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Qatar's central bank governor Abdullah bin Khaled al-Attiyah said the bank could hold up to 40 percent of its reserves in euros. As of mid-2005 it held more than 90 percent of reserves in dollars.

According to data from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), major oil exporters deposited a record $82 billion with international banks in the third quarter of last year 2005.
The destination for deposits placed by OPEC countries with BIS reporting banks was primarily the United States, while the dollar share of total liabilities with non-OPEC producers such as Russia fell to 61 percent, compared with 80 percent prior to the end of 2002. (Source Reuters Business Channel 4 April 2006)

Bob White,president of Real Capital Analytics, indicates that in January, sales of single assets worth more than $5 million were down 20 percent from the same period last year. He says it is the first time in two years that sales volume has dropped for all core property types (apartments, retail, office and industrial). A decrease in sales volume has a direct impact on loans and should decrease loan originations over the coming months. (Source Richmond Times Dispatch April 10,2006)

Nationally, the number of mortgage loans that entered some stage of foreclosure rose to 117,259 in February 2006, up 68 percent from the same month a year ago, according to online foreclosure data service RealtyTrac (Source St Louis Today 04/15/2006

The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) reported that unemployment rates have dropped, but the total number of employees ALSO HAS DROPPED. Source: Edwardsville Intelligencer Feb 2, 2006)

The Lansing-based association's December Michigan Retail Index found that 49 percent of retailers had sales declines from the same month in 2004.The association represents nearly 6,000 retail business members operating more than 13,000 stores across the state. (Source Detroit News Jan 26, 2006)

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported that billings at U.S. architecture firms were positive every month in 2005 for the first time since 2000 (PR News Wire Jan 19, 2006)

The FHA foreclosures clustered in new subdivisions priced for first-time owners. The Observer found at least 18 streets where 20 percent or more of homes have foreclosed since 2003 following a default on an FHA loan. The FHA projects 11 percent of its 2005 loans eventually will fail, compared with 7 percent of its loans in 2000. The national failure rate for all loans was about 3 percent. (Source The Mercury News Jan 15, 2006)

Sales of existing homes fell to an eight-month low in November, leaving the highest inventory of homes on the market in 20 years, according to the National Association of Realtors, a trade association. New home sales also are slackening, falling 11 percent in November for the biggest decline in 11 years. As a result, the demand for mortgages dropped to the lowest in almost four years in the last week of December. (Source Bloomberg January 9, 2006

Contracts to buy previously owned U.S. homes fell 2.5 percent in November, a third straight decline, the National Association of Realtors said January 5, 2006.

The number of mortgage applications last week fell to the lowest level since May 2002, according to a report Januar 4, 2006 from the Mortgage Bankers Association. (Source Bloomberg January 5, 2006)

An interview with Ken Fowler

14. What are the factors that make or break real estate investments?

"In real estate, there's only one thing you need to do besides buying at reasonable prices, opposed to being really stupid and buying at the top all the time. I call it staying power. Real estate will always come back but you'd better have staying power. If you start levering it right up to the ying yang, you get in trouble. If you buy a property for $1 million and you have $800,000 worth of debt in it, you can lose your equity real quick."

15. There's a lot of talk about a real estate bubble forming, particularly in the U.S. Does that worry you?

"Yes, it does. Everything goes up and down and real estate is a roller coaster. So I wouldn't be rushing out to buy anything. (Source Business Edge Feb 2, 2006)

American Express Platinum Luxury Survey Shows Wealthy Gen X Consumers Are Mighty in Luxury Buying Power, Spending More Than Baby Boomer Population (Source PR Wire June 7, 2005 )

Federal government spends $22,000 per household (Source PBS Nov 10, 2005) The 2004 median household income in the US was $43.318

What you need to know about how CPI is calculated.

"Domestic credit as a percentage of banking assets is high ... the US (164 per cent), UK (140 per cent), Korea (110 per cent), Malaysia (155 per cent), Germany (147 per cent), China (140 per cent), South Africa (167 per cent), Thailand (112 per cent) and Singapore (102 per cent). This not only means that the banking sector across the world is at higher risk, but also that growth in other industries which have been thriving on easy credit could suffer." June 28, 2004 Business Standard

Articles: real estate, marketing and more.

News on oil market
Check current oil prices

Oil Capacity to Outstrip Demand Until At Least 2010 (Cambridge Energy Research Associates June 21, 2005

The hurricane season in the Atlantic Basin, which includes the North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, runs from June 1 to November 30 each year. In the eastern Pacific, the season begins on May 15 and ends November 30. Of course, hurricanes and tropical storms can and do form outside these time periods, albeit rarely.

Reasons for oil price increase:

Sept. 13, Hurricane Ivan crossed the Gulf of Mexico, a source for a quarter of U.S. oil, smashing rigs and shutting refineries. This increased U.S. refiners' need for importing oil.
We have a boost in demand from winter heating fuel needs
The world market has very little capacity, see story below. There are problems in Iraq, Nigeria and in the Middle East in general. Norway is pumping about 150,000 barrels less a day because of a three-month labor conflict (source Bloomberg Oct 15, 2004)

Fuel damage assessment from Hurricane: About 475,000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD) and about 1.8 billion cubic feet of gas per day (BCFPD) remain shut-in (closed). Of this 31% of oil production and 55% of the gas shut-in production may be back on line by the end of October. For the longer term, about 96% of the normal daily production should be back on line within 6 months, Oct 8 2004. (source US Dept of Minerals Management Service)

Is the age of oil coming to an end? Total global consumption is expected to skyrocket in coming years -- from 82-million barrels a day now, to about 121-million b/d in 2025. This increase would exceed the entire current output of all members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. (National Post)

Local fuel price check