Newsgroup: it.economia.borsa
Titolo: Beige Book

Beige Book: Modest, but uneven U.S. growth by Rex Nutting
  The U.S. economy is growing at a moderate pace, the Federal Reserve said
Wednesday in its Beige Book of current economic conditions. Retail sales
were "flat in most districts," the Fed said. Activity in most services and
manufacturing sectors had improved, "but varied across regions and
segments," the Fed said. "The tone was of modest but uneven growth," the
Beige Book said. Lending conditions were little changed. The report suggests
that the Federal Open Market Committee will not feel tempted to boost
overnight rates off their 40-year low of 1.75 percent at the June 25 and 26
meeting.
JeffBeck

 WASHINGTON (MktNews) - The following is the first part of the text
of the Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions, also known
as the Beige Book, released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve:
     Prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and based on
information collected before June 3, 2002. This document summarizes
comments received from businesses and other contacts outside the Federal
Reserve and is not a commentary on the view of Federal Reserve
officials.
     Reports from Federal Reserve Districts indicated that overall
economic activity expanded at a moderate pace in late April and May. The
tone was one of modest but uneven growth, with some major sectors
showing signs of improvement while others softened or remained weak.
Retail sales were flat in most Districts, and auto sales were mixed.
Activity in the services and manufacturing sectors improved overall but
varied across regions and segments. Residential real estate markets
generally remained robust while weakness persisted in most commercial
markets. Districts noted few changes in lending markets. Labor markets
remained slack in most Districts, but several Districts reported higher
demand for temporary workers. Price pressures were in check for most
goods and services, but many Districts noted rising steel prices and
continued increases in energy and insurance costs.
     Consumer Spending: Most Districts reported that retail sales were
similar to year-ago levels. Richmond, Atlanta, St. Louis, and
Minneapolis reported that recent sales were flat on a year-over-year
basis. According to New York, Chicago, and Dallas, sales were sluggish.
Sales in the Boston, Philadelphia, Kansas City, and San Francisco
Districts were improved, in contrast. Cleveland reported mixed results.
Unseasonable weather reportedly hampered sales in the New York, Chicago,
St. Louis, and Dallas Districts. Most Districts continued to report
balanced inventories.
     Reports on automobile sales in late April and May were uneven.
Sales were robust in the Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco Districts.
Reports from Cleveland, Richmond, St. Louis, Minneapolis, and Dallas
were mixed. Philadelphia and Kansas City said that sales were down on a
year-over-year basis, although Philadelphia noted that sales were at
healthy levels. In the Atlanta and St. Louis Districts, some dealers
complained about lost sales because potential buyers did not qualify for
credit.
     Services and Tourism: The services sector posted modest growth.
Business was up for financial, legal, information technology, and
trucking firms in the Philadelphia District. Cleveland reported a
significant increase in demand for trucking and shipping services, and
the demand for legal services was strong in the New York and Dallas
Districts. New York, Richmond, and Atlanta said that computer-related
service firms were experiencing weak demand; San Francisco noted heavy
discounting of software and high-tech services. Boston, in contrast,
reported some growth in demand for software products and services,
particularly for health care-related software.
     Reports on the tourism and hospitality industry generally continued
to indicate an upward trend. Hotel occupancy picked up slightly in the
San Francisco District and remained steady in the New York District.
Richmond and Boston said that hotels reported steady demand and were
hiring additional staff; source in South Carolina said that business had
"turned the corner" from September 11 effects. Atlanta and San Francisco
reported strong forward bookings for summer tourist destinations, and
Florida theme parks were adding to payrolls. Chicago noted that a major
airline was experiencing strong leisure travel but weak business travel.
In the Cleveland District business conference attendance remained lower
than last year.
     Construction and Real Estate: Residential real estate activity
remained robust in most Districts. Home sales improved in the New York,
Atlanta, and St. Louis Districts compared with the previous year, and
Richmond said that sales were up overall compared with the last Beige
Book. Existing home sales picked up in the Chicago District, but new
home sales were not as strong. San Francisco reported solid activity in
most areas, while Kansas City noted strong sales of lower-priced homes
and weak sales of high-end homes. Philadelphia reported high sales
levels and accelerating prices. Richmond also noted rising home prices.
Dallas, in contrast, said that builders reported a drop in sales and
were offering concessions. Single-family construction varied across
Districts, with activity up in the St. Louis, Minneapolis, and San
Francisco Districts and remaining solid in most of the Kansas City
District. Kansas City and Minneapolis noted slowing or weakness in the
multifamily market, but Manhattan multifamily market strengthened,
according to New York.
     Most Districts continued to report weak commercial real estate
markets, with high vacancy rates and lower rental rates. Boston,
Atlanta, St. Louis, Dallas, and San Francisco characterized commercial
markets as weak. Commercial markets eased in the Philadelphia District
and declined in the Cleveland, Kansas City, and Minneapolis Districts.
New York reported that markets were stabilizing in the New York City
area. Chicago reported mixed results. Richmond noted an increase in
commercial activity, mainly in the office segment.
     Manufacturing: Factory production, shipments, and orders were
higher in most Districts, but the gains were uneven across industries.
Automakers in the Cleveland District reported strong activity, and
Chicago noted a surge n heavy truck orders as customers sought to make
purchases ahead of EPA regulatory changes, scheduled to take effect
October 1. Richmond indicated strong growth in shipments and orders for
textile products, and St. Louis reported increased demand for a variety
of non-durable goods. In the Philadelphia District, producers of
construction materials continued to report robust demand. Dallas
commented that refineries were operating near capacity for most of April
and May. According to San Francisco, contacts indicated a pickup in new
orders and sales in the semiconductor industry, which allowed producers
to draw down inventories. More generally, inventories of finished goods
were flat or lower in most districts, although Kansas City noted that
some plant managers were increasing inventories.  Boston and San
Francisco said that orders were down considerably for suppliers of
aircraft components. According to Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, and San
Francisco, demand for telecommunications equipment remained weak.
--more--
    ** Market News International Washington Bureau 
202-371-2121
 **
[TOPICS: MNSFED,MMUFE$,MAUDS$]

