Quick Overview

• (Reuters) - A new United Nations report released on Tuesday calls for abandoning the U.S. dollar as the main global reserve currency, saying it has been unable to safeguard value.
  

• U.S. consumer confidence fell from 62.7 to 52.9 in May, weaker than expected.
  

• Chinas leading indicators fell 0.3% in April
  

• Japan's unemployment rate rose from 5.1% to 5.2% in May,
  
• Japan’s industrial output fell 0.1% in May.
  
• Japan’s household spending fell 0.7% in May
  

• The S&P’s /Case-Shiller index of home prices in twenty U.S. cities rose 0.4% MoM and up 3.8% YoY.
  

• Oil World says soyoil prices will "likely strengthen", rebuilding a premium over palm oil, thanks to a pick up in Chinese and Indian orders
  

• Lack of rain in Vietnam caused Robusta prices to hit a fresh 16-month high as worries mount about the top producer's lack of rainfall, which is also hitting rice crops.
  

• There are 90 vessels in Brazil waiting to be loaded with sugar.

No "weekly" update this week.

Quick Overview

• U.S. GDP rose 0.7% in Q1 and up 2.4% YoY
  

• The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index rose from 73.6 to 76.0 in June
  

• Japan's consumer price index fell 0.9% YoY – Govt. goal of ending deflation next fiscal year in doubt.
  

• France's GDP rose 0.1% in Q1 – and Paris announces a further €3.5bn of tax rises for 2011.
  

• The USDA said that beef production totaled 2.09 billion pounds in May, down 4% YoY
  

• The USDA said Pork production totaled 1.62 billion pounds in May, down 6% YoY
  

• (FT) The modest appreciation in the level of the currency during the first week of trading under the new flexible regime has raised questions about Beijing’s real intentions.
  

• (Reuters) - A bomb explosion at the Greek ministry in charge of police could be an ominous show of strength by militants in a nation suffering austerity cuts that have sparked street protests and scared off tourism.
  

• (Bloomberg) -- Residents and business owners along the Gulf of Mexico face a weekend of watching and planning as a weather system that may become the year’s first tropical storm, or hurricane, lingers on their doorstep.
  
  
  

Quick Overview

• U.S. jobless claims fell 19,000 last week to 457,000
  

• U.S. durable goods orders fell 1.1% in May, the first decline in six months
  

• YoY Japan's exports rose 32% in May
  

• EU industrial new orders fell 0.2% MoM, but rose21.8% YoY

• (AP) Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages fell this week to an average of 4.69 percent, the lowest since the mid-1950s.
  

Quick Overview

• Purchases of new homes in the U.S. fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 300,000, the lowest since records begin in 1963. Sales in March and April were also revised lower; April's sales pace was 446,000 compared with 504,000 originally reported.

• F.O. Licht raised 2009/10 world sugar production by 0.7% to 155 million MT on higher output from Brazil and India. This is up from a February prediction of 153.9 million MT.

• The U.S. DOE said:
  Supplies of crude oil rose 2.0 million barrels to 365.1 million barrels.
  Supplies of gasoline fell 800,000 barrels
  Supplies of distillates rose 300,000 barrels
  Gasoline demand rose 0.8%
  Distillate demand rose 12.8%
  
  

The Quiet Coup Not surprisingly, Wall Street ran with these opportunities. From 1973 to 1985, the financial sector never earned more than 16 percent of domestic corporate profits. In 1986, that figure reached 19 percent. In the 1990s, it oscillated between 21 percent and 30 percent, higher than it had ever been in the postwar period. This decade, it reached 41 percent

Quick Overview

• U.S. existing home sales fell 2.2% from April's pace.
  

• The Richmond Federal Reserve's regional index of manufacturing fell from +26 to +23 in June
  

• YoY Canada’s consumer price index rose 1.4% in May
  

• China net coal imports expected to reach 170 million tonnes in 2010.
  

• Maersk Line is deploying laid-up ships as well as ordering new boxes and leasing old ones, according to the UK's Handing Shipping Guide. Prices for new maritime containers are close to the highest point in 20 years, driven by a rush of new orders from ocean carriers and container leasing companies in response to a growing shortage of boxes.

• (CNN) Nearly 200 people have died and more than 120 are missing from heavy rains and floods ravaging 10 southern China provinces..

