Fannie and Freddie Get Boost from Senate
Congress sent President George W. Bush legislation on Saturday designed to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, spur home buying and prop up struggling mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

"The legislation is the most comprehensive package considered by Congress to curb a surge in foreclosures, plunging housing prices and market turmoil stemming from the worst housing recession since the Great Depression," MarketWatch notes. "U.S. foreclosure filings more than doubled in the second quarter from a year ago."

The bill was not modified by the Senate and will therefore be sent to the President for his signature. Bush is expected to sign the legislation this week, despite reservations about "some provisions, including nearly $4 billion to help lenders, not the homeowners this legislation is intended to serve," the L.A. Times reports Tony Fratto, deputy press secretary, as having said.

Businesses Wary about Economy Recovery
Despite some signs of improvement, companies in the United States remain cautious on the economy as they battle rising costs and squeezed profit margins, a new survey from the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) shows. The group says its quarterly poll, released on July 21, found a split on growth expectations for the world's biggest economy, an improvement over the first-quarter survey.

Of the 101 economists at businesses and industry associations who responded to the survey, 44 percent forecast annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth above 1 percent in the second half of the year.

Forty-five percent of respondents are more pessimistic about the outlook for the year as a whole compared with their views in April, while 13 percent are more optimistic than before.

Durable Orders Up in June
Orders for U.S.-made durable goods surged in June, climbing 0.8 percent — or $1.6 billion — to $215.4 billion on stronger demand for primary metals, machinery and electronics, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Excluding the 2.6 percent decrease in transportation goods, new orders rose 2.0 percent, the sharpest gain since last December. It was the largest increase in total orders since February.

Shipments rose 0.5 percent in June and, excluding transportation goods, were up 0.2 percent. Inventories rose 0.5 percent and unfilled orders rose 0.9 percent.

Eurozone Factory Orders Fall More Than Expected
New industrial orders in the eurozone slumped 3.5 percent in May from April and plunged 4.4 percent compared with the same month in 2007, the European Union's Eurostat data agency said last week. The figures, according to Agence France-Press (AFP), are "far short of economists' forecasts for orders to fall two percent over one month and increase 1.7 percent from May 2007," and mark "a sharp deterioration from April when new orders rose two percent over one month and surged 12.3 percent over one year."

May's weakness was "driven by a sharp drop in orders for transport equipment, which often vary widely from month to month."

U.S. Jobless Claims Jump
First-time claims for U.S. unemployment insurance increased by 34,000 during the week ending July 19, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. The 406,000 initial benefits claims during the week are up from the previous week's revised figure of 372,000 initial claims, according to the department.

The four-week average gained 4,500 to 378,000, the report said. The U.S. unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.5 percent.

World Steel Production Up in June
World crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the International Iron and Steel Institute was 118.8 million metric tons in June. This is 5.9 percent higher than the same month last year.

Total world crude steel production was 696 million metric tons in the first half of 2008, a 5.7 percent increase over the same period in 2007.

BHP Billiton Reports Record-Breaking Production of 7 Raw Materials
BHP Billiton, the world's biggest miner, said last week its production of seven raw materials, including copper and iron ore, hit record levels in 2007-2008. "Annual production records [were] achieved in petroleum, copper, iron ore, manganese ore and alloy, alumina and molybdenum," AFP reports BHP as having said. "Annual production also increased in crude oil and condensate, uranium, lead, zinc, silver and diamonds."

Iron ore output rose 13 percent to 111.3 million tons in 2007-2008, and copper increased 10 percent to 1.37 million tons, BHP Billiton said.

June Metals Shipments Remain Weak
"Continued deterioration of economic conditions added to seasonal and cyclical weakness for metals shipments in June," the latest monthly Metals Activity Report from the Metals Service Center Institute shows. Steel and aluminum shipments from metals service centers fell from year-ago levels in the U.S. and Canada in June.

