Martes 01/03/11Ventas de autos, ISM manufacturero

[admin]

Eventos economicos

Martes

Ventas de autos
Ventas de tiendas
Libro rojo
ISM manufacturero
Inversion en construccion
Subasta de bonos

Motor Vehicle Sales


ICSC-Goldman Store Sales
7:45 AM ET


Redbook
8:55 AM ET


ISM Mfg Index
10:00 AM ET


Construction Spending
10:00 AM ET


4-Week Bill Auction
11:30 AM ET

[admin]

Metales a la baja

Copper February 28,21:39
Bid/Ask 4.4588 - 4.4601
Change -0.0176 -0.39%
Low/High 4.4576 - 4.4812
Charts

Nickel February 28,21:38
Bid/Ask 13.0347 - 13.0778
Change -0.0431 -0.33%
Low/High 13.0325 - 13.1005
Charts

Aluminum February 28,21:38
Bid/Ask 1.1504 - 1.1508
Change -0.0016 -0.14%
Low/High 1.1504 - 1.1558
Charts

Zinc February 28,21:39
Bid/Ask 1.1242 - 1.1256
Change -0.0050 -0.44%
Low/High 1.1242 - 1.1319
Charts

Lead February 28,21:16
Bid/Ask 1.1566 - 1.1606
Change -0.0034 -0.29%
Low/High 1.1539 - 1.1643

[admin]

El Shanghai C. +0.23%, el Nikkei +0.69%, el Hang Seng -0.29%, Australia +0.04%, Korea -1.23%

Yen down 81.95, euro up 1.3806

Los futures del Dow Jones 24 puntos al alza.

[admin]

China aumenta su tenencia de bonos Americanos en nada menos que $1 trillon en Diciembre a $1.16 trillones.

Japon en Segundo lugar con $882.3 billones.

[admin]

Los commodities en su carrera alcista mas larga desde el 2004. Le ha ganado al stock market.

Los commodities subieron 3.8% en Febrero y ha subido por seis meses consecutivos.

(Creo que solo el Rusell 2000 le ha ganado a los commodities ya que subio 5% en Febrero)

Commodities in Longest Winning Streak Since '04, Beating Stocks
By Whitney Kisling and Jennifer A. Johnson - Feb 28, 2011 8:09 PM ET Tweet inShare.0More
Business ExchangeBuzz up!DiggPrint Email .

Metals, crops and fuel beat stocks, bonds and the dollar for a third straight month, the longest stretch since June 2008, as inflation lifted cotton and cocoa and investors speculated violence in the Middle East and northern Africa will restrain energy supplies.

The S&P GSCI Total Return Index of 24 commodities gained 3.8 percent in February and rose for a sixth consecutive month, the longest streak since 2004, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The MSCI All-Country World Index of equities in 45 nations returned 3 percent including dividends, while corporate and government bonds rose 0.13 percent, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Global Broad Market Index through Feb. 25. The U.S. Dollar Index, a gauge of the currency against six counterparts such as the euro and yen, fell 1.1 percent.

Faster global growth pushed up raw-material prices since September and gains accelerated after riots toppled leaders in Egypt and Tunisia and threatened Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi. At the same time, central banks in emerging economies from China to Russia are raising interest rates and increasing reserve requirements at banks to combat inflation, holding back equities.

“These commodity price increases are staggering,” said Kevin Rendino, a money manager at New York-based BlackRock Inc., which oversees $3.45 trillion. “Each commodity is different, but there is a supply issue for oil. There has been real economic demand for these commodities since the economy began recovering.”

June 2008
The last time commodities beat stocks, bonds and the dollar for three straight months was June 2008, when the price of oil surged following violence in Iraq. Futures reached a record $147.27 a barrel the next month, and the average price for U.S. regular gasoline at the pump also climbed as high as $4.114.

Metals gained in February after reports showed Chinese manufacturing expanded and U.S. factory output beat the most optimistic forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Silver rose 20 percent last month, the most of any metal in the S&P GSCI index. The Federal Reserve raised its forecast for growth in the U.S., the world’s biggest economy, to a range of 3.4 percent to 3.9 percent, from 3 percent to 3.6 percent.

