Quick Overview

• The U.S. government ran a monthly budget deficit of $119.20 billion in February – this is an all-time monthly record. Last years Feb. deficit was 113.9 billion.
  
  
  

• The U.S. unemployment rose from 4.7% to 4.8% in February.
  

• Canada's unemployment rate improved from 6.6% to 6.4% in February
  

• Japan's machinery orders were down 6.2% in January, but up 9.8 YoY.
  
  

• The USDA's 2005-2006 U.S. ending stocks estimate for:
  Corn was lowered from 2.401 to 2.351 billion bushels.
  Soybeans were raised from 555 to 565 million bushels.
  Wheat unchanged at 542 million bushels.
  Sugar was lowered from 1.661 to 1.510 million tons.
  Cotton was lowered from 7.00 to 6.60 million bales.
  
  

• For 2006, the USDA estimates a 5% increase in beef production and a 3% increase in pork production.
  

• The USDA reduced its estimate of the Florida orange crop from 158 to 154 million boxes with a projected yield of 1.58 gallons per box at 42.0 degrees Brix.
  

'SECRET DOCKET' IN D.C. COURTS
In a study released this week, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press says that, over a five-year period, D.C. defendants in more than 450 out of 2,600 criminal cases were indicted, tried, prosecuted and sentenced to jail in complete secrecy.

Gitmo: The Worst of the Worst?
On February 16, a British high court judge, Sir Andrew Collins, emphasized: "America's idea of what is torture is not the same as ours and does not appear to coincide with that of most civilized nations."

FREE SPEECH ON THE RUN IN THE WEST
Much of Europe has painted itself into a corner on the censorship issue. What can Norway say to pro-censorship Muslims when it already has a hate speech law forbidding, among other things, "publicly stirring up one part of the population against another," or any utterance that "threatens, insults or subjects to hatred, persecution or contempt any person or group of persons because of their creed, race, color or national or ethnic origin ... or homosexual bent"? No insulting utterances at all? Since most strong opinions can be construed as insulting (hurting someone's feelings), no insults means no free speech.

Quick Overview

• The International Monetary Fund is set to raise its forecast for global economic growth this year to 4.8 percent, Germany's Handelsblatt said.
  
  

• U.S. Jobless claims were up 8,000 last week to 303,000, more than expected.
  

• U.S. Exports rose from $111.6 to $114.4 billion while imports rose from $176.6 to $182.9 billion.
  

• The Bank of Japan voted to end five years of loose monetary policy and eventually move to raise its interest rate from zero.
  

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

• Canada's exports were down 3.3%.
  

• Mexican consumer prices rose 0.15 percent in February, less than expected.
  

• The U.S. DoE said that underground supplies of natural gas were down 85 billion cubic feet to 1.887 trillion cubic feet. YoY supplies are up 26%.

• The Renewable Fuels Association reported the U.S. produced 3.904 billion gallons of ethanol in 2005, an average of 255,000 barrels a day. However demand is running at an even faster pace. December production was short of demand by 310,000 barrels a day. The 95 ethanol plants currently in operation have a 4.3 billion gallons-per-year capacity. There are 34 plants under construction that will add another 2.1 billion gallons a year incapacity

Quick Overview

• For 2005, U.S. business productivity was up 2.9%.
  
  
  

• 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, which will be the first policy meeting chaired by Ben Bernanke.
  
  

• Switzerland's Feb. Jobless rate falls to 3.8%. This is better than expected by markets and a further sign of the gradually improving state of the Swiss labor market.
  

• The Bank of Canada raised its overnight rate by one quarter of a percentage point to 3.75 percent as expected on Tuesday, but signaled that its current tightening cycle may be drawing to a close.
  
  
  

• The USDA sees declining crop condition ratings in the hard red winter belt. A full 87% of the Texas crop, for example, is rated poor to very poor while Oklahoma's wheat is 70% poor to very poor.
  
  
  
  
  

Harry Browne, RIP


The words of Harry Browne

Kind words from some of Harry's friends:

Quick Overview

• U.S. Factory orders were down 4.5% in January, the biggest monthly drop in over five years. Excluding transport, factory orders were up 1.6% in January.
  

• Retail sales volumes in the Euro zone were up 0.9% YoY.
  

• YoY Japan's Finance Ministry said that capital spending was up 9.5% in the fourth quarter.
  
  

• Chile's economy expanded 5.5 percent in January.
  
  

• Brazilian exports of ethanol rose to 145.1 million liters in February, up 20.7% from 120.2 million liters a year ago. U.S. demand dominated sales.
  