Gold reclaims its currency status as the global system unravels
The World Gold Council said on Friday that the central banks of Russia, the Philippines, Kazakhstan and Venezuela have been buying gold, and Saudi Arabia’s monetary authority has "restated" its reserves upwards from 143m to 323m tonnes. If there is any theme to the bullion rush, it is fear that the global currency system is unravelling. Or, put another way, gold itself is reclaiming its historic role as the ultimate safe haven and benchmark currency.

Yuan Unshackled May Strengthen China Shift to Domestic Demand
(Bloomberg) -- China’s signal of an end to the yuan’s fixed rate to the dollar may accelerate a shift toward domestic demand as the prime driver of growth as President Hu Jintao seeks to strengthen household incomes.

Quick Overview

• Canada’s leading indicators rose 0.9% in May

• Mexico met market expectations by leaving the country s key interest rate unchanged at 4.5%
  

• (Bloomberg) -- China, the largest cotton user, may raise its import quota for the natural fiber as it sells more from government stockpiles to quench a supply shortfall, an industry analyst said
  

• (Agrimoney) Prices of oranges in Spain have jumped by 30% thanks to a production slump caused by a harsh winter, and which is set to cause a rise in European Union imports.
  

• Gold hit a new record high.

• Maersk, the world's biggest container shipping group, is warning of an unprecedented shortage of containers in the run-up to the peak shipping season on the back of a strong rebound in global trade.

• The USDA estimates Brazil’s coffee output to surge 23% to a record 55.3 million bags in the 2010-11 marketing year. In addition, Brazil is expected to boost its harvest of arabica coffee beans, which are valued more than the Robusta by 27% in the year to 41.8 million bags.
  
  (Bloomberg) -- Soybeans rose, notching the first weekly gain since April, on speculation that unusually heavy rain will leave U.S. Midwest fields too muddy to plant. Corn also gained.
  Farmers in parts of Iowa and Illinois, the biggest U.S. soybean producers, must decide by June 20 to receive crop insurance payments instead of planting. Some areas received six times the normal rainfall in the past month, delaying soybean seeding and threatening to damage newly planted corn crops.
  

ECB must buy 'hundred of billions' of bonds to tame Europe's debt crisis
"If the euro falls to parity or down to 80 cents against the dollar, we would start to see a solution," he said.

Quick Overview

• U.S. jobless claims rose 12,000 last week to 472,000, more than expected.
  

• U.S. consumer price index fell 0.2% MoM and rose 2.0% YoY
  

• The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's regional index of manufacturing fell from 21.4 to 8.0
  

• Construction output in the EU was unchanged MoM and rose 4.3% YoY
  

• U.K.'s retail sales volume rose 0.6% in May and 2.2% YoY
  

• The Swiss agree to hand thousands of private bank details to the US

Italian economists slam austerity measures
"Some countries will be pushed out of the eurozone, others will break away to free themselves from a deflationary spiral."

Quick Overview

• Spain’s central bank plans to publish the results of “stress tests” on the country’s financial institutions.
  

• US industrial production rose 1.2% in May.
  

• U.S. housing starts were at an annual rate of 593,000 in May, down 10.0% MoM and up 7.8% YoY
  

• US utilization rose from 73.7% to 74.7% of capacity.
  

• U.S. producer prices fell 0.3% MoM and rose5.3% YoY
  

• US mortgage applications rose 18% last week,
  

• U.K.'s unemployment rate out at 7.9%, down from 8.0% last month.
  

• YoY Consumer prices in the EUrose 2.0% in May
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said:
  Supplies of crude oil supplies rose 1.7 million barrels to 363.1 million barrels.
  Supplies of gasoline fell 600,000 barrels
  Supplies of distillates rose 1.8 million barrels.
  Gasoline demand fell 0.7%
  Distillate demand rose 12.5%

• FedEx expects U.S. GDP growth of 3.2% during its fiscal 2011, compared to just 1% in the prior period.

• BP swaps Rise to 36% odds of default and cancels dividend

Quick Overview

• The New York Federal Reserve's regional index of manufacturing rose from 19.1 to 19.57
  

• The National Association of Home Builders' sentiment index fell from 22 to 17
  

• YoY U.K. consumer prices rose 3.4% in May
  

• Japan kept the interest rate unchanged at 1.0%
  

• The world’s top oil companies are just as unprepared as BP to handle a major oil spill, Democratic lawmakers charged, following a review of the companies’ emergency response plans.

