Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Quick Overview

  • U.S. GDP was up 4.3% in the third quarter, stronger than expected. YoY GDP was up 3.7%.

  • The U.S. economy bounced back following the two big hurricanes in August and September, but lingering high fuel prices were pushing up shipping rates in some regions of the country, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.

  • The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity for the week ended November 25 declined 1.8 percent to 624.1.

  • The Chicago Purchasing Management Association's index dropped from 62.9 to 61.7 in November

  • Overall for-hire trucking freight volumes rose 0.3% in October from a month earlier, the American Trucking Associations said.

  • The U.S. Department of Energy said that:
    Crude oil supplies were down 4.2 million barrels last week to 317.6 million barrels.
    Supplies of unleaded gasoline were down 500,000 barrels
    Supplies of heating oil supplies were up 1.5 million barrels..

  • Retail sales in Australia rebounded from a 0.3% drop in September to gain 0.5% in October.

  • Canada's GDP was up 0.9% in the third quarter and up 2.8% YoY.
    India's GDP was up 8% YoY.

  • Argentina's trade surplus widened more than expected to $916 million in October from $854 million a year ago as export volumes increased, the Economy Ministry said on Wednesday.

  • YoY housing starts in Japan rose 9.1% in October to 115,769 units. With increases in starts on housing units for rent and for sale, such as condominiums, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Wednesday.The rise followed a 0.2% fall the previous month.
2005 Hurricane Season Ends Today as the Worst in 150 Years
Thirteen hurricanes formed in the Atlantic, starting with Dennis in July and ending with Beta last month. There were also 13 tropical storms, which are named once winds reach 39 miles per hour (63 kilometers per hour). The previous record of 21 was set in 1933, according to U.S. National Hurricane Center data. Next year may be more active than usual, some forecasters say.

US paying Iraqi press to run favourable stories
As part of an information offensive in Iraq, the U.S. military is secretly paying Iraqi newspapers to publish stories written by American troops in an effort to burnish the image of the U.S. mission in Iraq.
Co-conspirators’ largesse extended to many
In a plea agreement with prosecutors, Cunningham named four people who had conspired with him to commit the crimes. Although the plea agreement does not refer to the co-conspirators by name, they are widely believed to be Mitchell Wade, the former president of defense intelligence firm MZM Inc., Brent Wilkes, president of defense contractor ADCS Inc., Tom Kontogiannis, a New York real-estate developer, and an unnamed family member of Kontogiannis.
Costly Withdrawal Is the Price To Be Paid for a Foolish War

Maintaining an American security presence in the region, not to mention withdrawing forces from Iraq, will involve many complicated problems, military as well as political. Such an endeavor, one would hope, will be handled by a team different from — and more competent than — the one presently in charge of the White House and Pentagon.

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Quick Overview

  • The Commerce Department reported that new home sales rose by 13 percent in October to a record 1.424 million and more than expected. The big jump came from the western and northeastern regions. YoY, new home sales are up 7.6%.

  • U.S. Durable goods orders were up 3.4% in October, more than expected. Excluding transportation however, orders were up 0.3%, less than expected.

  • The Conference Board, said its consumer confidence index rose to 98.9 this month, the biggest rise in more than two years.

  • The Chicago Federal Reserve's manufacturing index increased from 104.7 to 106.6 in October.

  • Australia upped the estimate of its 2005-2006 wheat crop to 24.1 from 19.7 million tons. Last year Australia harvested 20.4 million tons of wheat.

  • Japans household spending increased 1.2% in October.
    Japans industrial production was up 0.6%.
    Japans October unemployment rate increased from 4.2% to 4.5%.

  • Gold prices closed above $500 an ounce in Asian trading for the first time since late 1987, driven by investor demand for the metal as a diversifying asset.

  • Calpine Corp. replaced its longtime chief executive as well as its chief financial officer in a shake up that sent the company's stock price below $1.

  • The USDA said that U.S. Cotton stocks for 2005/06 are forecast to rise 1 million bales to 6.5 million by season’s end, resulting in a stocks-to-use ratio of 29 percent and the highest in 4 years.

  • YoY Surface trade among the United States, Canada and Mexico rose 11.4% in September to $61.2 billion, a second straight all-time monthly record, the DoT said Tuesday.

Monday, November 28, 2005

Moving right along. Seven Trillion two years ago -- eight Trillion today!


