Updates resume September 7 or 8

Media Blackout: The Armada in the Gulf
Here is the basic story. Two aircraft carrier task forces, the Abraham Lincoln and the Peleliu, are already in the Persian Gulf. This is verifiable on the Websites of the carriers. A third task force, the Iwo Jima, was dispatched to the Gulf on August 22. This has been verified by a naval source. Two more – the Theodore Roosevelt and the Ronald Reagan – are said to be sailing to the Gulf, but I was unable to verify this from official sources. The Jerusalem Post reported this, as did at least one Egyptian newspaper cited by the Post. The Arab world is aware of all this. Western audiences are not.

Of Moose and Pit Bulls

To countries competing with the US, as for example Japan, the American military budget is a godsend, the equivalent of a golf handicap on a rival, because it represents money the US cannot spend to become more competitive. Fortunately for Asia, American military expenditure cannot readily be cut back. Too many jobs, military towns, and corporate profits depend on it. Consequently China builds infrastructure while the US builds fighter planes.

Computer containing deets of 1 million bank customers sold on eBay
This time, an unsuspecting IT manager, had found details for one million bank customers on the hard drive of a computer he bought on eBay for just £35.

Andrew Chapman from Oxford found information including the bank account numbers, phone numbers, mothers' maiden names and signatures of one million customers of American Express, NatWest and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Quick Overview

• The S&P/Case-Shiller index of U.S. home prices in twenty cities fell 0.5% in June. YoY home prices fell 15.9%.
  

• The U.S. Census Bureau said U.S. new home sales were at an annual rate of 515,000 units in July, up 2.4% from June. YoY new home sales are down 36%.
  

• The Conference Board's index of U.S. consumer confidence improved from 51.9 to 56.9.
  

• Business confidence in Germany fell from 97.5 to 94.8 in August -- causing the Euro to fall to a six-month low against the dollar.
  

• YoY British mortgage approvals in July fell 65%.
  

Quick Overview

The National Association of Realtors said that U.S. existing home sales were at an annual rate of 5.00 million units in July, up 3.1% MoM.

The USDA said:
64% of the corn crop was rated good to excellent, down from 67% last week.
61% of the soybean crop was rated good to excellent, down from 61% last week.
48% of the cotton crop was rated good to excellent -- same as a week ago.
55% of the spring wheat crop was rated good to excellent.

Quick Overview

• (FT)The decline in oil prices and the rally in the dollar was "encouraging", Ben Bernanke said, suggesting the Federal Reserve thinks global inflationary pressures could be starting to ease.
  

• Industrial new orders for the Euro area fell 0.3% in June.
  

• Canada anticipates wheat production will rise 27% this year to 25.4 million tons. They also estimated that soybean production will be up 17%, but corn production will fall 15%.
  

• The USDA said there were 9.869 million head of cattle on feed as of August 1st, down 4.2% YoY. July placements were up 2.4% YoY and marketing’s were up 1.1%.
  

• The USDA said there were 492.2 million pounds of frozen pork in storage on July 31st, up 8% YoY. Frozen pork bellies totaled 59.2 million pounds, up 87% YoY.
  

• The USDA said there were 1.42 billion pounds of frozen orange juice in storage, up 68% YoY.
  

• Indonesia, the world's biggest exporter of tin, has confirmed plans to limit production of the commodity in a bid to support prices and sustain the local industry

U.S. Mint Suspends Sales of American Eagle Gold Coins
It is the first time in two decades that the Mint halted sales of the coins, which are made of 22-carat gold from domestic mines. The coins also contain small amounts of alloy for hardening.

Quick Overview

• U.S. jobless claims were down 13,000 last week to 432,000.
  
• U.S. leading indicators fell 0.7% in July.
  
  
• The Philadelphia Feds regional index of manufacturing rose from -16.3 to -12.7 in August
  
  

• U.K.'s retail sales volume rose 0.8% in July
  

• YoY Canada’s consumer prices rose 3.4% in July.
  
  

• The International Cocoa Organization said 2007-2008 world cocoa production will be short of consumption by 88,000 tons, more than the 41,000 tons projected earlier.
  