Oil climbed to the highest price since September 2008 in February. Oil rose after estimates showed exports from Libya, the third-largest producer in Africa at about 1.6 million barrels of oil a day, was cut. Barclays Plc said output was reduced by more than 1 million barrels a day, while the International Energy Agency said output was down 850,000 barrels. Clashes between Qaddafi and rebels intensified in the second half of February. Futures gained 5.2 percent to $96.97 a barrel in New York last month, reaching $103.41 on Feb. 24.

China Imports

Cotton advanced 14 percent to a record $1.9123 a pound, leading gains in crop prices. Production in China, the world’s biggest importer, fell 6.3 percent to 5.97 million metric tons last year, the third consecutive drop, data from the National Bureau of Statistics in Beijing show. Futures have risen 32 percent in 2011, the biggest gain to start a year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg starting in mid-1959.

Rising commodities are feeding inflation. Brazil’s price increased to 6.08 percent in the 12 months through mid-February, the fastest rate in more than two years. India’s benchmark wholesale inflation rate averaged 9.4 percent in the nine months through December, the most in the past decade, the finance ministry said in a report on Feb. 25.

‘Dominant Influence’
“The dominant influence with regard to strength in commodities is equally split by global demand and dollar weakness,” said Liam Dalton, president of Axiom Capital Management Inc. in New York, which oversees $1.4 billion. “In terms of traditional inflation in the U.S., we have a very tough time getting that going right now, whereas in some of the overseas markets like China, India and Brazil, there is potential for inflation because of tremendous organic demand.”

Equities returned 3 percent worldwide including dividends in February, led by energy companies. While all 10 industries in the MSCI All-Country index advanced, the energy group rose the most with a 6.4 percent gain, keeping it as the best-performing group since the market’s lows in July. Pride International Inc., a drilling contractor, climbed 28 percent, and Rowan Cos., the oil and natural-gas driller that also builds rigs, advanced 24 percent.

Corporate bonds worldwide rose 0.53 percent last month, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Global Broad Market Corporate Index through Feb. 25. The advance was the first after three straight monthly declines.

Junk Bonds
High-yield, high-risk, or junk, bonds returned 1.27 percent, following a gain of 2.17 percent in January, according to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global High Yield Index through Feb. 25. Speculative-grade bonds are rated below Baa3 by Moody’s Investors Service and BBB- by Standard & Poor’s.

Treasuries, the benchmark for borrowing costs around the world, lost 0.18 percent through Feb. 25. The drop was reduced by the biggest weekly gain since May as unrest in Libya drove investors to the safety of U.S. government debt and raised concern that surging oil prices may derail the economic recovery. Treasuries climbed 0.01 percent in January, lagging behind the 5.9 percent return in 2010.

“In the beginning of February, there was clearly a trend out of the relatively safe Treasuries market,” said Ian Lyngen, a government bond strategist at CRT Capital Group LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. “But since then we’ve seen that trend reverse given the geopolitical uncertainties associated with the crisis in the Middle East.”

The Dollar Index dropped 1.1 percent, following a 1.6 percent loss in January. The South African rand was the best- performing currency in February, gaining 3.2 percent against the dollar. New Zealand’s dollar performed worst, losing 2.7 percent.

“The markets are sending us a message,” said Hugh Johnson, who oversees $1.92 billion as chairman of Albany, New York-based Hugh Johnson Advisors LLC. “The message is that oil prices are going to go higher. We’re talking about possible interruption of oil flows and possibly higher oil prices and that will have an impact on the economy.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Whitney Kisling in New York at wkisling@bloomberg.net; Jennifer A. Johnson in New York at jjohnson156@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Baker at nbaker7@bloomberg

[admin]

El PMI de China baja a 52.2. 50 es crecimiento.

Maniana testifica Bernanke.

[admin]

Au up, oil down

9:43 p.m. EST 02/28/11Futures Last Change Settle
Crude Oil 96.95 -0.02 96.97
Gold 1412.4 2.5 1409.9
DJ Industrials 12238 24 12214
S&P 500 1328.80 2.70 1326.10

9:54 p.m. EST 02/28/11Currencies Last (bid) Prior Day †
Japanese Yen (USD/JPY) 81.98 81.81
Euro (EUR/USD) 1.3806 1.3799
† Late Monday in New York.

[admin]

Y lo mismo pasa en todo el mundo!!!

