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Strategies & Market Trends : John Pitera's Market Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Challo Jeregy who wrote (3845)	5/15/2001 12:44:21 PM
From: Challo Jeregy	Respond to of 33421

Gasoline Falls 4% as Price Peak Seen Energy: Prices on futures markets take the biggest one-day drop since February. But it will take time to reach pumps. From Times Staff and Wire Reports Gasoline prices took their biggest plunge on commodities markets in 2 1/2 months Monday amid mounting speculation that U.S. fuel supplies will be enough to meet drivers' demand this summer. But it will take time for the drop in market prices--assuming they stay down--to reach consumers. A government report showed that pump prices continued to edge higher last week, with average prices for self-serve regular climbing toward $2 a gallon in California. Even so, the 4% slide Monday in market prices for gasoline appeared to reaffirm some analysts' position that the spring surge in fuel prices is nearing its end. more . . . latimes.com

To: Challo Jeregy who wrote (3845)	5/15/2001 3:13:42 PM
From: John Pitera	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 33421

The key text from the FOMC announcement is below. Not much changed from the April 18 announcement. A significant reduction in excess inventories seems well advanced. Consumption and housing expenditures have held up reasonably well, though activity in these areas has flattened recently. Investment in capital equipment, however, has continued to decline. The erosion in current and prospective profitability, in combination with considerable uncertainty about the business outlook, seems likely to hold down capital spending going forward. This potential restraint, together with the possible effects of earlier reductions in equity wealth on consumption and the risk of slower growth abroad, continues to weigh on the economy. With pressures on labor and product markets easing, inflation is expected to remain contained. Although measured productivity growth stalled in the first quarter, the impressive underlying rate of increase that developed in recent years appears to be largely intact, supporting longer-term prospects. The Committee continues to believe that against the background of its long-run goals of price stability and sustainable economic growth and of the information currently available, the risks are weighted mainly toward conditions that may generate economic weakness in the foreseeable future.