Greece defies Europe as EMU crisis turns deadly serious
Mr Papandreou has good reason to throw the gauntlet at Europe's feet. Greece is being told to adopt an IMF-style austerity package, without the devaluation so central to IMF plans. The prescription is ruinous and patently self-defeating. Public debt is already 113pc of GDP. The Commission says it will reach 125pc by late 2010. It may top 140pc by 2012.

Quick Overview

• U.S. retail sales rose 1.3% in November.
  

• The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index rose from 67.4 to 73.4
  

• YOY India’s industrial production rose 10.3%
  

• YoY U.K. producer prices rose 2.9%.

Quick Overview

• U.S. Jobless claims rose 17,000 to 474,000.
  
  

• The USDA's 2009-2010 U.S. ending stocks estimate of:
  Corn was raised from 1.625 to 1.675 billion bushels.
  Some 12% of the crop is still sitting in the snow!
  Soybeans were reduced from 270 to 255 million bushels.
  Wheat was raised from 885 to 900 million bushels.
  Sugar was kept at 1.016 million tons.
  Cotton was lowered from 4.90 to 4.50 million bales.
  
  

• The USDA's 2009-2010 world ending stocks estimate of:
  Corn was kept at 132 million tons.
  Soybeans were kept at 57 million tons.
  Wheat was raised from 188 to 191 million tons.
  Cotton was lowered from 54 to 52 million tons.
  

• OJ was lowered from 136 to 135 million boxes.

• Unica pegged Brazil's center-south sugarcane crush at 538.2 million tons for the 2009-10 crop compared to its previous estimate of 529.5 million tons

• Uttar Pradesh is asking the central government to lift its restriction on raw sugar from Brazil amid severe shortages and rising prices.

• YoY China’s factory output rose 19.2 %

Nuremberg Revisited: Obama Administration Files To Dismiss Case Against John Yoo
If successful in this case, the Obama Administration will succeed in returning the world to the rules leading to the war crimes at Nuremberg. Quite a legacy for the world’s newest Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Quick Overview

• (Bloomberg) China, the world’s largest steel consumer, will impose provisional duties on some U.S. and Russian imports following anti-dumping and subsidy investigations, escalating a trade spat started in September.

• The U.S. Mortgage Bankers Association said that its index of mortgage applications rose 8.5% last week
  

• U.S. wholesales rose 1.2% in October
  

• U.S. Inventories rose 0.3%.
  

• Japan’s GDP rose 0.3% in the third quarter, but fell5.1% YoY
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• Greece's new socialist government promised Wednesday to step up efforts to reduce the growing deficit after a ratings agency downgraded the country's debt rating.

• London bankers reacted with fury to UK government plans to levy a 50% super tax on banks’ bonus payouts.
  

• Spain has its credit outlook cut to negative from stable by the ratings agency Standard & Poor's, rattling European markets.

• MoM Japanese core machinery orders fell 4.5% in October

• Australian employers added 31,200 workers in November
  
  

• The U.S. Department of Energy said:
  Supplies of crude oil fell 3.8 million barrels to 336.1 million barrels
  Supplies of gasoline rose 2.2 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil supplies fell 700,000 barrels.
  Refinery use rose from 79.7% to 81.1% of capacity
  Gasoline demand rose 1.2% YoY
  Distillate demand fell 8.3% YoY
  

• Sugar output in Brazil’s Center South is estimated at 28.9 million metric tons, down from November’s projection of 29.3 million tons.
  

• With roughly 12% of the U.S. corn crop still in the field, some are concerned that crop could lodge, or fall down, due to the snow and winds approaching 50 miles per hour.

No update today

Quick Overview

• (FT) Commodity markets remained under pressure as risk appetite weakened amid concerns about the sustainability of global economic recovery
  

Quick Overview

• German factory orders fell 2.1% in October
  
  

• World Bank: The number of malnourished as a percentage of the developing world's population has also started to rise again. After falling from 20 percent in 1990-92 to just under 16 percent in 2003-05, it now stands at almost 18 percent. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says a long-running decline in farm investment is the main culprit behind food shortages and estimates $44 billion in new investment is needed annually to boost agriculture in developing countries.
  