US tiene 15 organismos, ministerios, agencias o como le quieran llamar que supervisa que los alimentos cumplan con las leyes de sanidad del pais. otros 20 programas ayudan a los que no tienen casa y otros 80 programas velan por el desarrollo economico. Traduccion: organismos fracasados, derroche de dinero, nadie hace nada y no tienen ningun logro. Pero oh!!! si todos nos sentimos mejor por que decimos que estamos ayudando a los pobres o a reducir la pobreza o cualquiera de esas cosas que suenan bonitas pero que a la hora de la verdad y si somos honestos, no sirven para nada. Todo es como botar dinero a la basura.

Son programas que duplican el trabajo, cuestan billones a los que pagamos impuestos cada anio y no sirven para nada.

Son programas federales que deben ser eliminados de raiz para reducir el deficit.

hay 82 programas del gobierno para mejorar la calidad de los profesores; 80 programas para ayudar a las personas pobres me imagino o con alguna deficiencia fisica a transportarse, 47 agencias para entrenar a trabajadores y ayudar a encontrar empleo, 56 para ayudar a las personas a entender sus finanzas. Nos va a dar un ataque a todos juntos.

Hay cinco divisiones en el Ministerio de Transporte que tienen 100 programas diferentes para financiar las carreteras, los proyectos de ferrocarriles y programas de seguridad.

Son miles de programas en nombre de la mejoria, en nombre de la justicia, en nombre de ayudar a los demas. Al final no ayudan a nadie y solo cuestan billones de billones. Que los eliminen todos.


Billions in Bloat Uncovered in Beltway
By DAMIAN PALETTA
The U.S. government has 15 different agencies overseeing food-safety laws, 20 separate programs to help the homeless and 80 programs for economic development.

These are a few of the findings in a massive study of overlapping and duplicative programs that cost taxpayers billions of dollars each year, according to a new Government Accountability Office report to be released Tuesday.

The report from the nonpartisan GAO compiles a list of redundant and potentially ineffective federal programs, and it could serve as a template for lawmakers in both parties as they move to cut federal spending and consolidate programs to reduce the deficit.

.The agency examined numerous federal agencies, including the departments of defense, agriculture and housing and urban development, and points to instances where different arms of the government should be coordinating or consolidating efforts to save taxpayers' money.

GAO found 82 federal programs to improve teacher quality; 80 to help disadvantaged people with transportation; 47 for job training and employment; and 56 to help people understand finances, according to a draft of the report reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Instances of ineffective and unfocused federal programs can lead to a mishmash of occasionally arbitrary policies and rules, the report said. It recommends merging or consolidating a number of programs to both save money and make the government more efficient.

"Reducing or eliminating duplication, overlap, or fragmentation could potentially save billions of tax dollars annually and help agencies provide more efficient and effective services," the report said.

The report says policy makers should consider creating a single food-safety agency because of a number of redundancies. The Food and Drug Administration makes sure that chicken eggs are "safe, wholesome, and properly labeled" while a division of the Department of Agriculture "is responsible for the safety of eggs processed into egg products."

The report took particular aim at government funding for surface transportation, including the building of roads and other projects, which the administration has made a major part of its push to update the country's infrastructure.

The report said five divisions within the Department of Transportation account for 100 different programs that fund things like highways, rail projects and safety programs.

One program that funnels transportation funds to the states "functions as a cash-transfer general-purpose grant program, rather than as a tool for pursuing a cohesive national transportation policy," the report said. Similarly, it chided the government over encouraging federal agencies to purchase plug-in hybrid vehicles while having policies that agencies reduce electricity consumption.

Also, it said government agencies have purchased numerous vehicles that run on alternative fuels only to find that many gas stations don't sell alternative fuels. This has led government agencies to turn around and request waivers so they didn't have to use alternative fuels.

On teacher quality, it identified 82 programs that often have similar descriptions and goals and are spread across 10 federal agencies, including the Department of Education, the Department of Energy and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Nine of these programs are linked to science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Fifty-three of the programs are relatively small, receiving $50 million or less, "and many have their own separate administrative processes."

