Economics Update

We have another sign of recession, imports falling sharply in March, which indicates a decrease in consumer demand.

It also appears that the decisions by the Bank of England and ECB to target inflation may be putting an end to the brief dollar rally.

In energy, we have Oil settings new record, $126.20/bbl, and gas hitting a new record, $3.671/gal.

It should be noted that much of our trade deficit is oil, but the number dropped even with increasing oil prices. Things are slowing down a lot.

I would note that there are signs that the credit crunch is no spreading to insurance, with AIG posting a 1st quarter loss of $7.8 billion, and making plans to issue more stock to raise needed capital.

If the insurance industry goes balls up in any significant way, it's going to be effecting a lot more people.

Finally, we have housing inventories continuing to rise, 3.5% in April, and 6% year over year.