Financial regulator seeks powers to curb excess speculation Gensler's proposals seek to curb excessive speculation in these complex markets. They'd standardize many contracts and have them clear on an exchange, much like regulated products on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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• U.S. jobless claims fell 4,000 last week to 621,000
  

• U.S. non-farm productivity increased 1.6% QoQ and 1.9% YoY
  

• Retail sales volume in the EU area rose 0.5% MOM, but fell 1.4% YoY.
  

• France's unemployment rate rose from 7.6% to 8.7%
  

• Canada kept interest rates unchanged
  

• England kept interest rates unchanged
  

• European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged
  

• (Reuters) - Medical bills are behind more than 60 percent of U.S. personal bankruptcies, U.S. researchers reported Thursday in a report they said demonstrates that healthcare reform is on the wrong track.
  

• (Spiegel) Two male penguins at a zoo in Bremerhaven, Germany -- who have been a pair for years -- have hatched and raised an abandoned chick as their own.

Latvian debt crisis shakes Eastern Europe
Latvia faces a calamitous hangover after blazing the trail of euro, Swiss franc, and yen mortgages. Fitch Ratings says foreign debt maturing in 2009 is equal to 320pc of foreign reserves.

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• (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sounded a cautiously upbeat note on the U.S. economy on Wednesday but warned that corralling government debt was vital to ensuring the nation's long-term health.

• Australia's GDP rose 0.4%.
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said;
  Supplies of crude oil rose 2.9 million barrels to 366.0 million barrels
  Supplies of gasoline fell 200,000 barrels
  Supplies of heating oil fell 200,000 barrels.
  Refinery use rose from 85.1% to 86.3%.
  Gasoline demand fell 0.4% YoY
  Distillate demand fell 8.8% YoY.

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• Pending sales of existing homes in the U.S. rose 6.7% in April -- the biggest monthly gain in over seven years
  

• Australia kept its interest rate unchanged at 3.0%,
  

• The unemployment rate in the EU rose from 8.4% to 8.6% in April,
  

• Manufacturing index in the Euro zone rose from 36.8 to 40.7

• Up to 50% of the Canadian Prairies wheat belt faces serious moisture shortages. Arlan Suderman (Farm Futures)
  

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• (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. and Citigroup Inc. were removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, replaced by Cisco Systems Inc. and Travelers Cos., after the first global recession in 70 years crippled their earnings and sent their shares down more than 90 percent.
  
  

• U.S. personal incomes rose 0.5% in April
  

• U.S. Consumer spending fell 0.1%.
  

• The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index rose to 42.8 from 40.1 in April.
  

• U.S. construction spending rose 0.8%
  

• Canada’s GDP fell 0.3%
  

• YoY Canada’s PPI fell 0.5%.
  

• U.K. manufacturing rose to 45.4 from 43.1
  

• Australia's retail sales rose 0.3% in April
  

• China’s manufacturing index dropped from 53.5 to 53.1 in May, but expanded for a third month.
  
  
  

Commodities Head for Biggest Monthly Rally Since July 1974
Signs of a recovery in the global economy have spurred demand for fuel, industrial metals and crops. Crude oil was poised for the biggest monthly gain in a decade, and gasoline has soared more than 30 percent in May. Gold, silver and copper surged, while corn and soybeans reached the highest since September.

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• The U.S. GDP shrank at a 5.7% annual pace in the first quarter.
  

• The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index rose from 65.1 to 68.7
  

• The Institute for Supply Management’s business barometer decreased to 34.9 from 40.1 in April
  
  

• Japan’s retail sales rose 0.6% in April,
  Japan’s unemployment rate rose from 4.8% to 5.0%
  

• India’s GDP rose 5.8% Q1.

• Poland's GDP grew by 0.8% in the first three months of 2009.
  

• U.K. house prices rose 1.2% in May

• Japan Apr. Housing Starts fell 32.4% YoY
  

• Germany Apr. Retail Sales rose 0.5% MoM but fell 0.8% YoY

• Sweden’s Q1 GDP fell 0.9% QoQ
  

• Swiss Leading Indicators fell 1.86 %

• (Bloomberg) -- Starbucks Corp., the world’s largest coffee-shop operator, is pushing some U.S. landlords for as much as a 25 percent reduction in lease rates, taking advantage of a declining real estate market to save on rent.

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• U.S. durable goods orders rose 1.9% in April -- stronger than expected.
  

• U.S. jobless claims fell 13,000 last week to 623,000.
  
  

• YoY Japan's retail sales fell 2.9% in April

• Japan’s industrial production rose 5.2% MoM

• Swiss April Trade Balance out at 2.56B vs. 0.12B in March.

• Germany’s May Unemployment Rate out at 8.2% vs. 8.4% expected and 8.3% in April.
  

• Euro Zone May Consumer Confidence was steady at -31 vs. -30 expected
  

• YoY Russia’s GDP fell 10.5% in April.
  

• South Africa’s lowered its benchmark interest rate by 1% to 7.5%
  

• OPEC met and kept official production levels unchanged
  

• The U.S. mortgage delinquency rate rose to 9.12% and the share of loans entering foreclosure rose to 1.37%.