The GAO highlighted 80 different economic development programs at the Department of Commerce, HUD, Department of Agriculture and Small Business Administration, that spent a combined $6.5 billion last year and often overlapped. For example, the four agencies combined to have 52 different programs that fund "entrepreneurial efforts," 35 programs for infrastructure, and 26 programs for telecommunications. It said 60% of the programs fund only one or two activities, making them "the most likely to overlap because many of them can only fund the same limited types of activities."

Washington Wire
Dept. of Overlap: GAO Finds Hundreds of Duplicative Programs
.The report took aim at several military programs, which could prove thorny because many lawmakers from both parties are wary to cut defense spending. It said there were 130,000 military and government medical professionals, 59 Defense Department hospitals and hundreds of clinics that could benefit from consolidating administrative, management and clinical functions.

For example, it said the government "may have developed duplicate" programs to counter improvised explosive devices, with the Marine Corps and the Army paying to develop similar "mine rollers." The Marine mine roller costs $85,000, and the Army mine roller costs $77,000 to $225,000. "Officials disagree about which system is most effective, and [the Pentagon] has not conducted comparative testing and evaluation of the two systems," the report said.

The GAO study was required by a provision inserted by Sen. Tom Coburn (R., Okla.) into a law that raised the federal borrowing limit last year. This report is the first produced in response to the provision.

[admin]

A proposito de ese articulo acerca de la manera descarada como el gobierno derrocha nuestro dinero, hoy escuchaba en la radio a Williams el economista negro que mencione el otro dia.

Realmente el hombre tiene muy buenas ideas, quiere por ejemplo eliminar el ministerio de educacion, por que la educacion era mejor cuando no existia, quiere eliminar el ministerio de vivienda por que la vivienda era mejor y mas eficiente cuando no existia, el de energia deberia ser el primero en ser eliminado por que US no tiene plan de energia, ni vision para el futuro ni nada. Estoy completamente de acuerdo.

[admin]

Yo realmente me pregunto a veces si los Chinos y los Japoneses leen el Wall Street Journal, por que yo en su lugar no compraria un solo bono Americano.

Aca otro ejemplo de las gracias del gobierno Americano:

FNN y FRE se prestan dinero del Tesoro para pagarle al Tesoro. Como puede ser? Hasta donde va a llegar la desverguenza!!

Por primera vez desde la crisis financiera, FRE y FNM estan reportando algo de utilidades. Pero las dos gigantes de hipotecas todavia se prestan del Tesoro billones cada trimestre, dinero que se va derecho por la puerta de atras para pagar los dividendos al mismo departamento del Tesoro.

Fannie, Freddie Stuck In a Dividends Circle

By NICK TIMIRAOS
For the first time since the financial crisis, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are showing glimmers of profitability. But the two mortgage behemoths still ask the Treasury Department every quarter for billions of dollars in cash, most of it going right back out the door to pay dividends to the same U.S. agency.

The requirement that both companies pay a 10% dividend on preferred shares—which the U.S. government receives for its infusions after taking over Fannie and Freddie in 2008—costs them about $15 billion a year at the current rate. In the last two quarters, the firms have paid $7.5 billion in total dividend payments, while receiving injections of $5.7 billion to help keep them in business.

The dividends could force Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to keep asking the Treasury Department for more money even after the companies get back into the black, helped by lower losses on mortgages and profits from newer loans. U.S. officials have said those payments are an appropriate way to repay taxpayers.

Experience WSJ professional Editors' Deep Dive: Loan Mod Programs Struggle PROPUBLICA INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
Loan Mod Program Left Homeowners with Dysfunctional Industry
National Mortgage News
All Parties Find Agreement on HAMP's Failure
Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA)
One in Five Default Again After Federal Loan Mods Access thousands of business sources not available on the free web. Learn More Fannie Mae's fourth-quarter income of $73 million, announced Thursday, was the company's first profitable quarter in 3½ years. The bottom line doesn't count $2.2 billion in payments that Fannie Mae had to make to the U.S. government, which was asked to pump an additional $2.6 billion into Fannie Mae.

Freddie Mac, which had a loss of $113 million in the latest quarter, paid $1.1 billion in dividends to taxpayers and asked for $500 million, partly to cover the dividend payment.

