Business Week Index

BusinessWeek Index

PRODUCTION INDICATORS

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

STEEL (2/10) thous. of net tons 1,971 2,030# 0.2

AUTOS (2/10) units 129,830 122,352r# -10.5

TRUCKS (2/10) units 120,870 108,372r# 2.1

ELECTRIC POWER (2/10)

millions of kilowatt-hrs. 68,315 67,886# 4.6

CRUDE-OIL REFINING (2/10)

thous. of bbl./day 13,614 13,636# 1.5

COAL (2/3) thous. of net tons 17,722# 20,002 -17.2

PAPERBOARD (2/3) thous. of tons NA# NA NA

PAPER (2/3) thous. of tons NA# NA NA

LUMBER (2/3) millions of ft. 392.4# 449.0 -13.2

RAIL FREIGHT (2/3) billions

of ton-miles 22.4# 24.4 -11.5

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 (2/9) S&P 500 650.03 632.94 35.1

CORPORATE BOND YIELD, Aaa (2/9) 6.87% 6.82% -17.0

INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS PRICES (2/9) 109.8 109.8 -2.7

BUSINESS FAILURES (2/2) NA NA NA

REAL ESTATE LOANS (1/31) billions $506.5 $505.8 8.7

MONEY SUPPLY, M2 (1/29) billions $3,644.0 $3,649.3r 1.6

INITIAL CLAIMS, UNEMPLOYMENT

(1/27) thous. 389 412r 21.6

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.

PRICES

LATEST WEEK YEARLY

WEEK AGO % CHG

GOLD (2/14) $/troy oz. 403.100 414.200 7.2

STEEL SCRAP (2/13) #1 heavy, $/ton 144.50 144.50 0.3

COPPER (2/10) cents/lb. 121.1 121.1 -11.4

ALUMINUM (2/10) cents/lb. 75.0 73.5 -21.5

COTTON (2/10) strict low

middling 1-1/16 in., cents/lb. 82.00 83.72 -6.7

OIL (2/13) $/bbl. 18.91 17.69 2.7

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

market, NYMEX

INTEREST RATES

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

FEDERAL FUNDS (2/13) 4.93% 5.16% 5.93%

COMMERCIAL PAPER (2/14) 3-month 5.13 5.16 6.16

CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT (2/14) 3-month 5.13 5.16 6.17

FIXED MORTGAGE (2/9) 30-year 7.29 7.31 9.04

ADJUSTABLE MORTGAGE (2/9) one-year 5.39 5.49 6.73

PRIME (2/14) 8.25 8.25 9.00

Sources: Federal Reserve, HSH Associates, Reuters Holdings PLC

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

LATEST WEEK YEAR

WEEK AGO AGO

JAPANESE YEN (2/14) 106.81 106.03 97.30

GERMAN MARK (2/14) 1.47 1.48 1.48

BRITISH POUND (2/14) 1.54 1.54 1.58

FRENCH FRANC (2/14) 5.06 5.08 5.16

ITALIAN LIRA (2/14) 1580.5 1576.2 1607.3

CANADIAN DOLLAR (2/14) 1.38 1.37 1.41

MEXICAN PESO (2/14)3 7.505 7.460 6.090

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

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