  

• NY ADL new high
  

• Indonesia may import 500,000 metric tons of white sugar starting in December to meet an expected domestic supply shortfall in 2010
  
  

• (Reuters) - Big, full-service brokerages have lost a significant chunk of business to online firms that told small investors they are better off making their own decisions

• (Bloomberg)... Coffee lowers the risk of Type 2 diabetes by increasing the body’s ability to use
  insulin to convert blood sugar to energy, previous research has shown. ...
  
  

It's a return to the Star Chamber as Europe finally tramples Magna Carta into the dust If you have a spare evening, read the Magna Carta

Quick Overview

• U.S. unemployment rate improved from 10.2% to 10.0%
  

• U.S. Factory orders rose 0.6% in October.
  

• Canada’s unemployment rate improved from 8.6% to 8.5% in November

• Cocoa futures in London rose the highest level in almost 25 years following market talk of a small crop in Ghana.

• YoY Food inflation in India rose by over 17%

• World Copper (exchanges) inventory making new high.
  

• SLV (Silver ETF) Ounces of Silver in Trust up by 2.84% in 1 week.
  

Quick Overview

• U.S. 30-year mortgages fell to new all-time low of 4.71%
  

• U.S. jobless claims were down 5,000 last week at 457,000

• The Institute of Supply Management's index of services fell from 50.6 to 48.7 in November
  

• U.S. non-farm productivity rose 4.0%
  

• U.S. labor costs fell 1.4%.
  

• EU GDP rose 0.3% in Q3
  

• Australia's retail sales rose 0.3%
  

China Grain Output May Drop 37% on Climate Change (Update1
..Research shows that for every degree warmer the atmosphere becomes the key growing period for rice to develop properly will be shortened by an average of 7-8 days and by 17 days for the winter wheat crop, Zheng said. “Yield and quality will drop accordingly,” he said.

Quick Overview

• (Bloomberg) -- The global economy will expand 4.4 percent in 2010 and 4.5 percent the following year as the world recovers from the credit crisis, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said.
  

• ADP Employer Services said that there was a loss of 169,000 private jobs in November
  

• The Fed said today in its Beige Book business survey: economy is improving; consumer spending is moderately higher; commercial real estate is deteriorating; home sales are up; labor market is weak.
  

• The U.S. DOE said:
  Supplies of crude oil rose 2.1 million barrels to 339.9 million barrels
  Supplies of gasoline rose 4.0 million barrels
  Supplies of heating oil fell 300,000 barrels.
  Refinery use fell from 80.3% to 79.7%.
  Gasoline demand rose 0.7% YoY
  Distillate demand fell 7.7% YoY.
  

Quick Overview

• The Institute of Supply Management's index of manufacturing fell from 55.7 to 53.6 in November
  
  

• The National Association of Realtors said its index of pending home sales rose 3.7% MoM. YoY the index is up 32%.
  

• U.S. construction output rose 1.6% YoY.
  
  

• MoM U.S. retail sales rose 5.2%. YoY retail sales rose 2.6%.
  

• EU unemployment was unchanged at 9.8% in October.
  

• The Bank of Japan decided at an unscheduled policy meeting to offer up to Y10,000bn in three-month low-interest loans to commercial banks.
  

• DryShips Inc., a provider of marine transportation services for drybulk cargoes, announced that its previously announced agreement to acquire 2 Panamax vessels has been terminated since no period employment could be secured in the agreed timeframe
  

• From January to October China's iron ore import rose 36.8 %. In the same phase, domestic iron ore output reached about 702.66 million tons, up 36.04 million tons.
  

• North Korea has revalued its currency by a factor of 100, causing chaos on the streets of Pyongyang.

• Private exporters reported to the USDA export sales of 116,000 MT of corn for delivery to unknown destinations during the 2010/2011 marketing year.

• (Reuters Life!) - Reviled by the public and spurned in private, bankers have been looking for solace in adultery, according to a dating website for people seeking affairs.