Steel shipments from U.S. metals service centers totaled 4.2 million tons in June, down 4.3 percent from shipments during June 2007. In Canada, steel product shipments from metals service centers totaled 293,000 tons in June, down 6.0 percent from June 2007.

Shipments of aluminum products from U.S. metals service centers totaled 88,600 tons in June, or 8.3 percent lower than during the same month in 2007. Canadian service centers shipped 10,700 tons of aluminum products in June, down 6.1 percent from the 2007 month.

Ford Posts $8.7 Billion Loss
Ford Motor Co. reported its worst-ever quarterly loss on Thursday, posting a second-quarter loss of $8.7 billion. The Q2 loss was largely attributed to slumping sales of trucks, in particular.

"While Ford's auto operations lost $1 billion in the second quarter, the bulk of the company's $8.7 billion loss came from write-downs in the value of its truck factories and lease portfolios," the New York Times reports. Those "huge charges reflect the diminishing value of both the plants and the vehicles they produce."

"During the quarter, Ford's cash reserves also decreased by $2.1 billion, to $26.6 billion," according to the Detroit Free Press. "Following Ford's $100-million profit in the first quarter, Ford has now lost $8.5 billion through the first half of the year."

Toyota Threatens GM's 77-Year Global Sales Streak
General Motors Corp. fell further behind Toyota in sales in the second quarter, as Toyota last week reported sales of 4.8 million units through June, up 2 percent from a year ago, and nearly 300,000 greater than GM's first-half sales. GM reported sales of 4.5 million vehicles in the same period, down 5 percent from a year ago.

According to the Detroit Free Press:

GM reported record-setting sales performances in Europe, Asia Pacific and its Latin America, Africa and the Middle East divisions during the second quarter, but said they were not enough to offset difficulties in the U.S.

These latest numbers will make it very difficult for GM to keep its 77-year streak alive as the world's largest automaker. Toyota beat GM by a smaller 50,000-unit margin in the first half of 2007, too, but GM held onto the title of world's largest automaker for the year when its Chinese joint venture sales were included.

GM's latest sales numbers include the full sales of its joint ventures in China.

Honda Posts Record Q1 Profit
Honda Motor Co. reported last week that its net profit rose 8.1 percent, hitting a record high for the fiscal first-quarter. The automaker largely attributes the record profits demand in emerging markets such as China and Brazil.

However, AFP and Thomson Financial report that Japan's second-largest automaker kept its forecast for an 18 percent slide in annual earnings due to a weaker global economy, a stronger yen and the soaring cost of raw materials including steel.

Boeing's Q2 Profit Falls
Boeing last week reported a 19 percent drop in quarterly earnings.

"Boeing reported earnings of $852 million [...] for the three months ended June 30, compared with $1.05 billion [...] a year earlier," the Associated Press reports. "Revenue remained essentially flat at $17 billion."

The nearly 20 percent fall is the result of a few things: the top aircraft maker in the world sold fewer of its larger, pricier planes; high costs associated with the launch of its newest commercial jet, the 787 Dreamliner; and a previously disclosed $248 million charge for delays in fulfilling a defense contract.

Railroad Earnings Rise
"Profits for several railroad companies are surging as they exercise their power to raise prices, in part because they remain a cheaper alternative to trucks and other less fuel-efficient modes of transportation," the Wall Street Journal reports.

Union Pacific Corp. recently announced "a 19 percent jump in second-quarter net income, despite a three percent drop in carloads, a 54 percent jump in fuel costs, and a variety of logistical issues associated with recent Midwest flooding." Likewise, CSX Corp. "reported a 19 percent profit increase for the second quarter, while Norfolk Southern Corp. said Tuesday that second-quarter profits rose 15 percent."

These railroad companies -— and Burlington Northern Sante Fe Corp., which had profits rise 15 percent in the second quarter without charges — "are far more fuel-efficient than trucks and relatively cheaper as fuel prices soar."