• (WSJ) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac need to refinance $225 billion of debt by the end of September. Investor interest may hinge on the details of any potential government bailout.

The Golden Value of Reliable Numbskulls
Gold is the "the epitome of human stupidity," said an opinion in the Telegraph newspaper. "A metal that is dug out of the ground at great cost to be reinterred in bank vaults as a protection against the same stupidity as caused it to be dug up in the first place."

Japan's Exports Rebound, China Becomes No. 1 Customer (Update2)
(Bloomberg) -- Japan's exports rebounded in July as China replaced the U.S. as the nation's largest customer.

Quick Overview

• Canada’s sales rose 0.5% from May, and up 4.0% YoY
  

• Shanghai equities made their biggest daily gain in four months as optimism rose the Chinese authorities would implement a stimulus plan.
  

• The U.S. DOE said:
  Supplies of crude oil rose 9.4 million barrels to 305.9 million barrels -- more than expected. Supplies of gasoline fell 6.2 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil supplies rose 600,000 barrels.
  Refinery use dropped from 85.9% to 85.7% of capacity.
  Gasoline demand fell 1.6% YoY
  Distillate demand rose 3.3% YoY.
  

• The World Meteorological Organization said the world was cooler than at least the 5 previous years during the first half of 2008.
  

• Pirates hijacked a Malaysian oil tanker carrying palm oil in the waters off Somalia. It joins ships from Japan and Thailand that have been seized recently.

• Goldman Sachs reasserted a forecast that oil prices could hit a record $149 a barrel by the end of the year as supply struggles to meet rising demand in Asia.

Proportion and Distortion
Russia and Georgia

Rice: Military power is "not the way to deal in the 21st century"
The idea that the U.S. can, should and must be, more or less, in a state of permanent war, and can start wars in a whole host of circumstances having nothing to do with defending the country from an attack or imminent attack, is as close to an unchallengeable, bipartisan article of faith as it gets. We're a country that fights wars and uses military force in far more places and for far broader reasons than any other country in the world, by far. Again, regardless of one's views about whether our wars are really Good and Just -- even if one believes that what we drop on other countries are Good and Loving Freedom Bombs -- it's still just a fact that no country views military action as a more appropriate response in more situations than the U.S. does.

Quick Overview

• U.S. Labor producer price index rose 1.2% in July, and up 9.8% YoY
  
• U.S. housing starts were at an annual rate of 965,000 units in July, down 11% from June's pace, and down 30% YoY.
  

• Canada’s wholesale sales rose2.0%
  

• Japan kept the interest rate unchanged at 0.50%.
  

George, Stay Out of Georgia
by William S. Lind

It almost passes belief to think that the Bush administration, bogged down in two wars and planning a third (with Iran), might move toward a confrontation with Russia. Yet that is what the White House appears to be doing.

Quick Overview

• The USDA said:
  67% of the corn crop was rated good to excellent, the same as last week.
  62% of the soybean crop was rated good to excellent, down from 63% last week.
  56% of the spring wheat crop was rated good to excellent.
  48% of the cotton crop was rated good to excellent, up from 45% last week.
  

• Canada confirmed mad cow disease in a six-year-old beef cow from Alberta.

Dollar surge will not stop America feeling the effects of a global crunch US exports have risen 22pc over the past year, outstripping Chinese growth. The US non-oil trade deficit has shrunk by two fifths since 2002. It is now running at $300bn a year. This is 2.1pc of GDP.

Quick Overview

• U.S. industrial production rose 0.2% in July, better than expected
  

• The New York Federal Reserve's regional index of manufacturing rose from -4.92 to +2.77, better than expected.
  

• The University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment rose from 61.2 to 61.7
  

• Canada’s manufacturing sales rose 2.1%.
  

• YoY China's vehicle sales rose 6.8% in July
  

• Hong Kong’s port handled 2.19 million TEU in July, an increase of 4.7%.
  
• Singapore reported an 11.6% increase in container movement in July.

Blowback From Bear-Baiting by Patrick J. Buchanan
Is not Western hypocrisy astonishing?