Opec nations ‘set for record oil revenues’
It’s just been a phenomenal transfer of wealth from consuming to producing nations,” said Francisco Blanch, analyst at Merrill Lynch.

Quick Overview

• U.S. jobless claims were up 17,000 last week to 309,000
  

• The U.S. trade gap shrank more than expected in November. The gap narrowed to $64.2 billion during the month from a record $68.1 billion in October, the Commerce Department reported in Washington
  
  

• The unemployment rate in Australia was unchanged in December at 5.1%
  

• Germany's GDP was up 0.9% in 2005.
  

• Crude oil approached a three-month high Thursday, approaching $65 a barrel, in part on concerns about Iranian oil.
  

• Minnesota officials are giving the state’s biodiesel industry another month to fix problems with the fuel that led to clogged fuel filters this winter, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
  

• The USDA's 2005-2006 U.S. ending stocks estimate for:
  Corn was increased from 2.419 to 2.426 billion bushels.
  Soybeans were increased from 405 to 505 million bushels.
  Wheat was increased from 530 to 542 million bushels.
  Sugar was reduced from 1.395 to 1.320 million tons.
  Cotton remained at 6.90 million bales.
  

• The USDA's soybean production estimate for Argentina and Brazil remained at 3.64 billion bushels.
  

• The USDA said that 41.37 million acres of winter wheat were planted last fall, up 2% YoY -- less than expected.
  

• Europe's cocoa grindings totaled 301,742 tons in the fourth quarter of 2005, up 4.7% YoY.
  

• The USDA reduced its estimate of Florida's 2005-2006 orange crop from 162 to 158 million boxes. The estimated juice yield was unchanged at 1.55 gallons a box at 42.0 degrees Brix.
  

• Inflation in Brazil slowed in 2005 for the fourth year in a row.

Report: Iraq war costs could top $2 trillion

Quick Overview

• YoY Mexican industrial production rose 3 percent in November.
  
  

• An index of leading indicators for Japan dropped from 81.8 to 60.0 in November
  

• A persistent fall in Japanese bank lending slowed in December to its smallest decline in nearly five years, a bright sign for business conditions because of a stronger economy and improvement in banks' financial condition.
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that:
  Supplies of crude oil were down 2.9 million barrels to 318.7 million barrels.
  Supplies of unleaded gasoline were up 4.5 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil were up 1.0 million barrels.
  

Drier, Tainted Nevada May Be Legacy of Gold Rush The costs - to Nevada, its neighbors and even to the rest of the country - are only now coming into focus as diminishing ores foreshadow gold mining's eventual demise and a more urbanized West begins to express concerns over water shortages and mining's other legacies.

U.S. can open private mail in terrorism fight
"It was a big surprise," Goodman told Reuters. "The public should know that this is being done. Nobody whom I know had any idea that this was going on. And as far as I know, it's never been announced. It's never been revealed that this is being done."

Quick Overview

• The U.S. Commerce Department said that wholesale sales were down 0.7% in November while inventories were up 0.4%.
  

• U.S. Consumer confidence, steadily improving since last fall, rose in the latest week, ABC News and The Washington Post said on Tuesday.
  

• The national average retail price of diesel fuel rose 4.3 cents to $2.485 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported.
  

• Turkey said that they destroyed 306,000 birds in an attempt to stop the spread of bird flu.
  

• YoY retail sales in the U.K. increased 2.6% in December.
  

• Sales of new cars in Venezuela soared 70 percent in 2005 from a year earlier as the economy expanded 9.4 percent and consumer spending grew, the Venezuelan Automobile Chamber said on Tuesday.

Shanghai now the world's largest cargo port
It only took Shanghai port five years to double cargo handling capacity from 200 million tons to 400 million tons.

Cooling housing market may trigger US recession next year, Soros warns
Soros, the chairman of New York-based Soros Fund Management, said the biggest risk to the US economy was that the Federal Reserve might raise interest rates too high, stifling the housing market. "That's why I expect the recession to occur in 2007."

New call to impeach Blair over Iraq
"To go to war on what turns out to be false grounds is something that no one should be allowed to walk away from," he said.

U.S. Healthcare Tab Grows Faster Than the Economy

America's healthcare bill rose to nearly $2 trillion in 2004, or about $6,280 for every man, woman and child, a team of government economists reported today.

Chart of the day

Dow Theory

Quick Overview

• The Dow-Jones industrial average closed above 11,000 for the first time in more than four years.
  

• Cocoa grindings in Germany totaled 70,332 tons in the fourth quarter of 2005, up 23% YoY.
  
  

• Retail sales in Australia were down 0.1% in November, weaker than expected.
  

• Officials at the G-10 meeting said the world economy is in good shape and may grow more in 2006 than in 2005.
  

• The German government approved a 25 billion Euro spending program designed to give momentum to a weak economic upturn.
  
