[oilluber]

is this due to greater US exports of cigaretts,
guns ,,,arms to hot spots in the world ??

Any ideas as to why the deficit dropped ??

[Cobra_Strike]

Can you provide a link to this gem of information? Its just floating in the wind at the moment.

[Tyler_JC]

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?fi ... ec=apworld

[firestarter]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('oilluber', '
')Any ideas as to why the deficit dropped ??

[bonjaski]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('firestarter', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('oilluber', '
')Any ideas as to why the deficit dropped ??

[Teclo]

yeah am I to believe this is good news as MSM reports?
it just means the overall defecit grew by 10 billion dollars less than expected, still grew by 62 billion!
It's not good news unless it's a surpless

Or am I missing something

Martin

[oilfreeandhappy]

Todays business headlines. Is the cliche "same ole, same ole" starting to ring true?

Oil Prices Push Trade Gap Higher in April

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060609/economy.html?.v=9

"The deterioration in the deficit was almost all accounted for by a $1.44 billion increase in America's foreign oil bill, which rose to $23.8 billion. That reflected a big jump in crude oil prices, which hit an all-time high of $75.17 per barrel in late April."

Oil Prices Jump Amid Instability in Iraq

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060609/oil_prices_us.html?.v=3

"Oil prices rose by more than $1 a barrel Friday, reversing a three-day decline. Brokers attributed the rise to tough talk from an Iranian cleric and the kidnapping of a senior Iraqi petroleum industry official -- proof that the killing of al-Qaida's leader in Iraq did not mark the end of instability in that country."

[Zardoz]

What, me worry?

The current account trade deficit increased 3.9 percent to an all-time high of $225.6 billion in the July-September quarter

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he current account deficit is expected to hit a new record for the full year, far surpassing last year's record of $791.5 billion although some analysts said they believed the third-quarter figure would represent the worst of the deficit numbers.

"Lower oil prices, robust export growth and some cooling in import growth should bring the deficit down, beginning in the fourth quarter," said Nigel Gault, an economist with Global Insight, a private forecasting firm.

He predicted the deficit would average around $866 billion this year but shrink moderately to $816 billion next year.

[Euric]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Zardoz', 'W')hat, me worry?

The current account trade deficit increased 3.9 percent to an all-time high of $225.6 billion in the July-September quarter

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he current account deficit is expected to hit a new record for the full year, far surpassing last year's record of $791.5 billion although some analysts said they believed the third-quarter figure would represent the worst of the deficit numbers.

"Lower oil prices, robust export growth and some cooling in import growth should bring the deficit down, beginning in the fourth quarter," said Nigel Gault, an economist with Global Insight, a private forecasting firm.

He predicted the deficit would average around $866 billion this year but shrink moderately to $816 billion next year.

[DantesPeak]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Zardoz', 'W')hat, me worry?

The current account trade deficit increased 3.9 percent to an all-time high of $225.6 billion in the July-September quarter

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he current account deficit is expected to hit a new record for the full year, far surpassing last year's record of $791.5 billion although some analysts said they believed the third-quarter figure would represent the worst of the deficit numbers.

"Lower oil prices, robust export growth and some cooling in import growth should bring the deficit down, beginning in the fourth quarter," said Nigel Gault, an economist with Global Insight, a private forecasting firm.

He predicted the deficit would average around $866 billion this year but shrink moderately to $816 billion next year.

[EnergyHog]

The trade deficit has to soar, we don't make much here. Gotta import damn near everything but weapons and dollars.

[Cobra_Strike]

Wasn't the message given last year that they 'expected' to close the trade gap this year? And yet....its widening? Something makes me think that the end of next year will result in the same message, expect that this year ballooning deficit will get smaller.....million mark note, here we come.

[oilfreeandhappy]

$791.5 Billion. Here's a quote from a CNN Money article in May, 2000, when Clinton was being blasted for a record $30.2 Billion trade deficit.

"March trade gap widens to $30.2B, the highest deficit figure ever recorded... "

http://money.cnn.com/2000/05/19/economy/economy_trade/

[Longsword]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ElijahJones', 'W')hy are we importing so much more than we export since 9/11.

(SNIP some good points)

...In my minds eye I see a big fat Uncle Sam in a pool of blood with several gaping oozing wounds. I am not trying to be sensationalist. But I leave open the chance I an dead wrong. Admittedly I am not a man of 30 years experience, but I know some good sound fundamentals. Why do I and so many others here see to see the precarious situation but those in power do not? Are we decieving ourselves?

[MrBill]

Longsword accurately wrote:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'U')S is playing the "too big to fall" card. Instead of fixing their fiscal house, the leadership is banking on China, Japan, Middle-East and the rest to pay all the bills. China needs a place to sell their cheap trinkets, after all, and Middle-East governments need a place to dump their oil for big profits.

[Euric]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cobra_Strike', 'W')asn't the message given last year that they 'expected' to close the trade gap this year? And yet....its widening? Something makes me think that the end of next year will result in the same message, expect that this year ballooning deficit will get smaller.....million mark note, here we come.

[Euric]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Longsword', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ElijahJones', 'W')hy are we importing so much more than we export since 9/11.

(SNIP some good points)

...In my minds eye I see a big fat Uncle Sam in a pool of blood with several gaping oozing wounds. I am not trying to be sensationalist. But I leave open the chance I an dead wrong. Admittedly I am not a man of 30 years experience, but I know some good sound fundamentals. Why do I and so many others here see to see the precarious situation but those in power do not? Are we deceiving ourselves?

[DantesPeak]

There possibly is no lower level of the dollar at which the trade deficit can ever be corrected. Short of an outright plunge in consumer demand, which would usually only happen in a depression, the US trade deficit may never be balanced again.

Since there is no cure for the US$’s problems, to some extent it makes sense for the central banks of the world to keep the US$ regime going. Granted the US and its almost $1 trillion yearly current account deficit is like drug addict going for ever larger fixes and getting in worse and worse shape. But no one intentionally wants to cut off the addict for fear the addict might become like a wild animal.

Possibly what other countries want for the dollar may eventually not matter anyway. The price of energy may go so high as to make the current account deficit no longer supportable by foreigners. In that doomsday scenario, the US$ has no level or natural value to which it could fall.