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To: marginmike who wrote (38263)	8/19/1999 11:19:00 AM
From: T L Comiskey	Respond to of 152472

mike...........ot..."However Ramsey, wouldnt it be a scenario in which whats bad for the world is good for US equities?"...Trade Deficit Soars To Record In June WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit ballooned to a record $24.62 billion in June as imports from major trading partners Western Europe and Mexico soared to all-time highs and gaps with Japan and China widened, the Department of Commerce said Thursday. The trade gap was much wider than the $20.5 billion deficit forecast by Wall Street analysts, and compared to a $21.17 billion deficit in May. The news hit the U.S. dollar, which fell briefly through the key 111.0 resistance level against the Japanese yen currency, while U.S. bond prices declined. The report also affected financial stock markets outside the United States, with Europe's largest exchange, London, extending its losses. ``This is a very bad figure indeed,' said Peter Osler, head of research at GNI Ltd, in London. ``This trade deficit couldn't come at a worse time,' added Nick Perna of Fleet Financial Group in Boston. Economists said the surge in imports reflected U.S. economic strength compared to weakness in parts of Europe and Asia. The Commerce Department said June imports rose for the sixth month in a row to a record $102.99 billion, reflecting a record $86.70 billion in imports of cars and other goods and a new high of $16.30 billion for imports of services. That overshadowed June exports, which rose to $78.37 billion, the highest since November 1998. U.S. foreign sales of cars and parts were the highest since July 1997. U.S. service providers, which include insurance companies and travel agents, enjoyed $23.09 billion in foreign sales, up from $22.83 billion in May. The United States usually runs a deficit in goods trade and a surplus in services trade. The Commerce Department said imports from Western Europe soared to a record $18.36 billion in June, widening the deficit to $4.94 billion, the highest since a July 1998 deficit of $5.3 billion. In the first six months of the year, the United States marked up an $18.17 billion deficit with Western Europe, compared to a $10.50 billion gap during the same period last year, the department said. The latest figures could aggravate already rough trade relations with Europe. At the same time, the trade gap with Japan surged to $6.28 billion in June from $5.26 billion in May. In the first six months, the gap with Japan was $33.60 billion, compared to $30.87 billion during the same period last year. The U.S. trade imbalance with China rose to $5.67 billion in June, up from $5.25 billion in May. The June deficit was the largest since $5.9 billion in September 1998. For the first six months of the year, the U.S. trade deficit with China was $29.34 billion, compared with $25.13 billion during the same period last year, the department said. The U.S. trade gap with its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners, Canada and Mexico, also rose. June imports from Mexico hit a record high of $9.57 billion, widening the trade gap to $2.46 billion, the second highest on record, from $2.25 billion in May, the department said. The gap with Canada rose to $2.80 billion in June from $2.08 billion.