Business Week Index

BusinessWeek Index

PRODUCTION INDICATORS

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

STEEL (7/1) thous. of net tons 1,859 1,947# -2.8

AUTOS (7/1) units 123,362 127,192r# -2.9

TRUCKS (7/1) units 114,821 117,768r# 2.1

ELECTRIC POWER (7/1) millions

of kilowatt-hrs. NA 67,448# NA

CRUDE-OIL REFINING (7/1) thous.

of bbl./day NA 14,737# NA

COAL (6/24) thous. of net tons 20,064# 18,661 2.8

PAPERBOARD (6/24) thous. of tons NA# 938.3 NA

PAPER (6/24) thous. of tons NA# 813.0 NA

LUMBER (6/24) millions of ft. 423.7# 443.9 -12.4

RAIL FREIGHT (6/24) billions of

ton-miles 23.7# 23.4 4.4

Sources: American Iron & Steel Institute, Ward's Automotive Reports, Edison

Electric Institute, American Petroleum Institute, Energy Dept., American Forest

& Paper Association, WWPA1, SFPA2, Association of American Railroads

LEADING INDICATORS

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

STOCK PRICES (6/30) S&P 500 543.98 546.99 21.9

CORPORATE BOND YIELD, Aaa (6/30) 7.29% 7.27% -10.1

INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS PRICES (6/30) 115.3 114.5 NA*

BUSINESS FAILURES (6/23) NA 322 NA

REAL ESTATE LOANS (6/21) billions $485.0 $483.8r 12.7

MONEY SUPPLY, M2 (6/19) billions $3,660.7 $3,652.1r 2.6

INITIAL CLAIMS, UNEMPLOYMENT

(6/17) thous. 396 375 12.5

Sources: Center for International Business Cycle Research (CIBCR), Standard &

Poor's, Moody's, Journal of Commerce (index: 1990=100), Dun & Bradstreet

(failures of large companies), Federal Reserve, Labor Dept. CIBCR seasonally

adjusts data on business failures and real estate loans. *Historical data

available from CIBCR.

PRICES

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

GOLD (7/5) $/troy oz. 384.250 388.250 -0.6

STEEL SCRAP (7/3)#1 heavy, $/ton 140.50 140.50 26.0

COPPER (7/1) cents/lb. 142.5 145.7 27.1

ALUMINUM (7/1) cents/lb. 84.5 85.3 20.7

COTTON (7/1) strict low middling

1-1/16 in., cents/lb. 105.38 106.66 44.9

OIL (7/3) $/bbl. 17.40 17.90 -8.9

Sources: London Wednesday final setting, Chicago market, Metals Week, Memphis

market, NYMEX

INTEREST RATES

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

FEDERAL FUNDS (7/3) 5.89% 5.94% 4.38%

COMMERCIAL PAPER (7/3) 3-month 5.94 5.93 4.78

CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT (7/5) 3-month 5.88 5.90 4.78

FIXED MORTGAGE (6/30) 30-year 7.80 7.74 8.72

ADJUSTABLE MORTGAGE (6/30) one-year 5.83 5.84 5.52

PRIME (7/5) 9.00 9.00 7.25

Sources: Federal Reserve, HSH Associates, Reuters Holdings PLC

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

JAPANESE YEN (7/5) 84.96 85.12 98.73

GERMAN MARK (7/5) 1.38 1.40 1.57

BRITISH POUND (7/5) 1.59 1.57 1.54

FRENCH FRANC (7/5) 4.84 4.91 5.40

ITALIAN LIRA (7/5) 1622.9 1638.0 1565.4

CANADIAN DOLLAR (7/5) 1.37 1.38 1.39

MEXICAN PESO (7/5)3 6.240 6.290 3.395

Sources: Major New York banks. Currencies expressed in units per U.S. dollar,

except for British pound in dollars

#Raw data in the production indicators are seasonally adjusted in computing the

BW index (chart); other components (estimated and not listed) include machinery

and defense equipment. 1=Western Wood Products Assn. 2=Southern Forest

Products Assn. 3=Free market value NA=Not available r=revised NM=Not

meaningful