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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KyrosL who wrote (37896)	8/3/2008 10:45:27 PM
From: arun gera	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 219465

>Our oil consumption doubled since the sixties. Can we get by with half the cars we have now, if push comes to shove? I think so.> Americans can do OK by just having less choice in goods and services. Generic instead of brand name. However, this will kill a lot of industries that have good margins. -Arun

To: KyrosL who wrote (37896)	8/29/2008 7:17:11 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 219465

"when all the new POLYSILICON plants come on stream in a year or two" It better be. There's a shortage of polysilicon. Krasnodar-based Solar Wind, which produces solar modules for Spain, Germany and Greece, has the capacity to produce four times more than it is actually producing because of the raw-material shortage, said company spokesman Timofei Serov. "Demand is so high that we hardly have any storage space -- clients purchase our product immediately," he said. themoscowtimes.com

To: KyrosL who wrote (37896)	8/29/2008 1:38:27 PM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 219465

export drive US economic growth in June quarter: BRICUS US may join the BRIC camp as export juggernaut Bater and Meena Thiruvengadam, Dow Jones Newswires \| August 29, 2008 THE US economy was surprisingly strong in the June quarter, driven by exports. But the pace is seen abating because of slower growth abroad. Gross domestic product rose at a seasonally adjusted 3.3 per cent annual rate April through June, the Commerce Department said. The 3.3 per cent spurt reflected a revision far above the 1.9 per cent increase in second-quarter GDP that the government originally reported. Wall Street was surprised; it expected an adjusted gain of just 2.7 per cent. "It may have felt like a recession to many, but the economy actually expanded quite solidly in the spring," said Joel Naroff, who is president of Naroff Economic Advisors. The second quarter, however, ended in June. For the rest of the 2008, including a third quarter that is two-thirds over, economic growth isn't expected to be as good. "With the G7 economies now slowing sharply (which threatens US exports) and stressed credit markets colliding with weak US labour markets (which threatens consumer spending), the second half of the year is likely to be weak," wrote Michael Darda, chief economist at brokerage firm MKM Partners. A separate report from the Labour Department showed new claims for unemployment benefits fell by 10,000 to 425,000 after seasonal adjustments in the week ended August 23. Insight Economics analyst Steven Wood said the data suggested the labour market was in a recession - even if the overall economy wasn't. The government revisions to second-quarter GDP were based on less inventory liquidation by businesses and better exports. Businesses drew down inventories by $US49.4 billion ($57.3 billion) instead of $US62.2 billion as originally reported, the Commerce Department said. The revision meant the drawdown hurt GDP less than first thought. On a bright note, the liquidation signals companies won't get caught with a bigger supply of goods in the future. And that translates to less downward pressure on production. Net exports in the second quarter were stronger than first believed, the data showed. Exports rose 13.2 per cent instead of 9.2 per cent as reported originally. Surging exports have served as a lifeline to the soft US economy. But growth is slowing in economies overseas, and the US dollar has stabilised, increasing the risk to the United States as it deals with weak domestic demand for goods and services. "Export growth will likely cool in response to slower growth abroad and the recovery in the dollar," Lehman Brothers analyst Zach Pandl said. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez continued to applaud the effects of export growth on the nation's GDP. "Global growth is slower, but it continues to be strong and our exports reflect that," he said. "We believe that exports will continue to grow. Worldwide growth continues to be strong even though it has slowed." Mr Gutierrez declined to speculate whether the stabilising value of the US dollar could restrain exports. He did, however, use the revised GDP number to push again for Congress to vote on pending free trade deals with Colombia, South Korea and Panama. Not only are exports seen losing some fire, but consumer spending will likely slow. Second-quarter spending by consumers climbed 1.7 per cent, not a particularly large gain but better than the first quarter's 0.9 per cent increase. Spending got a jolt in the northern hemisphere spring from federal income-tax rebates given to spur an economy fighting high oil prices and shrinking payrolls. But the last of the cheques rolled out in July. "The effects of that stimulus package have now worn off and consumer activity is slowing," University of Maryland business professor Peter Morici said. Corporate profits rose weakly in the second quarter, the GDP report said. That's a sign that rising commodity prices are squeezing businesses. Profits after taxes climbed by 1.0 per cent to $US1.361 trillion in the second quarter, after falling by 7.7 per cent in the first quarter. Year over year, profits decreased 5.9 per cent since the second quarter of 2007. Price inflation gauges were basically unchanged in the government's revisions to the economic data. The price index for personal consumption increased an unrevised 4.2 per cent, above the first quarter's 3.6 per cent increase. The PCE price gauge excluding food and energy increased an unrevised 2.1 per cent, below the first quarter's 2.3 per cent increase. "With the rest of the world now slowing and the dollar off its lows, the US will be more reliant on domestic demand in coming quarters," said Nigel Gault, an economist for Global Insight. "Since consumer spending is slowing down and the credit crunch is tightening its grip, it is hard to foresee another quarter with such a robust GDP headline for some time."