Quick Overview

• EU industrial production rose 0.5% MoM and up 7.8% YoY
  

• (Bloomberg) -- Greece’s credit rating was cut four steps to non-investment grade, or junk, by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited the country’s economic “risks.” The rating was lowered to Ba1 from A3.
  

• Wet weather could slash oat production in Western Canada, the second-biggest oat-growing region in the world, by more than 700,000 tonnes. That kind of drop represents 22% of the Canadian Agriculture Department's May 5 production estimate of 3.2 million tonnes.
  

Quick Overview

• U.S. retail sales fell 1.2% in May and rose 6.9% YoY
  

• The University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment rose from 73.6 to 75.5 in June
  

• YoY India’s Industrial production rose 17.6% in April
  

• U.K.’s index of manufacturing fell 0.4% in April and rose 3.4% YoY.
  
• U.K. Producer price index rose 0.3% in May and rose 5.7% YoY
  

• YoY China's industrial output rose 16.5% in May
  
• YoY China’s consumer prices rose 3.1% in May

Quick Overview

• U.S. jobless claims fell 3,000 to 456,000
  

• The U.S. trade deficit rose to the highest level in more than a year, according to Commerce Department. Exports fell $1.0 billion to $148.8 billion in April while imports fell $0.8 billion to $189.1 billion.
  

• Australia's unemployment rate improved from 5.4% to 5.2%
  

• Japan's GDP rose 1.2% in Q1 and 4.2% YoY
  

• Canada’s exports fell 1.0% while imports fell 2.2%
  

• England kept the interest rate unchanged.
  

• The ECB kept its interest rate unchanged
  

• YoY China's exports rose 48.5% in May -- boosting hopes that global demand is recovering
  
  

• The USDA's 2010-2011 U.S. ending stocks estimate for:
  Corn was lowered from 1.818 to 1.573 billion bushels.
  Soybeans were lowered from 365 to 360 million bushels.
  Wheat was reduced from 997 to 991 million bushels.
  Sugar was lowered from 844,000 to 764,000 short tons.
  Cotton was lowered from 3.0 to 2.8 million bales.
  
  

• The USDA's 2010-2011 world ending stocks estimate for:
  Corn was lowered from 154 to 147 million tons.
  Soybeans were raised from 66 to 67 million tons.
  Wheat was lowered from 198 to 194 million tons.
  Cotton was lowered slightly from 50.1 to 49.6 million bales.
  
• They expect beef production to be down 2% in 2010 and again, in 2011.
  
• They expect pork production to be down 4% in 2010, but up 3% in 2011.
  
• The USDA raised the 2009-2010 Florida orange crops from 132 to 134 million boxes -- Juice yield unchanged.

• Container traffic at major ports in India for the April-May period increased by 21 % YoY.

• The International Coffee Organization estimates world coffee production in 2010-2011 at 134 million bags and consumption at 134 million bags.

• SEC Approves Halts for S&P 500 Stocks That Move 10%

• (Bloomberg) -- The proportion of U.S. homeowners turning delinquent on mortgages backing the securities that roiled the global financial system has tumbled in the past three months, even after accounting for a typical seasonal improvement, according to RBS Securities Inc.

Quick Overview

• U.S. wholesale sales rose 0.7% in April
  

• U.S. inventories rose 0.4%.
  

• US mortgage applications fell 5.7% -- the lowest level in three years.
  

• Japan's machinery orders rose 4% in April
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said:
  Supplies of crude oil fell 1.8 million barrels to 361.4 million barrels.
  Supplies of gasoline were unchanged
  Gasoline demand fell 1.0%
  Distillate demand rose 12.1%
  Refinery use was at 89.1% of capacity

• The manufacturer of BP’s dispersant says that it can’t reveal the dispersants composition, because it is a trade secret —NO KIDDING

Quick Overview

• Brazil's economy grew 9% in the first three months of 2010 - its fastest rate in at least 14 years.
  
  

• (NYT) Scientists say our ability to focus is being undermined by bursts of information from e-mail and other interruptions.
  
  

• Prime Minister David Cameron said that Britain’s financial situation is “even worse than we thought.”
  
