GLOBAL MARKET HIGHLIGHTS
Fiscal Madness 06-13-03 (newsday.com) It would be nice if we could have it all. Who doesn't want big tax cuts, a generous Medicare prescription drug benefit and a shrinking federal deficit? But real life comes with real consequences, demanding hard choices. Taxpayers can't have all those things. There isn't enough money. Delivering both big, multi-year tax cuts and meaningful drug coverage would plunge the federal government deeper into the red, when it is already running record deficits. That's fiscal madness. 
Culture of consumption 06-13-03 (csmonitor.com) Mark Brown wishes his clients would think more about the future. But when deciding whether to buy a new Chevy truck or to set aside $300 a month for retirement, they more often opt for a pickup over peace of mind. Mr. Brown, owner of the Brown Insurance Agency in Biddeford, Maine, says even people in this blue-collar town, who have struggled to make ends meet for most of the past century, have little instinct to save. 
Fed Report Hints at Small Signs of Economic Recovery 06-13-03 (npr.org) The Federal Reserve says business and consumer confidence has risen slightly since the war in Iraq, particularly in Kansas City, Dallas, New York and Minneapolis. But it also warns that much of the country is still struggling with "sluggish, subpar or subdued" economic growth. The Fed will use the data from its survey of economic conditions when it sets interest rates in late June. Hear NPR's Scott Horsley. 
Delaware Tax Loophole 06-13-03 (npr.org) For decades, Delaware has been a tax haven for businesses. Many firms pay next to nothing in state taxes simply by registering key subsidiaries there. But now the system is under attack by states facing budget deficits. NPR's Allison Aubrey reports. 
Producer Prices Fell 0.3 Percent in May 06-13-03 (Yahoo) "The producer price index came in a little below expectations but it really wasn't that surprising," said economist Mark Vitner of Wachovia Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina. The overall PPI drop was just a bit steeper than the 0.2 percent decline projected by private economists and the "core" measure matched forecasts 
Trade Deficit Declines Slightly in April 06-13-03 (Yahoo) But even with the small improvement, America's trade deficit through the first four months of this year is running at an annual rate of $491 billion, far above last year's record deficit of $418 billion. Bush administration critics point to the soaring trade deficit as evidence that the president's policies of pursuing free trade deals as a way to boost America's global competitiveness is not working. The critics say a flood of imports has cost millions of lost American manufacturing jobs. 
Claims, Sales Data Show Tepid Recovery 06-13-03 (Yahoo) The overall sales figure was held down by a 4.3 percent slide in gasoline station receipts as fuel prices tumbled. Excluding the gasoline component, retail sales gained 0.4 percent. "Consumers are still buying, but they're hardly shopping 'til they drop," said Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pa. 

 LATIN AMERICA
TotalFinaElfs Venezuela Gas Project To Start End Of Year 06-13-03 (Yahoo) The $129 million first stage of the project should see output of 100 million cubic feet per day of non-decarbonized gas by then, Philippe Guys, director general at YPergas, which runs the operation, said in a presentation to journalists. Refinements, including the contruction of decarbonization facilities, will continue until 2007 when the $474 million second stage will begin, Guys said. TotalFinaElf has 69.5% of the 2 billion cubic foot concession, while Repsol has 15%. Two Venezuelan companies, Inepetrol and Otepi, have 10.2% and 5.3% respectively. 
Argentinas President Moves To Tighten Grip On Government Entities 06-13-03 (Yahoo) The moves come three weeks after Kirchner took over as president, following a campaign during which he promised to come down hard on political patronage and corruption. On Wednesday, four directors from the bank's eight-member board offered their resignation. That comes after the government appointed a new president of the bank last week and three board members resigned. Banco de la Nacion is Argentina's largest bank in terms of branches and deposits. 