Quick Overview

  • The Retail Federation said that U.S. shoppers spent $27.8 billion over the holiday weekend, up 22% YoY.

  • Sales of previously owned U.S. homes fell 2.7 percent last month to a 7.09 million annual rate, the slowest since March, the National Association of Realtors said. The number of unsold homes was the highest since April 1986.

  • The USDA 2005/06 U.S. Ending Stocks for Rice Are Projected to Decline 30 Percent to 26.2 Million Cwt U.S. Rice ending stocks for 2005/06 are projected at 26.2 million cwt, down 11.5 million cwt from a year earlier. The resulting stocks-to-use ratio is projected at 10.6 percent, down from 16.4
    percent a year earlier and the lowest since 1980/81.

  • The USDA reduced the estimate of Brazil's 2005-2006 coffee crop from 36.5 to 36.1 million bags.

  • Rail freight traffic declined for the week ended Nov. 19, but intermodal continued to rise compared to the same week a year earlier, the Association of American Railroads reported

  • Retail sales in Japan were down 0.3% in October. The policy chief of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party said Monday the country had yet to beat deflation.

  • Mexico's peso hit a 29-month high on Monday.

Sunday, November 27, 2005

Shipping lines raise charges by 12pc: Effective Dec 1, 2005
Justifying the move, the ‘notice to trade” points out that all member lines are facing considerable increases in charter rates that continue rising dramatically. It also attributes the hike to a worldwide shortage of container equipment. “Consequently, delays caused by these factors and on account of congestion continue affecting all member carriers of the IPBCC and these have a detrimental effect on member lines’ ability to operate efficiently,” the notice added.
Newmont considers a bid for Placer Dome
"In India, the largest gold market in the world, demand year over year to June was up 47 per cent, China was up 14 per cent," Mr Lassonde said.
Brown's gold sale losses pile up as bullion price surges
In due course, Brown sold off 300 tonnes at just $275 an ounce - close to a 20-year low.
Roughly a third of the proceeds were then invested in euros - which then proceeded to plummet.
U.S. Farmers Use Pesticide Despite Treaty
Ruiz and Jorge Fernandez, two California farmworkers, say they saw plenty wrong in the strawberry fields they worked, starting with the dogs, birds and deer that lay lifeless when the workers arrived to remove plastic sheeting from fumigated fields. "That's how we knew this was a dangerous chemical," Ruiz said.
Pension Officers Putting Billions Into Hedge Funds
Faced with growing numbers of retirees, pension plans are pouring billions into hedge funds, the secretive and lightly regulated investment partnerships that once managed money only for wealthy investors.
Math + science = innovation, but US lags in the equation
Behind these moves lurks the fear that many young Americans are abandoning math and science at a time when students in emerging countries like China and India are mastering the subjects. China graduated 500,000 engineers last year, and India 200,000, compared with 70,000 in the United States, according to the National Academy of Sciences study.

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Newmont Mining's gold predictions
MOORE: Five hundred US dollars an ounce?
LASSONDE: Oh well passed that. I believe that by early next year you are going to see five twenty five and down the road even a lot higher than that.
MOORE: What is a lot higher?
LASSONDE: The question is gold prices will have three zeros after the first number.
MOORE: Three zeros?
LASSONDE: Ah huh.
How powerful is the Federal Reserve?
With Bernanke about to take over, time for a reality check
'Black Friday' tepid; Wal-Mart a winner
The official holiday shopping season appears to have gotten off to a lukewarm start, according to results announced Saturday by a national research group that monitors retail sales. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was one bright spot in the crowd, reporting its sales exceeded expectations.
Brokerage Firm Hack Endangers Investors
St. Louis-based Scottrade, one of the nation's largest private online stock brokerage houses, has alerted its customers that a hacker break-in may have compromised the security of an untold number of accounts

Friday, November 25, 2005


Scenes From A Bush Thanksgiving
Dubya pouts, Cheney scowls, no one brings pie -- and why is Rove looking at Barb that way?

Quick Overview

  • Consumer prices in Germany were down 0.5% in November..

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

  • The European Union will cut its sugar subsidies by 36% and stop paying producers three times the world price. This is expected to be phased in over the next four years. Australia's sugar cane growers will benefit from the European Union agreeing to cut sugar subsidies, an industry spokesman said.