  

• Ben Bernanke said the US recovery was proceeding, though at a ‘moderate’ pace.
  
  

• Switzerland's lower house rejected a bill that would have allowed the government to provide the U.S. with the names of alleged American tax dodgers.

• 2010 US CO2 Emissions from fossil fuels seen up 2.9%

• Norway has banned new deepwater oil drilling in the North Sea

Quick Overview

• Hungary’s economy minister, said the ruling party made communication ‘blunders' by raising the issue of a possible default, but insists Hungary is not the next Greece
  

• Coastal factories are raising salaries, local governments are hiking minimum wage standards -- the cost of doing business in China is going up, and that could drive up consumer prices in the United States and Europe.
  

• OJ Producer Cutrale said Brazil's citrus crop sees its worst harvest in seven years due to bad weather and diseases.
  

• As much as 32.3 billion tons of oil can be discovered in China in the future, the 21st Century Business Herald reported Monday, citing experts from the Research Institute of Economics and Technology.

• GE said the company aims to cut by half its holdings of commercial real estate.
  

• (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. panel investigating the causes of the financial crisis issued a subpoena to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. after the Wall Street firm failed to hand over documents in a “timely manner.”

• Now some positive news about the Euro: A majority of economists polled in Europe said the euro, only 10 years old, is unlikely to survive for another five years.

• Iran: 'Sheer lie,' central bank chief says of report that country will sell 45 billion Euros to buy gold, dollars.

• A soldier has been arrested in connection with the WikiLeaks release of a classified video of a 2007 helicopter attack that killed a dozen people in Baghdad, including two Reuters news staff, the military said.

• An Egyptian security official declared the blockade of Gaza a failure Monday and said his country will keep its border with the Palestinian territory open indefinitely.

G20 drops support for fiscal stimulus In a letter to the rest of the G20, Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, argued: “Concerns about growth as Europe makes needed policy adjustments threaten to undercut the momentum of the recovery”.

Pariah Nation
By ALEXANDER COCKBURN
There’s a political price to be paid for manifest wimpery. Obama is running up a hefty bill.

Quick Overview

• U.S. unemployment rate improved from 9.9% to 9.7% in May
  

• Canada’s unemployment rate stayed at 8.1%
  

• EU GDP rose 0 .2% in Q1 and up 0.5% YoY

• Informa increased their US winter wheat production estimate to 1.481 billion bushels on Friday, compared to the USDA's May estimate of 1.458 billion.
  

Quick Overview

• Oil leaking from a BP PLC (BP) well in the Gulf of Mexico might soon find its way around Florida and along thousands of miles of Atlantic coastline, according to a computer model produced by the National Center for Atmospheric Research and its collaborators.
  

• Google will begin handing over to European regulators the rogue data it intercepted from private WiFi internet connections.(Reuters) -

• Three Federal Reserve officials said it may soon be time to begin raising interest rates as the economic recovery in the United States gathers momentum, despite persistently high unemployment.
  
  

• U.S. jobless claims were down 10,000 last week to 453,000
  
  

• The Institute of Supply Management's index of services stayed at 55.4
  
  

• ADP Employer Services said that the private sector added 55,000 jobs in May
  
  

• U.S factory orders rose 1.2% in April.
  

• EU sales fell 1.2% MoM and down 1.6% YoY.
  

• EU purchasing managers' index fell from 57.3 to 56.4.
  

• Japan's capital spending fell 11.5% Q1,
  

• Australia's exports rose 11%
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said:
  Supplies of crude oil fell 1.9 million barrels to 363.2 million barrels.
  Supplies of gasoline fell 2.6 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil fell 900,000 barrels.
  Refinery use fell from 87.8% to 87.5%
  Gasoline demand rose 0.5%
  Distillate demand rose 17.1% from a year ago.
  

Quick Overview

• The National Association of Realtors index of pending home sales rose 6% in April and up 22% YoY
  

• The Mortgage Bankers Association's index of mortgage applications rose 0.9% last week.
  

• Australia’s GDP rose 0.5% in Q1 and up 2.7% YoY
  

• India, the world’s second-largest sugar producer, may allow mills to export 967,000 metric tons of white sugar.
  

• Greece announced long-delayed plans to privatize state-owned companies as part of its attempt to fix its public finances and chip away at the massive public debt.

