Daily Sources 7/21

1. BANK OF CANADA RAISES INTEREST RATE TO 0.75%

Greg Quinn at Bloomberg reports that Canada yesterday raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percent to 0.75%. The central bank indicated that it would consider international developments before raising the rate further.

2. MEXICAN RETAIL SALES UP 5% IN MAY

Jonathan J. Levin at Bloomberg reports that Mexico's retail sales were up 5% from last year in May. The increase took place outside of Mexico's border regions with the US where drug cartel-inspired violence has become endemic. Americans are "thinking twice" before crossing the border to shop.

3. JF-17 MAKES A SPLASH AT FARNBOROUGH

Brian Spegele at China Real Time reports that the Chinese and Pakistani new fighter jet--the JF-17--made a splash at this year's Farnborough International Air Show in England.

"Aircraft sales are the most lucrative part of Beijing’s weapons exports, totaling some $815 million, China Daily reported."

The plane relies on Russian made jet engines, but the fact that China is willing to export its latest technology makes for a different arms theory than that practiced by the US.

4. INTERNET USAGE IN CHINA IS SURGING

Kevin Sullivan at the Compass reports that Chinese internet usage is surging.



23% of a billion is a lot of people.

5. CHINA FACING HOUSING BUBBLE?

James Hamilton at Econbrowser asks whether China is facing a housing bubble.



6. NEW SANCTIONS ON NORTH KOREA

Craig Whitlock and Karen DeYoung at the Washington Post report that the US has announced that it will impose further sanctions on North Korea.

7. INSURANCE COMPANIES ABANDONING IRANIAN SHIPPING

Thomas Erdbrink and Colum Lynch at the Washington Post report that insurance companies have abandoned their relationship with Iranian shipping in order to comply with new US sanctions. Ports will refuse to allow Iranian ships entry if they are not covered for potential damages. Worth reading in full.

8. KURDS BLOW UP TURKO-IRANIAN GAS PIPELINE

Ivan Watson and Yesim Comert at CNN report that Kurdish rebels today took credit for the bombing of a Turkish-Iranian gas pipeline.

"An official from BOTAS, Turkey's state oil and gas company, speaking on condition of anonymity, told CNN that the fire had been extinguished. However, the official said, it will take at least six days to resume pumping fuel through the pipeline. In the meantime, BOTAS has increased the flow of gas from Azerbaijan to compensate for the gas cut."

9. INDIA AND PAKISTAN DISPUTE KASHMIR DAM

Lydia Polgreen and Sabrina Tavernise at the New York Times report that tensions are rising over the construction of a dam in Jammu-Kashmir. Pakistan is worried that India will be able to control water flow to its farmers during planting season. Worth reading in full.

10. COLOMBIA LOOKING UP

Frontier Markets optimistically notes that Colombia is emerging from its drug war. Investors will be more likely to place their money in Colombia than, say, Venezuela.

12. HOUSING HEADED FOR A DOUBLE DIP?

Barbara Kiviat at the Curious Capitalist argues that a double dip in housing is likely.

13. CRUDE AND PRODUCTS STORAGE INCREASES

The EIA reports that crude oil stocks grew by .4 million barrels in the week ended July 16th. Gasoline stocks grew by 1.1 million and distillate stocks grew by 3.9 million barrels. The national price of gasoline rose by 0.4 cents to 272.2 cents per gallon for the week ended July 19th. (Prices between $2.50 and $3.00 per gallon is where you start to see modification of use.) For the week ended 7/16 refinery utilization crept up to 91.5%.