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To: IngotWeTrust who wrote (11738)	5/16/1998 2:16:00 AM
From: Bear	Respond to of 116856

U.S. inflation higher in median CPI--Cleveland Fed By Isabelle Clary NEW YORK, May 13 (Reuters) - The underlying U.S. inflation trend may be less friendly than popular price statistics such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicate, a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland said on Wednesday. ''It is not uncommon for transitory phenomena to cause the CPI to swing up and down for periods of time. But these things don't last and should not be counted on to continue,'' Michael Bryan, an assistant vice president at the Cleveland Fed, told Reuters. Bryan developed with economist Stephen Cecchetti, now the director of research at the New York Fed, the weighted median CPI, a measure of core inflation that excludes all ''high-noise'' items that clearly departs from the general price performance. The core CPI only excludes energy and food prices. The April CPI, core CPI and median CPI are set for release on Thursday. In March, the CPI was unchanged and the core CPI up 0.1 percent, resulting in year-over-year increases of 1.4 percent and 2.1 percent respectively. Meanwhile, the median CPI jumped 0.3 percent and was up 2.8 percent year-over-year. The CPI data give a very friendly reading of the U.S. inflation performance that Bryan said was partly due to special and transitory factors. Bryan cited as examples a decline in used car prices as low financing lures buyers to new models, a sharper drop in computer prices as the high-tech war for market share intensifies and cheaper infant clothes. Often made in Asia, children apparel benefits from the stronger dollar. ''In the past, whenever the CPI drifted away from the median, it tended to return toward the median CPI rather than the median toward the CPI,'' Bryan pointed out. ''The median CPI is saying most prices are rising at a rate much larger than shown by the CPI, which is influenced by very unusual and not very characteristic price declines,'' added Bryan who noted sharp energy price drops did not signal ''a more broad-based drop in the rate of inflation.'' The Cleveland Fed economist said the higher median CPI indicates progress has been made against inflation ''but just that the evidence on that score is not overwhelming.'' ''The median CPI has come down by about 0.25 percentage point in the past year, but nowhere near the drop in inflation suggested by the overall CPI,'' Bryan also said. Bryan declined to comment on the monetary policy implications of the median CPI, with the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting just six days ahead. ''If I'm thinking about inflation, something that the Fed is trying to commandeer, I'm thinking about something very broad based. A large part of the dramatic drop in the CPI is not broad based but centered on some numbers,'' Bryan said. ''The question is how the difference between the two measures of inflation gets resolved. Eventually one of these two numbers is going to change and meet the other,'' said Bryan who noted the CPI usually tends to fall back in line with the median CPI. ''We'll see whether the items that showed sharp drops are leading indicators of a broader trend or if they are something temporary and misleading about the overall trend,'' concluded Bryan who is an adviser on inflation to Cleveland Fed president Jerry Jordan. Cecchetti is a key policy adviser to New York Fed president William McDonough. Both Fed presidents are FOMC voters.

To: IngotWeTrust who wrote (11738)	5/17/1998 11:58:00 AM
From: Alex	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116856

Euro vs. Dollar................. btimes.co.za

To: IngotWeTrust who wrote (11738)	5/17/1998 1:42:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116856

Clinton Welcomes China Cash Probe WASHINGTON (AP) - President Clinton today welcomed an investigation into whether he improperly signed a waiver in 1996 to approve exporting satellite technology to China and said the decision was not swayed by six-figure donations from an executive. The Justice Department is looking into possible influence on the decision of more than $600,000 in donations to the Democratic Party by Bernard L. Schwartz, chairman of Loral Space and Communications Ltd., a government official said. Speaking in Birmingham, England, Clinton insisted the money did not change U.S. policy. ''All foreign policy decisions, we made in the interest of the American people,'' he said. Official Says Pakistan To Test Nukes ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan will test a nuclear device in response to India's testing, Foreign Minister Gohar Ayub said today. ''It's a matter of when, not if, Pakistan will test ... the decision has already been taken by Cabinet,'' Ayub told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. He said the overseas reaction to India's testing of five nuclear devices has been weak-kneed and only reinforces Pakistan's decision to proceed. A Pakistani newspaper reported today that everything is in place and a blast could go off with three hours notice.

To: IngotWeTrust who wrote (11738)	5/17/1998 2:48:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116856

Chinese military linked to cash for Clinton By Ivo Dawnay in Washington A HIGHLY damaging disclosure that the Chinese military may have contributed directly to the Democrats' 1996 election effort yesterday sparked speculation that the "smoking gun" in the campaign finance scandal has finally been found. Senior politicians demanded an immediate explanation from the White House. Large-scale investigations by the Justice Department, the FBI and United States Intelligence agencies are now under way. The fresh scandal first broke in a New York Times article on Friday. Described as "explosive" by one senior senator, it has now taken off in the capital's media and political circles. The story, leaked from official confidential briefings to congressmen this month, disclosed that Johnny Chung, a Californian businessman and long-time associate of President Clinton, had received $300,000 (œ185,000) from the Chinese military, some of which went to the Democrats. The source of the money was Col Liu Chaoying, a military intelligence officer and the daughter of a very senior Chinese general. Mr Chung, who visited the White House almost 50 times between 1994 and 1996, often with senior Chinese business people, made his disclosures to government investigators earlier this year as part of a plea-bargaining process. Foreign donations to US parties are illegal. In July 1996, Col Liu had her photograph taken with the President at a fundraising dinner in California. Close attention is being paid to her links with China's missiles programme. She is understood to have acted as a liaison figure with American business. Investigators are searching for any correlation between the timing of the Chung donation and the systematic liberalisation of the US ban on the export of sensitive missile technology to the People's Republic. A significant shift towards freer technical trade began in 1996 when Hughes, the General Motors Aerospace subsidiary, was allowed to sell formerly banned equipment to China. Controversy greeted a further move to lift sanctions on sales a month ago. It coincided with the leaks from US Intelligence that China has several Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles targeted on America. The latest revelations - the first to show corroborated and explicit evidence of a link between the Chinese government and the democrats' campaign - suggests that national security may have been compromised. Unnamed "senior democrats" who have loyally backed the White House were said to be deeply concerned by the development. And Newt Gingrich, the speaker of the House of Representatives, has publicly demanded a full explanation. He said: "If the President does not act quickly and decisively, my presumption is that we have a genuine breach of national security for corrupt political purposes."