• (ISU) It is likely that La Niña conditions will be reached during the month of June. This would indicate a substantial increase in corn yield risk for the U.S. , shifting the likely hood of a below trend yield from about 50/50 to 70%. Most of the risk increase would be in the central and eastern areas of the Corn Belt. E. Taylor

• According to China's Xinhua, Iran will sell euros for the U.S. dollar and gold. Iran joins a host of other emerging countries like China and India that have been ramping up their gold reserves and discarding paper currencies

Quick Overview

• A second larger Icelandic volcano, Katla, has shown signs of imminent eruption, again threatening the movement of aircraft in Europe and eastern North America.
  "We conclude that given the high frequency of Katla activity, an eruption in the short term is a strong possibility. It is likely to be preceded by new earthquake activity," said a paper from the University College of London Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction.
  

• The Institute of Supply Management's index of manufacturing fell from 60.4 to 59.7 in May,
  

• Manufacturing in China fell from 55.7 to 53.9 in May
  
• Chinese ports recorded a container throughput of 11.08 million TEU in April, up 23.2 per cent YoY.
  

• Unemployment rate for the EU was unchanged at 9.7% in April.
  
• Manufacturing in the Euro zone fell from 57.6 to 55.8 in May
  

• Canada raised rates from 0.25% to 0.50%.
  
• Canada’s GDP rose 1.5% in Q1 and up 2.2% YoY
  

• Australia kept its interest rate at 4.50%
  

• YoY India’s GDP rose 7.4% in Q1

Quick Overview

• Fitch cut its credit rating for Spain from AAA to AA+
  

• U.S. personal incomes rose 0.4% in April.
  
• U.S. Consumer spending was unchanged in April, weaker than expected.
  
• The Chicago Purchasing Managers' index fell from 63.8 to 59.7 in May
  
• The University of Michigan's index of consumer confidence rose from 72.2 to 73.6 in May
  

• Japan's unemployment rate rose from 5.0% to 5.1% in April.
  
• YoY Japan’s consumer prices fell 1.2% in April
  
• YoY Japan’s household spending fell 0.7% in April.
  

• (Bloomberg) -- The global refined sugar market will stay in deficit this year, with import demand exceeding available exports by 1 million metric tons, even as raw-sugar production expands, said Kingsman SA.
  
• The global sugar market may have a surplus of 2.5 million tons in the year beginning Oct. 1, compared with a deficit of 8.5 million tons this year, the International Sugar Organization said May 14. Excess supply in 2010-2011 may be 6 million tons, Sucres et Denrees SA said April 30.

• Silver prices are likely to hit $20 a troy ounce this year supported by “double-digit” growth in industrial consumption and strong investment demand, according to GFMS.
  

• YoY U.S. Truck tonnage rose 7.5% in April -- the fifth straight year-to-year increase and the largest gain in more than five years, American Trucking Associations said Friday.

Spain is trapped in a 'perverse spiral' as wage cuts deepen the crisis This can end only in two ways. Either Germany tolerates massive monetary reflation by the ECB or Spain will be forced out of EMU, setting off a catastrophic chain-reaction through north Europe's banking system.

Updates Resume May 30

EU Crafts $928 Billion Show of Force to Halt Crisis
(Bloomberg) -- European finance ministers put together an unprecedented loan package that may be worth 720 billion euros ($928 billion) for debt-swamped governments in a bid to restore faith in the euro and prevent Greece’s fiscal woes from unleashing a global crisis.

EU Finance Ministers Race to Ready Euro Fund Before Asia Opens

Jolted into action by last week’s slide in the currency to the lowest in 14 months and soaring bond yields in Portugal and Spain, leaders of the 16 euro nations agreed to the financial backstop at a May 7 summit. They assigned finance chiefs to get it ready before Asian markets open later today European time.

“We will defend the euro, whatever it takes,”

Quick Overview

• (Reuters) - U.S. nonfarm payrolls grew at the fastest pace in four years in April as private sector employers ramped up hiring, raising the strong possibility that the labor market recovery may be picking up steam.
  

• UK general elections fail to produce a clear mandate
  

• Spain’s economy crept out of recession in the first quarter of 2010 after nearly two years of decline, according to a preliminary estimate by the Bank of Spain GDP rose 0.1% in Q1.
  