Company executives and outside groups such as the National Association of Realtors are prodding Treasury officials to reduce the size of the dividend to 5%, or the same percentage that U.S. banks paid in return for aid under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

New loans are expected to "pay returns for many years, and they ought to find their way to taxpayers," Fannie Mae Chief Executive Michael Williams said in an interview. "The question is: How does the government want to recoup their investment?"

In a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the National Association of Realtors said the current dividend payments are exacerbating losses at Fannie and Freddie, which in turn has prompted the two firms to further restrict their lending standards. Mr. Geithner is expected to testify before a House panel Tuesday morning.

.Some mortgage-industry analysts contend that the dividend is so high that it runs at odds with the U.S. government's stated goal of conservatorship, the legal process that put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under control of the Treasury Department and is designed to conserve their assets. The government also got warrants to buy as much as 79.9% of each company's common shares.

"Even in their best years, they rarely had the type of income to pay these dividends," said Mahesh Swaminathan, senior mortgage strategist at Credit Suisse.

Obama administration officials have defended the current dividend structure because there are no plans to revive Fannie and Freddie as stand-alone companies with publicly traded shares. The White House "white paper" calls for eventually phasing out the firms. In contrast, American International Group Inc. is planning a stock offering of possibly more than $20 billion this spring in order to help disentangle the insurer from government ownership.

A Treasury official said that any changes to the dividend structure would have to be made as part of a broader overhaul and that no changes in current policy are planned. Moreover, easing the dividends could reduce the urgency for such an overhaul and make it easier to eventually reconstitute the two firms, something the Treasury doesn't support.

Fannie Mae's fourth-quarter income of $73 million was the company's first profitable quarter in 3½ years. The bottom line doesn't count $2.2 billion in payments that Fannie Mae had to make to the U.S. government, which was asked to pump an additional $2.6 billion into Fannie Mae. Above, Fannie Mae's headquarters in Washington, D.C.
.Fannie and Freddie buy loans from banks and sell them to investors as securities. During the housing boom, the two companies loosened their loan standards and as defaults mounted, the U.S. government rescued the firms and agreed to inject capital. Since then, they have ratcheted up their loan standards, saying their new portfolios contain the highest-quality loans they ever have bought and guaranteed.

The federal regulator overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac projected last fall that the cost of the taxpayer bailout would grow $19 billion from the current total of $134 billion. The two companies could ask the U.S. government for another $71 billion over the next three years just to fund the cost of their dividend obligations.

The White House says the total cost to taxpayers could fall to $73 billion over the next decade.

Write to Nick Timiraos at nick.timiraos@wsj.com

[admin]

Se espera que el ISM toque 60.5.

A las 10 Bernanke se presenta en el Senado para presentar su reporte de politica monetaria semestral. (dos dias)

Tomorrow’s Tape: Ben on the Hill, ISM Manufacturing Update

By Matt Phillips

Earnings:
Nothing much, in terms of big name stocks.
Economics:

10 a.m. — February ISM manufacturing numbers are due in one of the most important reports of the month. The consensus is for the manufacturing activity index to hit 60.5. Last time, the index — which is based on a survey of purchasing managers — jumped to 60.8. That was its highest level since 2004, on an index where readings above 50 point to expansion.
Throughout the day — February domestic auto sales figures are dribbled out throughout the course of the day.
Fedspeak/Markets Chatter

10 a.m. — Bernanke presents his monetary policy report to the Senate Banking Committee, as he begins two days of testimony on Capitol Hill delivering his semiannual report on monetary policy.
10 a.m. — Treasury Secretary Geithner testifies before U.S. House Financial Services panel on mortgage finance reform in Washington.

[admin]

Durante las ultimas dos semanas y a pesar de los problemas geopoliticos en el medio Oriente los inversionistas no se han refugiado en el dolar si no en el yen y el franco Suizo. Lo mas sorprendente es que tambien han comprado euros, moneda tradicionalmente mas riesgosa que el dolar y especialmente ahora por que la zona aun tiene problemas crediticios.

Investors Are Seeking Safety in New Harbors
Dollar, Once a Favored Refuge, Loses Ground to Yen, Franc
By TOM LAURICELLA
For years, whenever significant political or financial turmoil reared its head anywhere on the globe, investors would turn to the U.S. dollar as a safe haven.

