Australia May Produce Biggest Canola Crop in Nine Years as Drought Eases Australia, the world's third-largest canola exporter, may produce its biggest crop in nine years as growers seek to benefit from higher prices and weather conditions improve.

Drought Conditions Spread in New South Wales Before Plantings, State Says Drought conditions spread in Australia's New South Wales state, usually the nation's second- largest grain grower, as farmers prepare to sow the coming crop.

In the US, farmers are praying for a "window" so they can plant their corn crops. Will they get it?

Corn May Extend Record as Rainfall Cuts U.S. Planting; Soybeans May Gain Corn may rise from last week's record high on speculation that wet, cold weather will delay U.S. planting, reducing yield potential. Soybeans may gain on speculation a farm strike in Argentina will boost U.S. sales.

China is dealing with the aftermath of a devastating earthquake. Meanwhile, its economic juggernaut rumbles on ...

Yuan Gains After Central Bank Chief Says China Needs to Cut Trade Surplus The yuan traded near the highest since a dollar-peg was scrapped in 2005 after central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said China needs to cut its trade surplus to prevent excess cash from stoking inflation.

China May Boost Power Capacity 40 Percent Over Three Years as Demand Rises China, the world's second-biggest energy consuming nation, may increase power-generating capacity by 40 percent in three years as demand of electricity rises.

US DOLLAR

Almighty Dolor

the dollar has had its ups and downs, but its ultimate dominance as a global currency has been in place, and taken for granted, for generations. “People have started to think, Maybe it’s not inevitable.”

Dollar Bulls Gain Control as Futures Signal High-Flying Euro Close to Peak For the first time since December 2005, futures traders are turning bullish on the dollar.

HOUSING MARKET

California Man Losing 9 Homes in Mortgage Mess

A California man who has defaulted on nine homes and expects banks to foreclose on all of them, forcing him into bankruptcy, says he now considers it a mistake to have invested in the real estate market.

Forgaard bought a house in Santa Cruz, about 60 miles (100 km) south of San Francisco, in 2000. Four years later, using $800,000 in stock options, he began snapping up investment properties, putting 10 percent to 40 percent down on negative amortization loans -- in which payments do not cover the interest so that a borrower's balance grows over time.

US ECONOMY

April retail sales barely budged

Retail sales barely rose in April, as a relentless surge in gasoline prices made consumers cut back other types of spending.

Denial Isn’t Just a River in Egypt

Now I can tell you that advocating a rollback in speed limits is fightin’ words. This is a battle going on in my own house, by the way, and I’m not the one with the lead foot. I’m the one who sets the cruise control at “60.” My wife on the other hand …

But my wife has nothing on a friend of mine who lives for the sheer speed he can crank out of his sports car, and he HATES the idea of driving 55. His other ride is a Ford Excursion (15 mpg highway, 12 mpg city), and yet he rails and rants about high gasoline prices. When I tell him that his high speeds means he’s paying an extra buck a gallon, he gets even more red in the face.

There’s no arguing logic with some people. That’s why this needs to be a LAW, and not a suggestion.

Section #2 was the original ending for the section on "peer pressure."

We could also have fun with this one. I say if a vehicle doesn’t get 25 miles per gallon or better, the U.S. government gets to pick the name of that vehicle. Let’s see how many people like driving around in the “Cadillac Fatso,” “Ford Extinction” or “Chevy Junkbucket.” How’s that for peer pressure? It’s hard to brag about driving a new Junkbucket!

Oil and natural gas faked us out last week by selling off as the U.S. dollar rallied. But the dollar is rallying on an outlook for stronger economic activity in the U.S.  The Labor Department reported on Friday that U.S. employers only shed 20,000 jobs, a lot less than expected.  And a stronger economy points to stronger demand for oil and natural gas.

Now, personally, I think that jobs number is more cooked than Emeril Lagasse’s kitchen.  But psychology rules this market, and the less-bad jobs number, combined with some other news like an unexpected expansion in the US services sector,is really making investors feel bullish about the economy. 

Shorter-term, oil also might be driven higher by supply concerns. In March, global oil supply fell by 100,000 barrels per day, led by lower supplies last month from OPEC, the North Sea and non-OPEC Africa.

Then on Friday, oil soared after Turkish airstrikes on Kurdish rebel bases in Iraq.  The civil war in Nigeria (they don’t call it a civil war, but the fighting seems constant) seems to be worsening, and another oil facility has been attacked.  Rebels hit a flow station belonging to Shell's joint venture in southern Nigeria and that some oil production shut down.

In Iran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Sunday that his country will not bend to international pressure and give up its nuclear program.  This raises the chances of a U.S. or Israeli air strike against Iran, the second largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

And demand overseas is rising.  According to the International Energy Agency – which is lousy at predicting future demand, but very good at tracking existing demand -- China’s demand rose by 7.8% in February from a year earlier, much higher than earlier estimates of a 5.3% gain. Gasoline demand rose by 22.8%!According to preliminary data from India, oil product sales – a proxy of demand – surged by 10.9% in February compared to a year earlier.  That’s the fastest pace of growth in demand since 2006.  Transportation fuels – gasoline, jet fuel/kerosene, and gasoil – jumped by 13.4% year on year. 

Recently, we are seeing small, incremental drops in demand in Europe and the U.S. But the booming demand from Asia should more than make up for that.

Auto makers usually try to find the best way to build new vehicles. These days, Mazda Motor Corp. is busy figuring out how to most efficiently destroy them.
It all started about two years ago, when a ship carrying 4,703 shiny new Mazdas nearly sank in the Pacific. The freighter, the Cougar Ace, spent weeks bobbing on the high seas, listing at a severe 60-degree angle, before finally being righted.
The mishap created a dilemma: What to do with the cars? They had remained safely strapped down throughout the ordeal -- but no one knew for sure what damage, if any, might be caused by dangling cars at such a steep angle for so long.
The Japanese car maker, controlled by Ford, easily could have found takers for the vehicles. Hundreds of people called about buying cheap Mazdas. Schools wanted them for auto-shop courses. Hollywood asked about using them for stunts.
Mazda turned everyone away. It worried about getting sued someday if, say, an air-bag failed to fire properly due to overexposure to salty sea air.
Mazda saw no easy way to guard against these outcomes. So it decided to destroy approximately $100 million worth of factory-new automobiles. "We couldn't run the risk of damaging the brand name that Mazda worked so hard over the years to develop," says Jeremy Barnes, the company's corporate-affairs director for North America.

The manufacturer says the "City" reaches a top speed of 100 km (65 miles) per hour and can drive up to 180 km (110 miles) on a single charge.

At current prices, you should be able to run that car for about 3 cents a mile, and no expensive tune-ups, either.

For now, maybe I'll just buy an electric bicycle. That sounds cool, too. But not cheap -- Electric bikes range in price from $2,100 to $2,900 and have a top speed of about 20 miles per hour -- maybe less when hauling my big American ass around.