• China faces first drop in wheat harvest since 2003. Frost and drought have taken their toll on the world's top wheat producer, Rabobank says in a report noting better prospects for corn
  
  
  

ECB paralysis rattles markets as debt costs hit new highs
"Governor Trichet came very close to saying that the current mess is not the ECB's problem," said Lars Rasmussen from Danske Banke.
.."It is no coincidence that the Greek crisis really took off when the ECB announced the end of its emergency liquidity measures in early December. Failure to tackle the crisis early and decisively has brought to the fore the risk of a sovereign default and the risk that one or more countries will leave the euro area. This is a lesson markets will not forget," he said.

Quick Overview

• Greek lawmakers approved the government's 30 billion euro ($40 billion) austerity bill in a vote in parliament.
  

• US equity prices whipsawed (BID from $30 to $100,000, ACN from $40 to $0) in value before closing sharply lower during a wild day on Wall Street that prompted leading stock exchanges to cancel some trades amid fears of trader errors and computer malfunctions.
  

• (Reuters) - Nasdaq Operations said it will cancel all trades executed between 2:40 p.m. to 3 p.m. showing a rise or fall of more than 60 percent from the last trade in that security at 2:40 p.m or immediately prior.
  

• U.S. non-farm productivity rose at an annual rate of 3.6% in Q1 and up 6.3% YoY
  

• July lumber ended down its $10 daily limit at $285.50, hurt by today's commodities sell off.
  

• Brazil's estimates the upcoming coffee crop at 47 million bags
  

• Citrus Processors Report said there were 126.96 million gallons of frozen concentrated orange juice in inventory on April 24th
  

• Services in the U.K. fell from 56.5 to 55.3 in April
  

• Australia's retail sales rose 0.3% in March.
  

• International Cotton Advisory Committee said global cotton production in the coming season will leap 13% in reaction to surging prices.

Quick Overview

• The Institute of Supply Management's index of services stayed at 55.4 in April
  

• US mortgage applications rose 13% last week as buyers rushed to secure federal tax credits.
  

• EU retail unchanged in March and up 0.3% YoY.
  

• EU manufacturing and services increased from 55.9 to 57.3 in April
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said:
  Supplies of crude oil rose 2.8 million barrels last week to 360.6 million barrels
  Supplies of gasoline rose 1.2 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil were unchanged.
  Refinery use rose from 89.0% to 89.6%.
  Gasoline demand rose 3.5% YoY
  Distillate demand rose 5.1% YoY
  

• (Bloomberg) Some analysts interviewed expect a shortage of corn and cotton to occur sometime this year in China.
  

Euro plunges as Club Med debt fears spread Stephen Jen from BlueGold Capital, said the Greek rescue "kicks the can down the road" for three or six months but will not prevent a default in Greece and "probably Portugal". "Greece's bonds are 'Zombie Bonds' and can only be artificially and temporarily propped up," he said. Italy and Spain are safe only if they "use their time well".

Quick Overview

• U.S. factory orders rose 1.3% in March
  

• U.S. pending home sales rose 5.3% in March and up 21.1% YoY
  

• Manufacturing in China fell from 57.0 to 55.4 in April
  

• Australia increased its interest rate from 4.25% to 4.50%

Quick Overview

• The EU and IMF finally put together a Greek bailout of 110 billion Euros.
  

• Manufacturing for the Euro area rose from 56.6 to 57.6 in April
  

• Manufacturing in Australia rose from 50.5 to 59.8 in April
  

• U.S. personal incomes rose 0.3% in March
  

• U.S. consumer spending rose 0.6%.
  

• U.S. manufacturing (ISM) rose from 59.6 to 60.4
  

• U.S. construction spending rose 0.2% MoM, but fell 12.3% YoY
  

• China will raise reserve requirement 0.50% to 17%.
  

• Australian mining shares fell after the government slapped a 40% tax on profits.
  

Buffett Says Derivatives Law May Spare Berkshire on Collateral
“If for any reason the Treasury should go back and, in a more sweeping declaration, decide all past contracts be collateralized we would comply, naturally,” Buffett said. “And it will be no problem.”

(Warren, max leverage of about 16 to 1 at the CME would be just about right for you as well. Why don’t you lead by example?)