  

• Japanese Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki urged the Bank of Japan to use caution in deciding when to end its ultraloose monetary policy, even though he expects the nation's economy to shake off deflation in 2006

Chart of the day

NYSE Advancing Issues (Weekly)

Quick Overview

• The unemployment rate fell to 4.9 percent from 5 percent and labor costs rose, the Labor Department said. The December gain followed figures showing 71,000 more jobs than first reported for November and October. For all of 2005, the U.S. gained roughly two million jobs
  

• Bloomberg reported that U.S. consumption of gasoline, heating oil, and other fuels hit a new record high in December. While projections differ, market watchers on average expect oil prices to consolidate around $55 to $60 a barrel this year.
  

• Japan's consumer prices will likely start showing a lasting rise and the economy is making steady progress toward ending deflation thanks to a balanced recovery, the Bank of Japan's chief economist said on Friday.
  
  

• Canada's unemployment rate rose from 6.4% to 6.5% in December. In 2005, Canada gained 233,000 jobs.
  

• The unemployment rate in the Euro zone was unchanged at 8.3% in November. Unemployment in the EU-25 was also unchanged at 8.5%.
  

• YoY Industrial production in Germany was up 4.7%.
  

Welcome to Mars express: only a three hour trip
AN EXTRAORDINARY "hyperspace" engine that could make interstellar space travel a reality by flying into other dimensions is being investigated by the United States government.

China signals reserves switch away from dollar

The statement comes at a time of growing debate in China on how the reserves are invested. Some economists have called on Beijing to use the funds to finance infrastructure investment and clean up state-owned companies, or to invest in higher-yielding assets rather than financing US borrowing.

Quick Overview

• U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Thursday the United States was "the picture of economic health" and urged lawmakers to keep taxes low as a stimulant for steady expansion.
  

• The Fed said its overall holdings of Treasury and agency debt kept for overseas central banks rose $1.286 billion in the week ended Jan. 4, to stand at $1.523 trillion
  

• The number of U.S. workers filing initial unemployment benefits fell by 35,000 last week to 291,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
  

• The Institute of Supply Management's index of U.S. services increased from 58.5 to 59.8 in December, more than expected.
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that:
  Supplies of crude oil were down 1.0 million barrels to 321.6 million barrels
  Supplies of unleaded gasoline were up 1.4 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil supplies were down 500,000 barrels.
  Supplies of natural gas were up 1 billion cubic feet to 2.641 trillion cubic feet.
  

• An index of services in Australia dropped from 56.5 to 51.6 in December
  

• An index of services in the U.K. increased from 55.8 to 57.9 in December.,
  

• An index of services in the Euro zone increased from 55.2 to 56.8
  

• An index of consumer sentiment in the Euro zone improved from -13 to -11.
  

• Seasonally adjusted retail sales in Germany were down 1% in November and down 0.6% YoY.
  

U.S. to Seek Dismissal of Guantánamo Suits

Secret Surveillance May Have Occurred Before Authorization

Lobbying Plan Was Central to GOP's Political Strategy

Bush could bypass new torture ban
Some legal specialists said yesterday that the president's signing statement, which was posted on the White House website but had gone unnoticed over the New Year's weekend, raises serious questions about whether he intends to follow the law.


Three Automakers To Unveil Hybrid Plans

Quick Overview

• The U.S. Commerce Department said that factory orders increased 2.5% in November, the best jump in three months and roughly as expected.
  

• The dollar slid to two-month lows against the Euro and the Swiss franc on Wednesday, undermined by expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its rate tightening cycle.
  

• Consumer prices in Argentina rose 1.1 percent in December, bringing 2005 inflation to 12.3 percent.
  
  

• Brazil's government said the 2005-2006 sugarcane crop totaled 437 million tons, down slightly from their 440 million ton estimate in August.
  
  
  

2006: A Year of Living Dangerously
Eric Margolis

White House to withdraw funding for rebuilding Iraq

Abramoff Pleads Guilty, Will Cooperate

Book: CIA Ignored Info Iraq Had No WMD

Quick Overview

• Federal Reserve policymakers differed last month on how much higher interest rates would need to go, but most believed the end of the rate-hike campaign wasn't far-off.
  

• The Institute for Supply Management's index of U.S. manufacturing dropped to 54.2 from 58.1 in December.

• U.S. Construction spending was up 0.2% from October's pace.
  
  

• Ten years ago, buying a motor scooter in India could take years and a stack of paperwork. These days a buyer can plunk down just $22 and come away with a scooter on credit. Sales of two-wheelers -- a characteristic of India's rising middle class -- jumped 16% YoY.
  

• An index of manufacturing in Australia increased from 44.2 to 53.1 in December.
  