• Gold production in South Africa totaled 296.3 tons in 2005, down 13% YoY and the lowest production since 1923.
  

• London inventories of copper are at 121,175 tons.
  

• The Florida Citrus Processors said there were 92.3 million gallons of frozen orange juice concentrate in inventory on February 25th, down 35% YoY.
  

Patriot Act E-Mail Searches Apply to Non-Terrorists, Judges Say

Fidelity Estimates $200,000 Now Needed to Cover Retiree Health Care Costs; Five Percent Increase over 2005 Estimate of $190,000

Mother Of All Tax Shelters
Both supporters and opponents of the proposal said that the enhanced HSAs offer unprecedented tax advantages and may become more attractive than 401(k)s or individual retirement accounts as a way for the richest and healthiest Americans to build savings.

Quick Overview

• Future moves in official U.S. interest rates will be closely tied to incoming data, but for now the Federal Reserve does not need to push rates beyond neutral, a top central bank official said on Friday.
  

• The ISM index of services increased from 56.8 to 60.1
  

• The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index dropped from 91.2 to 86.7
  

• YoY consumer prices in Japan were up 0.5% in January.
  

• An index of services in the Euro zone increased from 57.0 to 58.2
  

• Informa Economics said expects the U.S. to produce 22.45 million bales of cotton in 2006-2007, down from 23.7 million bales the previous year. They forecast 119.7 million bales of world production in 2006-2007.
  
  

Willis Is Mad As Hell...
"I'm sick of answering this [expletive] question," he says. "I'm a Republican only as far as I want a smaller government, I want less government intrusion. I want them to stop [expletive] on my money and your money and tax dollars that we give 50 percent of... every year. I want them to be fiscally responsible and I want these [expletive] lobbyists out of Washington. Do that and I'll say I'm a Republican... I hate the government, OK? I'm a-political. Write that down. I'm not a Republican."

Bush Privatize Tax Collection
Members of the National Treasury Employees Union, visiting Washington from around the country for an organizing meeting, paraded in front of the IRS on Constitution Avenue during the lunch-hour rally, hoisting signs and chanting slogans such as "Hey hey, ho ho, bounty hunters gotta go" and "Don't be fooled by White House lies, it's not wise to privatize."

Bush Plan to Sell Public Lands To Fund Schools
Forest Service officials and Western lawmakers battled Tuesday over an administration proposal that would sell national forest lands to help pay for a rural schools program, as the vital 30-day public comment period began.

Armed forces are put on standby to tackle threat of wars over water
Across the world, they are coming: the water wars. From Israel to India, from Turkey to Botswana, arguments are going on over disputed water supplies that may soon burst into open conflict.

Quick Overview

• U.S. Jobless claims were up 15,000 last week to 294,000, more than expected.
  

• Top executives of U.S. companies expect to see continued strength in the nation's economy over the next six months, especially in new hiring, according to a survey released by the Business Roundtable on Thursday
  

• The European Central Bank raised its interest rate from 2.25% to 2.50%.
  

• Retail sales in Germany were up 2.7% in January more than expected.
  

• Retail sales in Australia were up 0.8% in January.
  

• The DoE said that underground supplies of natural gas were down 171 billion cubic feet to 1.972 trillion cubic feet. Supplies are up 21% YoY.
  

• Silver futures closed above $10 an ounce Thursday, at the highest level in more than two decades, with traders upbeat about the prospects for a silver exchange-traded fund.

FOX Ratings In Free Fall - O'Reilly Leads The Way Down
As we all know, the media is rampant with sycophantic, corporate shills and can't be trusted to deliver a pizza. But an intersting trend is developing that ought to shake their confidence in the suck-up school of journalism.

Gonzales Seeks to Clarify Testimony on Spying
"It seems to me he is conceding that there are other NSA surveillance programs ongoing that the president hasn't told anyone about,"

Quick Overview

• U.S. Commerce Department said that Personal income increased 0.7 percent, consumer spending rose 0.9%.
  
  
  

• The average U.S. home increased 12.95% in value in 2005, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said Wednesday.
  
  

• The ISM index rose to 56.7% in February from 54.8% in January -- more than expected.
  
  

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

• Australia's GDP was up 0.5% in the fourth quarter, weaker than expected. For 2005 the GDP was up 2.5%, the slowest in four years.
  

• The unemployment rate in the Euro zone remained at 8.3% in January. For the EU-25, the unemployment rate was 8.5%.
  