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau MoM U.S. new home sales rose 0.3%, but fell 34% YoY

• The U.S. Department of Energy said:
  Supplies of crude oil fell 5.4 million barrels to 363.1 million barrels.
  Supplies of gasoline fell 600,000 barrels
  Supplies of heating oil rose 1.1 million barrels.
  Refinery use rose from 81.8% to 85.1%
  Gasoline demand fell 0.4% YoY
• Distillate demand fell 9.9% YoY

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• The National Association of Realtors said existing home sales rose 2.9% MoM

• Malaysia's GDP shrank a sharper-than-expected 6.2% in Q1
  

• YoY Japan's export fell 38.1% in April, but rose 1.9% MoM
  

• A survey of 45 forecasters found three-quarters expect the economic downturn to end by Q3
  

• The USDA said:
  82% of the corn crop was planted, up from 62% last week. The five-year average for this date is 93%.
  48% of the soybean crop was planted, up from 25% last week. The five-year average for this date is 65%.
  79% of the spring wheat crop was planted, up from 50% last week. The five-year average for this date is 95%.
  61% of the cotton crop was planted, up from 42% last week.

• Global oil demand is picking up, supported by higher consumption in China, so said Ali Naimi Saudi Arabia's oil minister – he is predicting $80 oil as economies recover.

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• U.S. consumer confidence rose from 40.8 to 54.9 in May -- the highest since September.
  

• YoY the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of home prices in 20 U.S. cities fell 18.7% in March.
  

• (FT) Speculative bets against the dollar have risen to their highest level since the onset of the financial crisis
  
  

• A total of $162 billion of U.S. treasuries will be auctioned over the next 3 days.

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• Germany’s business climate index rose to 84.2 from 83.7 in April.
  
  

• Colombia’s April coffee production fell 61% to 345,000, versus 886,000 60-kilogram bags in April last year. Total coffee production in Colombia fell 25% YoY. YoY Coffee exports fell 14%.
  
  

• India's Farm Minister said the federal government may extend the deadline for duty-free raw sugar imports beyond July 31. India's sugar output has fallen to 14.7 million tons in the year ending September from 26.3 million tons a year earlier.
  
  

• The right price range for oil is between $60-75 per barrel, Russia's energy minister said.
  

US bonds sale faces market resistance
The Obama administration needs to raise $2 trillion this year to cover the fiscal stimulus plan and the bank bail-outs. It has to fund $900bn by September.

Gold bugs at last have their perfect trinity
China has doubled its bullion reserves and left us in no doubt that it will spend more of its $40bn monthly surplus on hard assets rather than the toxic paper of Western democracies.

FX OUTLOOK-US debt ratings worries to weigh on dollar Bill Gross, manager of Pimco, the world's biggest bond fund, warned on Thursday the United States will eventually lose its top AAA credit rating, a fear that could keep the dollar, stocks and bonds under selling pressure.

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• (Reuters) Stocks rose on Friday as investors snapped up shares of multinational companies, including McDonald's Corp, on hopes that a weaker dollar would underpin profitability

• Canada’s retail sales rose 0.3% in March
  

• U.K.'s GDP fell 1.9% QoQ and 4.1% YoY.
  

• Singapore’s GDP fell 10.1% YoY.
  

• China's copper imports rose 7% MoM and up 149% YoY
  

• The USDA said the U.S. beef production totaled 5.13 billion pounds of beef in April down 5% YoY.
  

• The USDA said the U.S. pork production totaled 1.92 billion pounds in April, down 5% YoY
  

• The USDA expects world sugar ending stocks at 19% of annual use, making it the lowest stocks to use ratio in 16 years.
  

• A report on ethanol predicted world demand for ethanol will rise 9.3% per year for five years.
  

Nomura Says Sell the Dollar as Central Banks Reduce Holdings
The share of Russia’s dollar holdings fell to 41.5 percent of reserves, from 45 percent as of Nov. 1, while the portion of euros rose to 47.5 percent from 44 percent, according to the central bank’s annual report

Quick Overview

• U.S. leading indicators rose 1%, more than forecast.
  

• U.S. jobless claims fell 12,000 last week to 631,000.
  

• European manufacturing and services index rose from 41.1 to 43.9
  

• Japan's Trade index of services fell 4%
  

• YOY Mexico’s GDP fell 8.2% in Q!
  

• YoY Taiwan’s GDP fell 10.2% in Q1.

Quick Overview

• YoY Canada’s consumer prices rose 0.4% in April
  

• British manufacturer expectations improved from -32% to -17% in May

• The U.S. Department of Energy said:
  Supplies of crude oil fell 2.1 million barrels to 368.5 million barrels
  Supplies of gasoline fell 4.3 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil rose 300,000 barrels.
  Refinery use fell from 83.7% to 81.8% of capacity.
  Gasoline demand fell 1.2%
  Distillate demand fell 12.0%
  
  

• The World Gold Council said gold demand was 1,016 tons in Q1, up 38% YoY

• The Apiary Inspectors of America and the USDA issued a study that shows that the U.S. is still losing honey bees at an alarming rate. The survey found that from last September through this April the U.S. lost approximately 29% of honey bee colonies. This is down from a 36% loss in 2007-2008 and the 32% loss in 2006-2007.

Quick Overview

• U.S. housing starts fell 13% MoM 54% YoY -- weaker than expected.
  

• YoY U.K. consumer prices rose 2.3% in April
  

• Construction output in the EU fell 2.1% MoM and 10.5% YoY
  

• Investor confidence in Germany rose from 13 to 31.1
  

• Arlan Suderman’s Farm Futures model suggests old-crop beans stocks will fall to 9-day supply. Market must ration demand to prevent that from occurring.

• China Shipping Container Lines rose 5.6% as Goldman Sachs said it was turning more positive on the transportation industry.
  

• China’s imports of iron ore, used in steelmaking, jumped 33% in April, setting a record for a third month, the customs office said.
  

• Japan's economy shrank a record 4.0% in Q1.
  

• Ahead of Friday's USDA cattle on feed report, Allendale Inc. sees the total number of cattle on feed down 2.9%, which would be the smallest May 1 total in four years.