• An index of manufacturing in the U.K. increased from 51.0 to 51.1 in December,
  

• An index of manufacturing in Europe increased from 52.8 to 53.6 in December.
  

• Germany's unemployment rate improved from 11.4% to 11.2% in December.
  

• Singapore's GDP was up 5.7% in 2005.
  

• YoY Brazil December sugar exports are down 17.5%.
  
  

• Hot and dry weather forecasts for Argentina's soybeans pushed soybeans higher.
  
  
  

• The price U.S. motorists paid for gasoline jumped 4.1 cents over the last week

• Legislation introduced in the House of Representatives Dec. 7 would increase by $3,000 the current tax credit for makers and consumers of domestic hybrid vehicles, including commercial trucks.
  

Dollar drop still coming, Buffett and banks agree
Buffett, the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, lost almost $1 billion betting on a decline in the dollar last year against currencies like the pound, which suffered its biggest loss since 1992. Analysts at Deutsche Bank, UBS and Citigroup predicted that the dollar would weaken to a new low against the euro, with the European currency rising to $1.40. Instead, the dollar rose 14.4 percent as the euro fell to $1.1838 at the end of the year. The dollar also ended the year at ¥117.945 in New York, up 14.7 percent against the Japanese currency

Quick Overview

• U.S. Jobless claims increased 3,000 last week to 322,000.
  

• Home resales fell to a 6.97 million seasonally adjusted annual rate last month, a 1.7% decline from October's unrevised 7.09 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. Sales dropped by 2.7% in October. The National Association of Realtors said there are 2.90 million homes for sale in the U.S. -- a five-month supply.
  
  
  

• The National Association of Purchasing Management's Chicago index dropped from 61.7 to 61.5 in December, stronger than expected.
  

• Argentina's central bank forecast on Thursday that Latin America's third-largest economy will expand by 6.2 percent next year, slowing from this year's estimated 8.7 percent growth.
  

• An index of consumer confidence in the U.K. dropped from -8 to -9 in December.
  

• The unemployment rate in France improved from 9.7% to 9.6% in November.
  

• Venezuela's Central Bank on Thursday said it had approved currency transactions in Euros in a move that expands the country's strict foreign exchange controls away from U.S. dollars.
  

• The DOE said that:
  Supplies of crude oil were up 100,000 barrels to 322.6 million barrels.
  Supplies of unleaded gasoline were down 1.2 million barrels.
  Supplies of heating oil supplies were down 1.2 million barrels.
  Supplies of underground natural gas were down 162 billion cubic feet to 2.640 trillion cubic feet. YoY supplies are down 8%.
  
  

• London inventories of copper increased 7,150 tons to 87,750.

Quick Overview

• The Conference Board's consumer confidence index increased from 98.3 to 103.6 in December, its highest level since Hurricane Katrina.
  

• The USDA said there were 61.197 million head of hogs and pigs in U.S. inventory on December 1st, up 0.4% YoY.
  

• The USDA said that YoY U.S. beef production was up 7% in November.
  

• The USDA said that YoY pork production was up 2% in November.
  

• The Dow-Jones Newswires credits a fungus in Brazil and too much rain in Vietnam as two recent supporting reasons for Coffee.
  

• Consumer confidence in Germany increased from 3.4 to 3.8 in December, the highest in six months.
  

• YoY Japan's industrial production was up 1.4% in November.
  

Quick Overview

• ABC News and the Washington Post said their Consumer Comfort Index rose to -10 in the week ending Dec. 25 from -11 the prior week.
  

• The Chicago Federal Reserve's regional index of manufacturing was down by 0.6% in November.
  

• Japan's unemployment rate increased from 4.5% to 4.6% in November, Household spending was down 0.7% Japan's consumer price index was down 0.3% in November -- down 0.8% YoY.
  

• Overall for-hire trucking freight volumes surged 1.9% in November from a month earlier, American Trucking Associations said Tuesday.

Quick Overview

• U.S. Durable goods orders were up 4.4% in November, stronger than expected. Excluding transport, orders were down 0.6%.
  

• The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index increased from 81.6 to 91.5 in December.
  

• Sales of new homes dropped in November by the largest amount in nearly 12 years. U.S. new home sales were at an annual rate of 1.245 million units, down 11.3% from October's pace, the largest monthly drop since 1994. So far in 2005, new home sales are up 7% from a year ago.
  

• The European Commission announced that they are ending their policy of giving rebates (subsidies) to beef exporters.
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that ethanol production reached 269,000 barrels a day in October, a new record high in the U.S.
  

• Germany's inflation rate averaged 2 percent in 2005, its highest level in four years, according to a government estimate released Friday.
  
  

• Canada's GDP was up 0.2% in October and up 3.1% YoY.
  

• China's car production in November grew 52.1 percent from the same month last year to a record 291,900 units, breaking the previous record set in June of 275,100 units, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics Friday.