• Brazilian traders returned to work on Wednesday and lifted stocks to a record high on news that Standard & Poor's upgraded the country's credit rating -- the Real ended near a five-year high.
  

• YoY consumer prices in the Euro zone have increased 2.3% in February.
  

• Canada's industrial product price index rose 0.5% in January.
  

• The Chinese economy grew 9.9% in 2005, up from 9.5% in 2004.
  

• South Africa's GDP increased 4.9% in 2005, up from 4.5% in 2004.
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that:
  Supplies of crude oil were up 1.6 million barrels to 328.3 million barrels.
  Supplies of unleaded gasoline were up 300,000 barrels
  Supplies of heating oil were down 2.1 million barrels.
  

• The International Sugar Organization estimates world sugar production in 2005-2006 at 149 million tons and total use at 151.2 million tons. Resulting in a production shortfall of 2.22 million tons -- larger than previous estimates.
  

• London copper inventories are at 115,275 tons.
  

Prodded to spend, China's consumers prefer to save

Fed Official Warns of Changes A top Federal Reserve official warned yesterday that the U.S. financial system is evolving faster than the ability of investors, lenders and regulators to evaluate and manage the risks involved

We Are All Killers..Until we stop flying
New fuel consumption figures for both fast passenger ships and ultra high-speed trains suggest that their carbon emissions are comparable to those of planes(22). What all this means is that if we want to stop the planet from cooking, we will simply have to stop travelling at the kind of speeds that planes permit.

Global credit ocean dries up
"There are several hundred billion dollars of positions in the carry trade that will be unwound as soon as they become unprofitable," said Stephen Lewis, an economist at Monument Securities. "When the Bank of Japan starts tightening we may see some spectacular effects. The world has never been through this before, so there is a high risk of mistakes."

Quick Overview

• The National Association of Realtors said resales of U.S. homes dropped 2.8% in January to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 6.56 million, the lowest in two years.
  
  

• The Conference Board said U.S. consumer confidence fell unexpectedly in February to 101.7 from a revised January 106.8.
  
  

• Chicago purchasing managers index fell to 54.9 in February from 58.5 in January.
  
  
  

• The U.S. Commerce Department said that U.S. GDP was up 1.6% in the fourth quarter, better than the previous estimate of 1.1%. For all of 2005, GDP increased 3.5%.
  
  

• Canada's GDP was up 0.6% in the fourth quarter and up 2.9% for 2005.
  

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

• Industrial production in Japan was up 0.3% in January.
  
  

• YoY surface trade among the United States, Canada and Mexico rose 13.5% in December, the Department of Transport said.
  
  

• Argentina's jobless rate fell a full percentage point in the fourth quarter as the thriving economy continued to create new jobs.
  
  

• France Jan. Unemployment Rate rose to 9.6% vs. 9.5%.
  
  

• Australia Current Account Deficit for Q4 out at -14.4B AUD vs. -13.6B expected
  

• Newmont Mining (NEM) reported a drop in fourth quarter production despite high gold prices.
  
  

• Dow-Jones Newswires reported that Brazil is building 52 sugarcane mills to meet growing domestic and global demand for ethanol.
  

Neocons jump ship

Harper's Calls For Impeachment
“To take away the excuse,” he said, “that we didn't know.” So that two or four or ten years from now, if somebody should ask, “Where were you, Conyers, and where was the United States Congress?” when the Bush Administration declared the Constitution inoperative and revoked the license of parliamentary government, none of the company now present can plead ignorance or temporary insanity, can say that “somehow it escaped our notice” that the President was setting himself up as a supreme leader exempt from the rule of law.

Senator Feinstein's War-Profiteering
The Democrats aren’t just letting the Republicans get away with murder, however, some of them are also reaping the benefits of the Bush wars. We constantly hear about Dick Cheney’s ties to Halliburton and how his ex-company is making bundles off US contracts in Iraq. But what we don’t hear about is how Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein and her husband are also making tons of money off the “war on terror”.

Venezuela Cautions U.S. It May Curtail Oil Exports The minister, Rafael Ramírez, said Venezuela, which is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter and supplies more than 10 percent of American oil imports, could act in the face of what he described as aggression by the Bush administration

America's younger workers losing ground on income
From 2001 to 2004, median income fell 8 percent for householders under 35, a survey shows.

Quick Overview

• A survey by the National Association for Business Economics increased its estimate of first quarter U.S. GDP growth from an annual rate of 3.4% to 4.5%.
  
