Business Week Index

BusinessWeek Index

PRODUCTION INDICATORS

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

STEEL (10/28) thous. of net tons 1,926 1,834# -1.4

AUTOS (10/28) units 135,989 134,500r# -7.4

TRUCKS (10/28) units 115,074 125,526r# -7.9

ELECTRIC POWER (10/28)

millions of kilowatt-hrs. 57,049 57,046# 2.2

CRUDE-OIL REFINING (10/28)

thous. of bbl./day 13,919 13,786# 5.1

COAL (10/21) thous. of net tons 20,410# 20,675 -0.6

PAPERBOARD (10/21) thous. of tons 896.6# 883.7r -1.6

PAPER (10/21) thous. of tons 831.0# 820.0 -1.9

LUMBER (10/21) millions of ft. 467.3# 464.7 -2.8

RAIL FREIGHT (10/21)

billions of ton-miles 25.6# 25.8 2.0

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 (10/27) S&P 500 582.10 587.07 25.2

CORPORATE BOND YIELD, Aaa (10/27) 7.10% 7.08% -17.9

INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS PRICES (10/27) 110.8 110.5 NA*

BUSINESS FAILURES (10/20) NA NA NA

REAL ESTATE LOANS (10/18) billions $500.1 $501.7 11.5

MONEY SUPPLY, M2 (10/16) billions $3,722.6 $3,717.3r 4.1

INITIAL CLAIMS, UNEMPLOYMENT

(10/14) thous. 359 356 10.5

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 (11/1) $/troy oz. 83.1950 382.400 -1.0

STEEL SCRAP (10/31) #1 heavy, $/ton 138.50 140.50 3.7

COPPER (10/28) cents/lb. 131.5 129.4 3.8

ALUMINUM (10/28) cents/lb. 77.0 77.0 -11.0

COTTON (10/28) strict low middling

1-1/16 in., cents/lb. 83.09 83.18 19.8

OIL (10/31) $/bbl. 17.67 17.58 -5.2

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

market, NYMEX

INTEREST RATES

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

FEDERAL FUNDS (10/31) 5.97% 5.70% 4.77%

COMMERCIAL PAPER (10/31) 3-month 5.81 5.82 5.63

CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT (11/1) 3-month 5.78 5.80 5.59

FIXED MORTGAGE (10/27) 30-year 7.70 7.69 9.17

ADJUSTABLE MORTGAGE (10/27) one-year 5.76 5.85 6.00

PRIME (11/1) 8.75 8.75 7.75

Sources: Federal Reserve, HSH Associates, Reuters Holdings PLC

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

JAPANESE YEN (11/1) 102.85 101.24 97.95

GERMAN MARK (11/1) 1.42 1.39 1.52

BRITISH POUND (11/1) 1.58 1.58 1.61

FRENCH FRANC (11/1) 4.90 4.90 5.22

ITALIAN LIRA (11/1) 1596.1 1615.5 1562.8

CANADIAN DOLLAR (11/1) 1.35 1.37 1.36

MEXICAN PESO (11/1)3 7.205 6.750 3.431

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