Economic News - September 18, 2009

Current Account US - 2nd Quarter 2008 (Preliminary)

• Current Account Deficit: $183.1 billion


• Quarterly Change: Up $7.5 billion


• Goods Deficit: $216.3 billion


• Quarterly Change: Up $5.3 billion

Housing Starts - August 2008

• Housing Starts: 895,000


• Monthly Change: Down 6.2%


• Year-to-year Change: Down 33.1%


• 1-Family Monthly Change: Down 1.9%

Jobless Claims - September 18, 2008

• Initial Claims: 455,000


• Change from Last Week: Up 10,000

Leading Index (US) - August 2008

• Leading Index: Down 0.5%


• Coincident Index: Down 0.1%


• Lagging Index: Up 0.4%

Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey - September 18, 2008

• Market Composite Index: 661.7


• Change: Up 33.4%


• Purchase Index: 380.4


• Change: Up 2.4%

Money Supply - September 18, 2008

• M1 Seasonally Adjusted Prior Month: $1391.2 billion


• M1 Annual Change (Unadjusted): Up $21.8 billion

US petroleum demand down sharply

The weekly petroleum data from the US Energy Information Administration
showed hurricane effects for another week as inventories fell again for
total commercial petroleum, crude oil and all refined products other
than propane/propylene. The gasoline inventory drop was more moderate
than last week, but still fairly big at 3.3 million barrels, putting
gasoline inventories even further below the average range for the
season.

More good housing news on several fronts

Mortgage applications increased last week according to the Mortgage
Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, while the
Mortgage Bankers Association and Freddie Mac both reported interest
rates down across the board. The Housing Market Index released Tuesday
by the National Association of Homebuilders and Housing Starts released
Wednesday by the Commerce Department indicate that builder confidence
is rebounding based on strengthening sales and buyer traffic, but
builders are still starting less new projects, a good sign for the new
homes inventory glut.

Wall Street Crisis Not Quite 1929

Discount Window Borrowing Soars; AIG Taps $28 Billion of Fed Credit

Investment bank borrowing from the U.S. Federal Reserve's newly expanded discount
window soared in the latest week, reflecting severe strains in credit
markets in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Paulson Plans to Cleanse Companies of Troubled Assets, Insure Market Funds

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry
Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke proposed
moving troubled assets from the balance sheets of American
financial companies into a new institution.

Bailout Backlash Against Fed, Treasury Mounting in Congress, Wall Street

Amid calls for the government to
take stronger measures to stabilize financial markets, some
former Federal Reserve officials, lawmakers and Wall Street
executives are saying too much has already been done.

Domino Effect of Takeovers Pushes Bernanke, Paulson to Work With Congress

The Federal Reserve and Treasury's
efforts to solve the financial crisis may have only undercut the
ability of banks and Wall Street firms to raise new equity
capital, leaving them to fail or be taken over.

How Russian authorities are tackling market crisis

Sept 19 (Reuters) - Russian markets are due to reopen on
Friday after a 1-½ day trade halt, following a sell off of
more than 20 percent earlier in the week.

Wall St. 2008 vs 1929

Sep. 18 - Analysts say fears that 2008 could mark the second coming of the Great Depression are vastly overstated.