  
  

• New home sales fell 5% in January to the lowest level in a year, the Commerce Department reported Monday. Sales fell for the fourth time in six months during a balmy January, while the number of homes on the market hit a record high (Ed. Note: Right now, the number of homes on the market in the United States is 528,000) - the largest supply of homes in nine years. Sales are down four times in six months. December home sales rose 3.8%. Sales fell 7.0% in November, rose 7.7% in October, sank 2.0% in September and fell 7.1% in August.
  
  
  
  

• China should reduce the dollar share of its foreign exchange reserves because of the risks posed by the instability of the U.S. currency, influential economics professor Xiao Zhuoji said in an interview published on Monday.
  
  

• Hawkish comments by Bank of Japan governor Toshihiko Fukui last week fueled expectations the central bank will end its ultraeasy monetary policy around April.
  
  

• Canada's exports were up C$6.1 billion because of higher energy prices. Imports were up C$2.1 billion.
  
  

• YoY Japan's exports of cars, trucks and buses jumped 17.3% in January, rising for the sixth straight month.
  

• Intel Corp announced plans Tuesday to build a $300-million chip assembly and testing factory in southern Vietnam

Free speech, even if it hurts
Today, you may be imprisoned or fined for dissenting from the accepted Holocaust history in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Israel, Lithuania, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Switzerland.

Cancelled home orders: Latest bubble prick?
Home builders are growing concerned about an increasing number of cancelled new home orders, which experts say could be a sign of an underlying weakness in the recent run in home prices.

Verizon Faces New $20B Suit over NSA Spying Complicity
Upping the ante in what may be a high-stakes legal battle, an Upstate New York lawyer filed a $20 billion class-action lawsuit against Verizon last week, charging that the company violated customer confidentiality in aiding warrantless eavesdropping by a federal spy agency.

U.S. to Pay Big Employers Billions Not to End Their Retiree Health Plans

Mr. Reed Consults With Padre Kino

Quick Overview

• Durable goods orders dove 10.2% in January from the previous month for the biggest drop in six years, led by a decline in commercial aircraft, the Commerce Department said Friday. Excluding transport, orders were up 0.6% on the month.
  

• The U.S. economy can cope if the Federal Reserve makes a "mistake" (they usually do) and raises interest rates too high, one of its top policy-makers said on Friday, in remarks implying he did not fear delivering more rate hikes.
  
  

• Brazil's economy posted a tepid fourth-quarter recovery after a third-quarter slump, ending the year on a weak note that slowed full-year 2005 economic growth to 2.3 percent, less than half that of the year before.
  
  

• The USDA said there were 12.110 million head of cattle on feed on February 1st, up 6.8% YoY. Placements in January were up 16% YoY. Marketing’s were up 2%.
  

• The USDA estimated this week's beef production at 443.4 million pounds, up 2.8% from a year ago. The USDA estimates pork production at 395.9 million pounds, down 0.2% from YoY.
  
  

• The Florida Citrus Processors said there were 92.7 million gallons of frozen orange juice concentrate in inventory on February 18th, down 35% YoY.
  
  

• London copper inventories are at 109,225 tons.
  
  

India spreads its net for gas, any gas

Families' budget squeezed by rising costs
From an economic point of view, core inflation — for now — isn't overly worrisome but it is "generating some angst within the Fed," said Sherry Cooper,

Quick Overview

• U.S. Jobless claims were down 20,000 last week to 278,000, signaling a stronger economy than expected.
  
  

• The Bank of Japan on Thursday sent the strongest signal yet of an imminent end to its ultraloose monetary policy, saying it would move quickly when prices recover steadily -- a trend it said was already beginning.
  
  

• Germany's Ifo index, increased from 101.8 to 103.3 in February, the highest reading in 14 years.
  

• The unemployment rate in Brazil climbed from 8.3% to 9.2% in January.
  

• Cotton mill use rose from an annual rate of 5.51 to 6.24 million bales in January.
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said that:
  Supplies of crude oil supplies were up 1.1 million barrels to 326.7 million barrels.
  Supplies of unleaded gasoline were up 100,000 barrels.
  Supplies of heating oil were up 400,000 barrels.
  Supplies of underground natural gas were down 123 billion cubic feet last week to 2.143 trillion cubic feet.
  
  

• The World Gold Council said gold demand totaled 3,754 tons in 2005, up 7% YoY. YoY mine production was up 1% at 2,494 tons. The largest increas in demand came from India, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and China.