were 11.560 million head of cattle on feed on May 1st, up 8.6% YoY.
  

• The USDA said there were 67.22 million pounds of frozen pork bellies in storage, down 25% YoY.

• Frozen pork totaled 516.3 million pounds, down 8% YoY.
  

• The USDA said there were 1.08 billion pounds of frozen orange juice concentrate in storage on April 30th, down 35% YoY.
  

• The International Copper Study Group said that world production of copper exceeded consumption by 77,000 tons in the first two months of 2006.
  

Supreme Court Officially Emasculates Taxpayers
Remember - these taxpayer giveaways are accelerating and come at a huge cost in terms of higher taxes for individuals. As USA Today noted, "In 1977, nine states gave tax credits to corporations [but] by 1998, that number had grown to 36." At the same time, "individual income taxes are growing at a faster rate than corporate income taxes" because state/local governments are recovering the tax giveaways from ordinary citizens. According to the Census Bureau, "corporate income taxes collected rose 6.5% from 1994 to 2004, while individual income taxes collected went up 49.7%."

Quick Overview

• U.S. Jobless claims were up 42,000 last week to 367,000.
  

• The Conference Board's U.S. index of leading indicators was down 0.1% in April to 138.9.
  

• The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's regional index of business activity increased from 13.2 to 14.4 in May, stronger than expected.
  

• Fed Chairman Bernanke and Fed Bank of Chicago’s Moskow reiterated their concern about a slump in the housing market in speeches today. Real estate has accounted for more than half the economy's growth since 2001.
  

• YoY Canada's consumer price index was up 2.4% in April.
  

• Retail sales in the U.K. were up 0.6% in April and up 4.9% YoY.
  
  

• The DoE said that underground supplies of natural gas were up 91 billion cubic feet last week to 2.080 trillion cubic feet, up 31% YoY.

Rents a Key Driver of Inflation

The biggest component of the core consumer price run-up last month came from rent increases. Directly and indirectly, rent accounts for about 40% of the core consumer price index.

Watch out: Your mutual fund could report you
Yet you won't know your information was sent to the government, because by law, companies can't disclose this.

Another year, another tax cut, and look who's cleaning up
In each year since Bush took office, he has signed at least one significant modification to the tax code. Each has been much ballyhooed by the White House and congressional Republicans. Each has been larded with tax breaks for favored industries. And each has left significant issues unresolved - so that Congress has to repeat the process in subsequent years.

Quick Overview

• U.S. consumer price index was up 0.6% in April, a little more than expected. Excluding food and energy, prices were up 0.3% in April. YoY the CPI was up 3.5% with the core rate up 2.3%.
  

• Congress passed a measure that extends lower capital gains and dividend tax rates for two years.
  

• U.K.'s unemployment rate increased to 5.2%, up from 5.1% MoM.

• YoY Consumer prices in the Euro zone were up 2.4% in April
  

• Canada's wholesale sales were up 0.8% in March and up 8.6% YoY.
  

• Singapore's GDP increased 6.8% in the first quarter.
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that:
• Supplies of crude oil were down 100,000 barrels to 346.9 million barrels.
  Supplies of unleaded gas were up 1.3 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil were up 300,000 barrels.
  

• OPEC said that they expect world demand for crude oil to total 84.6 million barrels per day this year, less than the DoE's 85.3 million barrel.
  

• U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow called on Wednesday for more help from overseas to unwind global imbalances, saying the best the United States could do was to keep its economy strong and reduce budget deficits. He dismissed the prospect of a sudden and catastrophic drop in the value of the U.S. dollar.

Permit glut undermines EU carbon scheme

''Iraq's Impending Fracture to Produce Political Earthquake in Turkey''