Quick Overview

• U.S. GDP rose 0.8% in Q1 and up 2.5% YoY

• The University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment rose from 69.5 to 72.2
  

• The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index rose from 58.8 to 63.8 in April,
  

• YoY Japan's consumer prices fell 1.1% in March
  

• Japans unemployment rate rose from 4.9% to 5.0%
  

• Spain's unemployment rate rose from 18.8% to 20.1%
  

• Canada’s GDP rose 0.3% MoM and 1.8% YoY.
  

• Danish shipping giant A.P.Møller-Maersk is ready to launch an offensive and invest in new acquisitions if suitable objects emerge in the wake of the financial crisis. According to the group's chairman of the board Michael Pram Rasmussen, Maersk has the financial strength to make acquisitions.
  

• U.S. ethanol refiners are using more corn to make Ethanol. Production was 32% higher YoY.
  

• Gold rose to a new high for the year amid concerns over euro zone debt problems.

Quick Overview

• DJ Louisiana Parish Pres: Spill To Hit Pass-a-Loutre Nature Reserve Late Thu
  

• U.S. jobless claims fell 11,000 last week to 448,000.
  
  

• Brazil's Ag Ministry, predicted that sugar production will be up 17% in 2010-2011
  

• Germany's unemployment rate improved from 8.0% to 7.8% in April.

• Japan's coastguard seeks to arrest environmental activist Paul Watson for disrupting whale hunts, reports say.

• The US Coast Guard investigates reports that oil has begun washing ashore on the Gulf Coast
  

EMU domino fears as Spain downgraded, Germany drags feet on rescue Europe risks the biggest coordination failure in modern history,” said David Simmonds, research chief at RBS. The Berlin talks are as vague as ever. “We believe that markets will remain very sceptical.”

Quick Overview

• The Mortgage Bankers Association's index of mortgage applications fell 2.9% last week.
  

• China's Ag Ministry said that snow in northeastern China will delay planting by more than ten days.
  

• The USDA have confirmed a sale of 115,000 MT of old crop US corn to China. US corn into China's ports will be important test with potentially significant implications..how much corn do they intend to purchase, as drought cripples their grain belt and demand rises on a robust economy."
  

• YoY Australia's consumer price index rose 2.9% in Q1
  

• YoY Japan's retail sales rose 4.7% in March

• Republicans blocked progress on financial reform for a third day.
  

• Firms are now able to post physical gold to CME Clearing to cover non-segregated Performance Bond requirements.
  

• Spain became the latest European country to see its credit rating cut.
  

Olive Oil and Snake Oil
In an e-mail to his girlfriend, he called his “Frankenstein” creation “a product of pure intellectual masturbation, the type of thing which you invent telling yourself: ‘Well, what if we created a “thing,” which has no purpose, which is absolutely conceptual and highly theoretical and which nobody knows how to price?’ ”

Maastricht madhouse fuels EMU-wide contagion from Greece
If so, we will find out soon. Four professors will launch a legal challenge in early May at the Verfassungsgericht (high court). Should they secure an injunction, EMU may fly apart.

Quick Overview

• The S&P/Case-Shiller index of home prices in twenty U.S. cities fell 0.9% MoM, but rose 0.6% YoY
  

• IBM is increasing its dividend payout by 18%
  

• Standard & Poor's downgraded its credit rating on Portugal.

• Greece’s credit rating was cut three steps to junk by Standard and Poor
  

• U,S. consumer confidence irose from 52.3 to 57.9 in April,
  

• The Fed Richmond's regional index of manufacturing increased from +6 to +9 in April
  

• YoY South Korea GDP rose 7.8% in Q1
  

'Serious deficit' could send cocoa to record highs And even growers prepared to invest in plantations, in Ivory Coast or elsewhere, may be tempted to switch to rubber, a crop which can provide year-round income, is less prone to disease and whose price have also soared.

Brain-like computing on an organic molecular layer
The monolayer has intelligence; it can solve many problems on the same grid.

CHINA is expected to become a dominant force in the world animal feed market. Pork consumption has doubled in the past ten years.
Compound feed fed to pigs currently accounts for only about 40 million tonnes, but this could rise to about 180 million tonnes as the feeding of swill is phased out under a "safe meat" policy. Only 40% of all Chinese meat currently complies with this "safe meat" policy, this is expected to reach 80% by 2015.