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| For construction, good news
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| The Commerce Department said Tuesday that construction of new homes and apartments jumped 17.2 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 532,000 units. That was better than the 500,000-unit pace that economists had expected and came after construction fell in April to a record low of 454,000 units. Construction rose 6.8 percent in the South.
Applications for building permits, seen as a good indicator of future activity, rose 4 percent in May to an annual rate of 518,000 units.
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| @ Sarasota Herald Tribune | Posted: 06/17/09 at 0201 EDST
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| Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in May his is 4.0 percent
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| This is 47.0 percent below the May 2008 estimate of
978,000.
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| @ U.S. Census Bureau | Posted: 06/17/09 at 0315 EDST
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| The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods increased 0.2 percent in May.
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| This rise followed a 0.3-percent advance in April and a 1.2-percent decrease in March.
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| @ Bureau of Labor Statistics | Posted: 06/17/09 at 0320 EDST
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| Report: Bradenton hit hard by recession
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| The Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice area has earned the distinction of being on a list that only 19 other metropolitan areas managed to get on.The local metro area was ranked as one of the 20 worst in the country in terms of the negative impacts brought on by the recession.
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| @ Bradenton Herald | Posted: 06/17/09 at 0330 EDST
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| Are fears of inflation overblown?
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| A few months ago, investors were fixated on deflation, afraid the economy would plunge Depression-style and take the stock market with it. Now, with the stock market up more than 30 percent from its lows, oil prices doubling and U.S. Treasury bond yields sharply higher, investors have become worried about the opposite issue -- inflation.
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| @ Chicago Tribune | Posted: 06/17/09 at 0345 EDST
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| Illinois budget holds up jobs plan during construction season
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| Republicans and Democrats both lauded a $30-billion construction plan as a way to stimulate the state’s economy. It would be paid for with increases in vehicle fees, higher liquor and candy taxes, and video poker machines installed in bars across Illinois. Despite that, top politicians’ recent inability to agree on how the state should spend its day-to-day money means that the state-level stimulus is being held up as well.
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| @ Mattoon and Charleston, Il Journal Gazette & Times Courier | Posted: 06/17/09 at 0400 EDST
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| White House says no to California budget help
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| The White House on Tuesday dashed hopes that the federal government would help California overcome a mammoth budget crisis that has brought the state dangerously close to an economic meltdown, saying the state will have to solve the problem on its own.
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| @ Reuters | Posted: 06/17/09 at 0415 EDST
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| The New Boom-Bust Cycle. The housing and finance sectors caused the economic mess. Here's why they can't fix it.
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If you're waiting on housing and finance to get us out of the mess they caused, then you better pull up a comfortable chair and a bag of popcorn, because it's going to be a long wait. Just as regulators always fight the last battle—regulating accounting after the dot-com meltdown, promising to regulate derivatives now—analysts always look to the last boom to cause the next one. The new reality is that the sector that dragged the economy down is never the one to lead the recovery.
Editor's Comment: This is a good read
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| @ Slate | Posted: 06/17/09 at 0419 EDST
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| Ontario wilting but poised to bloom again
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| Ontario's economy sank even deeper into recession than expected this year, but a turnaround is on the horizon, the Royal Bank of Canada said in its latest economic report. Growth will return to the province as the automotive sector gets back on its feet and government infrastructure projects break ground, according to the bank's forecast.
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| @ Toronto Star | Posted: 06/17/09 at 0646 EDST
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| Canadian hedge funds have best month in a year
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| The Scotia Capital Canadian Hedge Fund Performance Index, which includes 34 opened and closed funds with at least $15-million in assets under management and a minimum 12 month track record of returns, finished up 5.91% in May on an asset weighted basis.
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| @ Financial Post - CA | Posted: 06/17/09 at 0652 EDST
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| Massive European Solar Project Set for Launch
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A German-led consortium wants to fund an international solar-energy plan to the tune of €400 billion. The idea is to gather solar heat in North Africa and send the electricity to Europe. If it works, it would be the largest green-energy project in the world.
Editor's Comment: This is a good read
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| @ Der Spiegel | Posted: 06/17/09 at 0655 EDST
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