    WASHINGTON (MktNews) - The following is the second and final part
of the text of the Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions,
also known as the Beige Book, released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve:
     Banking and Finance: Demand for bank loans was little changed, with
conditions generally better on the consumer side than on the commercial
side. Cleveland, Atlanta, and Dallas reported robust consumer lending.
Cleveland, Richmond, Chicago, ST. Louis, Kansas City, and Dallas said
that business lending was soft or sluggish. Chicago said that firms were
wary of borrowing to  make large capital outlays. New York, in contrast,
reported sagging loan demand on the consumer said but rising demand from
commercial borrowers. Improvements in bank earnings, loan quality and
demand were noted at San Francisco District banks. New York and St.
Louis reported tighter or stable credit standards, while Philadelphia
and Atlanta noted that some lenders have become more cautious in
business lending. According to Cleveland and Atlanta, reports on loan
delinquencies ranged from no change to a slight increase. Contacts in
New York and Chicago reported that delinquency rates were lower or
stable, while St. Louis noted a rise in defaults. Philadelphia reported
that the outstanding loan volume has been moving up somewhat in recent
weeks.
     Labor Markets and Prices. Labor market conditions improved
marginally but remained slack overall. As a consequence, reports cited
little upward pressure on wages. Labor market conditions were little
changed in the Cleveland, Chicago, Kansas City, and San francisco
Districts. Richmond and Dallas said that labor market conditions were
mixed, whereas New York reported some improvement. Minneapolis noted
that general labor market conditions eased slightly. Temporary
employment agencies experienced increased demand in the Boston,
Philadelphia, Richmond, and Atlanta Districts. Dallas noted that demand
for temps rose in the manufacturing sector but declined in several
service industries. Temporary worker demand was flat in the Cleveland
District. Kansas City and Minneapolis noted an ongoing shortage of
nurses, and skilled tradesmen were in short supply in the Kansas City
District.
     Price increases remained subdued overall, but the prices for a few
goods and services rose substantially. Most districts reported steel
prices were sharply higher. Dallas said that prospect of further steel
price increases had spurred strong sales for fabricated metal products.
Rising insurance costs were noted as concerns in the Boston, Atlanta,
Chicago, Minneapolis, and San Francisco Districts. Boston, Richmond, and
Dallas reported higher prices for energy and petrochemical products. New
York and Dallas reported that manufacturers generally were not able to
pass along higher input costs.
     Agriculture and Natural resources: Many Districts noted poor
agricultural conditions. Richmond, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Dallas, and
San Francisco reported that a drought was hurting crops and cattle in at
least part of their Districts; some crops in the Richmond District were
stunted by a late frost. Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City
also noted problems resulting from unseasonable weather conditions.
Minneapolis, Kansas City, and San Francisco reported concerns about low
livestock prices, while cattle ranchers in Texas expect to face higher
costs because all livestock leaving the state may have to be vaccinated
against bovine tuberculosis.
Energy-related activities were up in the Minneapolis, Kansas City, and
Dallas Districts. Kansas City attributed some of the rebound to
anticipated increases in natural gas prices in coming months.
Minneapolis noted expansions in the iron ore mining industry.


In parole povere i tassi non si toccano, l'economia pertanto non č che dia
buoni segnali di ripresa.
E c'era bisogno di aspettare il BB per sentirsi dire tali affermazioni. :-((
--
l'orsotoro

"l'orsotoro" <orso...@STOPSPAMyahoo.it> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:iTMN8.28533$TS.8...@news1.tin.it...

I merikani vanno matti per la suspence :))
JeffBeck
p.s. anche senza grafico, da un primo sguardo, al CPC  manca quello strappo
decisivo.


0.99, sono grandi questi americani, non ne possono piů neanche loro, ma non
lo fanno trasparire...;-))
--
l'orsotoro