Yet as the chaos in North Africa has grown over the past month, investors have largely shunned the dollar and sought shelter elsewhere. They have turned to other traditional islands of stability, buying Japanese yen and the Swiss franc.

Investors have preferred the yen to the dollar despite Japan's ills.
.What has especially raised eyebrows has been the move by investors to buy euros, a currency traditionally seen as a riskier prospect than the dollar, especially with the euro zone's debt problems still largely unresolved.

This has sparked a debate over whether the dollar has lost its safe-haven status.

"Over the last 20 years, people have always moved into the dollar on any sort of uncertainty in the global economic space, but what we've seen over the past two weeks is actually a terrific move out of the dollar," says Douglas Borthwick, a managing director at Faros Trading in Stamford, Conn.

That, he says, reflects the emergence of a lack of confidence in the dollar as a safe place to stash money in times of trouble, thanks in part to concerns about rising government budget deficits in the U.S.

Some say it reflects a broader move in global financial markets where, very slowly, the dollar is facing competition from other currencies as a reserve currency.

Others see the lack of dollar buying as reflecting the specifics of the turmoil that started in Tunisia in late January and has spread over the past month. The inflationary impact of rising oil prices is seen as tilting the odds more in favor of interest-rate increases in Europe. In the U.S., the Federal Reserve has said it still believes core inflation is contained, despite rising energy prices.

So for now, the argument goes, there are better safe havens available to investors than the U.S. currency.

"Safe-haven buying is very dependent on the exact nature of the shock," says Jeff Young, head of North American foreign-exchange research at Barclays Capital. "If it's a shock that triggers risk aversion, but the underlying cost is going to hurt the U.S. disproportionately more than Switzerland, you wouldn't expect the dollar to be on the list of safe havens."

.Since Jan. 24, the day before protests began in Egypt that would ultimately topple its government, the dollar has lost ground against the currencies of every one of so-called G-10 industrialized nations except the New Zealand dollar, which has suffered in the wake of last week's earthquake.

The euro, in particular, has gained 1.2% against the dollar and traded at $1.3799 late Monday afternoon in New York. The Swiss franc, meanwhile, has risen 2% against the dollar and the Japanese yen has gained 0.7%.

Even on individual days when events have sent a scare through the financial markets, the dollar hasn't benefited.

On Jan. 25, when the protests in Egypt first flared up, the euro advanced more than two cents to almost $1.39. This contrasts with other episodes of flight-to-safety currency buying in the past. During the 2008 global financial crisis, the dollar rose by roughly 24%.

Analysts at BCA Research also point out that some investors also are looking to gold as a more appealing safe-haven investment.

"We would agree with this assessment," the analysts wrote. Gold rose 5.7% in February, its biggest monthly gain since April 2010.

When it comes to the buying of euros, many strategists point to the idea that the jump in oil prices over the past few weeks has increased conviction among investors that the European Central Bank will be more likely to raise interest rates before the year is out.

Some note that Japan's economy also is in the doldrums and the country imports essentially all its oil.

Yet buyers continued to seek out the yen as a safe haven. Investors aren't concerned about Japan's own fiscal problems and loose monetary policy.

Mr. Borthwick at Faros says that focus on oil misses the point of flight-to-quality buying, which is that investors are thinking first and foremost of moving their money somewhere safe where they can be sure they will get it back.

With investors increasingly wary of the ability of the U.S. to solve its fiscal problems and the Fed perceived to be "printing dollars" as part of its quantitative-easing strategy to support the economy, there's less confidence that the U.S. dollar is "safe" in the sense, Mr. Borthwick says.

"It's the knee-jerk reaction that matters," he said. "Nowadays the knee-jerk reaction is buy euros and not to buy dollars. The mindset of buying euros is a complete switch."

[admin]

Producción cobre Chile sube 5,4 pct enero: Gobierno
lunes 28 de febrero de 2011 08:57 GYT
Imprimir[-] Texto [+] SANTIAGO (Reuters) - La producción de cobre de Chile alcanzó las 446.887 toneladas en enero, un alza interanual del 5,4 por ciento, dijo el lunes el gubernamental Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas (INE).
Chile, el mayor actor de la industria mundial del metal, habría producido 497.546 toneladas en diciembre del 2010.

"El incremento de producción de concentrado de cobre explica básicamente el alza de enero", informó el INE.