• (Dow Jones)--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday it would delay until mid-2010 a decision on whether to increase the amount of ethanol added to ordinary gasoline, putting off a controversial ruling with consequences for farm states and the oil and automobile industries.The delay was anticipated by traders.

• BNP Paribas Fortis forecasts world sugar demand to grow by 1% in 2009 versus the average rate of 2.66% a year over the past decade

• The default rate for commercial mortgages in the US climbed to a fresh 16-year high of 3.4%

• Australia's parliament rejected sweeping carbon-trade laws aimed at cutting greenhouse gases.

• Thirteen mills in India's key sugar-producing state of Uttar Pradesh have stopped cane crushing operations due to supply shortages.
  state government official said Wednesday.

Quick Overview

• The Chicago Purchasing Managers' index rose from 54.2 to 56.1 in November
  

• Lumber is up its $10 daily limit
  

• Canada’s GDP rose 0.1% in Q3, but fell 3.2% YoY
  

• Japan’s industrial production rose 0.5% in October.
  

• EU consumer prices rose 0.6% MoM

• The USDA said:
  
• 79% of the corn crop was harvested. 21% or 2.7 bln bu of corn remain in the field; including 28% of IL, 22% of MN & NE, 60% of ND, 42% of SD, 33% of WI.
  
• 96% of the soybean crop was harvested. 133 million bushels of soybeans remain in the field.

• Australia raised interest rate by 0.25%

Bundesbank fears relapse as German banks face €90bn fresh losses
The venerable bank said in its Stability Report that the world had narrowly averted a "virtually uncontrollable" collapse in the late summer of 2008. While the credit system has partly stabilised, the underlying problems "are still far from being overcome" and money markets are not yet functioning properly.

Quick Overview

• The central bank of the United Arab Emirates says it is setting up a facility to provide banks with extra liquidity. The Central bank is expected to announce it will guarantee Dubai World debt before stock markets open on Monday.
  

• The rush by retail investors into gold has forced the US government to suspend sales of the world’s most popular bullion coin, the American Eagle, after running out of inventories for the second time since August of 08.
  

• Bloomberg reported that Europe holds $87 billion of debt from the United Arab Emirates and roughly $50 billion of that is held by British banks. The Royal Bank of Scotland is said to have the biggest exposure to Dubai World, with $2.3 billion of its debt.
  

• Freight traffic on U.S. railroads reached its highest level so far this year
  

• Japan's unemployment rate improved from 5.3% to 5.1% in October
  

• Vietnam devalued its currency by 5.4 % and lifted interest rates by 1% to try and choke off inflation.
  

• According to the China gold association, Chinas gold demand may be more than 450 metric tons this year, up from 395.6 tons in 2008, and output may climb to 310 tons, compared with 282 tons a year earlier.
  

• Iran’s government said it would build 10 new uranium enrichment sites and look into enriching uranium at higher grade inside the country.
  

• The US military could have captured or killed Osama bin Laden in 2001 if it had launched a concerted attack on his hideout in Afghanistan, according to a report from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

• New high for World exchange copper stocks

Updates resume Nov. 29

Quick Overview

• U.S. GDP rose 0.7% in Q3, YoY GDP fell 2.5%.
  

• The Standard and Poor Case-Shiller index of home prices rose 0.3% in September.
  

• U.S. consumer confidence rose from 48.7 to 49.5
  

• Industrial new orders in the EU rose 1.7% MoM, but fell 16.4% YoY
  

• The International Sugar Organization is predicting world sugar production will exceed consumption by 0.75 million tons in 2010-2011. The 2009-2010 production deficit is forecast at 7.2 million tons.
  
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Quick Overview

• Spurred by a tax credits that lured first-time buyers, U.S. existing home sales rose 10.1% in October, and 23.5% YoY
  
  

• The National Association for Business Economists said that they expect U.S. GDP to be up 2.9% in 2010, up from their previous forecast of 2.6%.
  
  

• Canada’s retail sales rose 1.0% MoM

• There seems to have been a shift in attitude , from fearing a large South American soybean crop to needing one.

• Coca-Cola, the world's largest soft-drink maker, is planning to more than double its number of bottling plants in China within a decade, the Financial Times said.