Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Quick Notes for the Day - November 18

CPI Rises 0.3% in October - The Labor Department reported that the consumer price index (CPI) rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in October as energy prices increased for the fifth time in six months to offset a decline in rents. Year over year, the CPI has declined 0.2%. The core CPI rose 0.2% in October on the back of cars and trucks with the core CPI up 1.7% year over year. New car prices rose 1.6% which is the most in 28 years. Used car prices also increased at a rate of 3.4%.

Housing Starts Drop - The Commerce Department estimated that construction of new houses fell in October by 10.6% to the lowest level since April. Starts of new single-family homes fell by 6.8% to 476,000 and starts of large apartment units fell 34.6% to 53,000. Building permits, a leading indicator of housing construction, fell 4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 552,000.

Oil Moves Higher After Supply Data, US Oil Output Data at a High - Crude oil rose 1% after the Energy Information Administration reported that crude inventories declines by 900,000 barrels. Crude imports fell 0.9% to 8.58 million barrels a day, and total petroleum demand rose 1% to 18.5 million barrels a day, the EIA data showed. The data also showed a decline of 1.7 million barrels in gasoline stockpiles and a drop of 300,000 barrels in distillates.

The American Petroleum Institute reported that US crude oil production for October averaged 5.36 million barrels per day which is the highest level since 2005. "The October production figures continue to detail the industry's success story in the Gulf of Mexico, particularly the deep waters, as well as the way new technologies have helped bring on new production both offshore and onshore," said API Statistics Manager Ron Planting in a statement.

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