IMF Announces Koehler To Visit Argentina June 23-24 06-13-03 (Yahoo) IMF Director of External Affairs Thomas Dawson told reporters Thursday that while he doesn't have a firm date, the program is "on track to be discussed by the board." "I anticipate it will be before the end of June," he said during a regular briefing. While the IMF's executive board must sign off before credit programs are formally approved, in practice, IMF management doesn't present issues for consideration unless they are sure to be agreed. In January, the IMF and Argentina signed an agreement that extends credit on about $6.8 billion worth of loans coming due through August. The second review of this agreement had been scheduled for completion in May, but has been delayed in part because of country's presidential election, and in part because of disagreements over policy. 
Mexican Court to Extradite Alleged Argentine Torturer 06-13-03 (Yahoo) Cavallo is accused of abducting, torturing, murdering and "disappearing" dozens of people during Argentina's 1976-1983 dictatorship. The Supreme Court ruling was hailed by rights groups as a landmark decision in international law. After he is extradited, Cavallo will thus become the first Latin American military officer prosecuted by a judge in a third country, after being arrested in a country where he had no legal problems. 
Argentine Leader Wants Court Investigated 06-13-03 (Yahoo) The new president has accused the high court of using its rulings to fight off a series of investigations into accusations of graft among the justices. In October 2002, lawmakers voted to drop impeachment hearings against the justices under intense pressure from the government of then-president Eduardo Duhalde. Late Wednesday, Kirchner went on national television to exhort Congress to speed up an investigation into the corruption accusations, singling out Supreme Court President Julio Nazareno. 
Venezuelan Oil Workers Get Boost in Court 06-13-03 (Yahoo) Labor Minister Maria Iglesias rejected the ruling and said the government would not rehire some 18,000 employees it has fired at the state-run oil monopoly Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., or PDVSA. "There is no turning back in regard to these firings," Iglesias told the state-run television channel. "A firing freeze for those (workers) has no value." The labor law in question had protected workers from being fired during the period when they were forming their union. 
Venezuela Lawmakers Hold Session in Park 06-13-03 (Yahoo) The lawmakers, gathering in tents in a poor neighborhood of hard-core Chavez supporters, adopted new debate rules intended to make it more difficult to block legislation supported by the president. Opposition members of Congress said they did not recognize the legitimacy of the vote. The bickering boded more turmoil for Venezuela, a major oil exporter to the United States convulsed by a brief coup in 2002 and a ruinous general strike earlier this year. It threatened to further delay efforts in Congress to choose election officials who would run a possible referendum on Chavez's presidency. 

 OIL PRICES
Natural Gas Shortage Could Hurt Economy, Greenspan Tells House 06-12-03 (Yahoo) "We are not apt to return to earlier periods of relative abundance and low prices," Greenspan told the House Energy Committee. Natural gas fetched about $2 per million British thermal units, a standard unit measure, through most of the 1990s. That price helped drive industrial demand up, especially among steel makers, chemical companies and fertilizer firms. Many converted their plants to natural gas. 
OPEC Holds Output, Meets Again in 7 Weeks 06-12-03 (Yahoo) Ministers left supply quotas unchanged and called for improved adherence with individual allocations under combined limits of 25.4 million barrels daily. Steamy world oil prices gave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries the breathing space to wait to make its first cutbacks since the end of 2001. 
Oil Jumps as U.S. Fuel Stocks Fall 06-12-03 (Yahoo) U.S. light crude in New York was up 63 cents at $32.36 a barrel, hitting a peak of $32.50, the highest level in 12 weeks and nearly 35 percent above last year. In London, benchmark Brent crude was 31 cents higher at $28.39 a barrel. 
OPEC maintains production ceiling, demands quota compliance 06-12-03 (Yahoo) "We agreed in April that the ceiling is 25.4 million barrels per day (bpd) from June 1 and today we reconfirmed this agreement. We hope there will be no overproduction (above quotas) during this period," until July 31, he told reporters Wednesday, at the end of an extraordinary meeting of the cartel in Qatar. In a statement released at the end of the meeting, OPEC said: "Stability had been maintained in the market following the decision taken by the (OPEC) conference in April 2003 to reduce actual production to 25.4 million bpd, with prices remaining within agreed levels.