Business Week Index

BusinessWeek Index

PRODUCTION INDICATORS

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

STEEL (11/18) thous. of net tons 1,877 1,895# -1.5

AUTOS (11/18) units 128,333 132,255r# -8.3

TRUCKS (11/18) units 120,312 114,839r# -1.7

ELECTRIC POWER (11/18)

millions of kilowatt-hrs. 60,532 59,890# 8.0

CRUDE-OIL REFINING (11/18)

thous. of bbl./day NA 13,481# NA

COAL (11/11) thous. of net tons 19,609# 19,848 -3.4

PAPERBOARD (11/11) thous. of tons 812.6# 880.0r -7.1

PAPER (11/11) thous. of tons 793.0# 834.0r -6.6

LUMBER (11/11) millions of ft. 445.8# 436.2 -11.9

RAIL FREIGHT (11/11)

billions of ton-miles 25.2# 25.6 0.0

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 (11/17) S&P 500 594.59 590.49 28.1

CORPORATE BOND YIELD, Aaa (11/17) 7.02% 7.04% -19.3

INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS PRICES (11/17) 111.9 111.6 NA*

BUSINESS FAILURES (11/10) NA 314r NA

REAL ESTATE LOANS (11/7) billions $504.9 $501.7r 11.2

MONEY SUPPLY, M2 (11/3) billions $3,722.6 $3,721.8 4.3

INITIAL CLAIMS, UNEMPLOYMENT

(11/1) thous. 375 366 12.6

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 (11/22) $/troy oz. 386.300 385.300 0.5

STEEL SCRAP (11/21) #1 heavy, $/ton 134.50 134.50 -2.9

COPPER (11/18) cents/lb. 139.7 140.8 2.1

ALUMINUM (11/18) cents/lb. 77.0 78.0 -16.3

COTTON (11/18) strict low

middling 1-1/16 in., cents/lb. 84.50 83.03 17.1

OIL (11/20) $/bbl. 18.09 17.90 3.5

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

market, NYMEX

INTEREST RATES

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

FEDERAL FUNDS (11/20) 5.73% 5.71% 5.53%

COMMERCIAL PAPER (11/21) 3-month 5.72 5.74 5.90

CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT

(11/21) 3-month 5.73 5.74 5.87

FIXED MORTGAGE (11/17) 30-year 7.66 7.63 9.33

ADJUSTABLE MORTGAGE (11/17) one-year 5.78 5.69 6.33

PRIME (11/22) 8.75 8.75 8.50

Sources: Federal Reserve, HSH Associates, Reuters Holdings PLC

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

JAPANESE YEN (11/21) 101.60 101.02 98.60

GERMAN MARK (11/21) 1.41 1.40 1.56

BRITISH POUND (11/21) 1.56 1.56 1.56

FRENCH FRANC (11/21) 4.86 4.84 5.35

ITALIAN LIRA (11/21) 1592.5 1590.8 1614.3

CANADIAN DOLLAR (11/21) 1.35 1.36 1.37

MEXICAN PESO (11/21)3 7.705 8.000 3.446

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