En este sentido, la producción de concentrado alcanzó las 206.658 toneladas, aumentando 8,5 por ciento en 12 meses.

Chile, mayor productor mundial de cobre, se ha visto beneficiado de los sucesivos niveles récord que ha registrado el precio del metal en los últimos meses.

En enero, la producción de molibdeno -un subproducto del cobre- subió un 30 por ciento a 3.515 toneladas.

La industria cuprífera en Chile es liderada por la minera estatal Codelco y también operan gigantes internacionales como BHP Billiton, Anglo American, Xstrata, Antofagasta Minerals y Freeport McMoRan.

La agencia estatal chilena Cochilco ha estimado que el país producirá 5,7 millones de toneladas de cobre en el 2011.

[admin]

La manufactura China se desacelera por tercer mes consecutivo. El PMI bajo a 52.2 de 52.9 en Enero. En Noviembre fue 70.1.

China Manufacturing Slows as Monetary Policy Tightened
By Bloomberg News - Feb 28, 2011 9:27 PM ET Tweet inShare.7More
Business ExchangeBuzz up!DiggPrint Email . China’s manufacturing grew at a slower pace for the third month after the central bank raised benchmark interest rates and curbed lending to cool inflation. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
China’s manufacturing expanded at the slowest pace in six months as higher interest rates and lending curbs aimed at containing inflation damped demand.

The Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 52.2 from 52.9 in January, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said on its website today, the third monthly decline. The gauge of input prices climbed to 70.1, the highest level since November.

Premier Wen Jiabao pledged Feb. 27 to contain gains in consumer prices and tackle surging property prices that could threaten social stability in the world’s most populous nation. Chinese officials are “walking a tightrope” as excessive action to stem inflation may lead to the economy slowing sharply, Nomura Holdings Inc. said last month.

“This is a good number, suggesting Beijing’s policy tightening is starting to cool excessive growth and inflation,” said Qu Hongbin, Hong Kong-based economist at HSBC Holdings Plc. The government “still needs to step up measures to combat inflation in the months ahead,” he added, predicting the central bank will raise interest rates and banks’ required reserve ratios further.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.2 percent as of 10 a.m. local time, while remaining down about 9 percent from a Nov. 11 high amid concern that monetary tightening will hurt earnings in the world’s fastest-growing major economy. The yuan rose 0.02 percent in Shanghai to 6.5703, according to China Foreign Exchange Trade System in Shanghai.

Middle East Turmoil
“Cost-driven inflation pressure is still large,” the logistics federation said in a statement today accompanying the data release. “Upward pressure on the CPI is still significant, the federation said, citing a drought in China that’s boosted food prices, the impact of Middle East turmoil on oil and liquidity injections by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The People’s Bank of China has already raised its benchmark one-year lending and deposit rates three times since mid-October.

Today’s PMI reading compares with the median forecast of 52.1 in a Bloomberg News survey of 14 economists. A reading above 50 signals expansion.

Data in the first two months are typically distorted by the timing of the weeklong lunar new year holiday. The break fell on Feb. 3 this year, almost two weeks earlier than last year.

The output and new-orders sub-indexes indicated the slowest expansions since August, according to today’s data.

Holiday Effect
“By averaging January and February PMIs to ease the Chinese new year effect, we find the economy is still on a healthy expansion mood, albeit at a slower pace because of a stronger bias towards a tighter monetary policy,” said Liu Li- gang, an economist with Australia & New Zealand Banking Group in Hong Kong.

The manufacturing survey, released by the logistics federation and the National Bureau of Statistics, covers more than 820 companies in 20 industries, including energy, metals, textiles, automobiles and electronics.

A separate manufacturing PMI, released by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics, also showed a slowdown last month, according to preliminary data released last month. The final reading for that index is due later today.

China’s economic growth accelerated to a 9.8 percent annual pace in the fourth quarter, overtaking Japan as the world’s second-biggest economy. Consumer prices rose 4.9 percent in January, compared with the government’s target for the full year of 4 percent, reported by state television in December.

--Zheng Lifei. With assistance from Sophie Leung in Hong Kong. Editors: Nerys Avery, Chris Anstey

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Zheng Lifei in Beijing at +86-10-6649-7560 or lzheng32@bloomberg.net

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