U.S. Economy
U.S. markets are closed today for Independence day.

U.S. regulators took control of seven banks last night, ahead of the holiday weekend. 52 banks have failed, so far this year.

The World Health Organization acknowledged that the H1N1 flu was now unstoppable, but also added that most cases have been mild. So far, there have been 300 deaths worldwide.

Grains and Cotton
Bloomberg news reported that two groups from South Korea bought a total of 110,000 tons of U.S. corn.

Currencies
Eurostat said that retail sales in the EU-27 were down .5% in May.

An index of services in the U.K. slipped from 51.7 to 51.6 in May, a sign of expansion for the second month in a row.

U.S. Economy - Disappointing Job Losses
The U.S. Labor Department said that the unemployment rate increased from 9.4% to 9.5% in June with a loss of 467,000 jobs, a bigger loss than expected. The December 2010 eurodollars jumped .14 to 97.90.

In May, the job loss figures were revised from -345,000 to -322,000. In April, the job loss figures were revised from -504,000 to -519,000.

The Labor Department also said that jobless claims were down 16,000 last week to 614,000.

The U.S. Commerce Department said that factory orders were up 1.2% in May, stronger than expected.

Grains and Cotton
The USDA said that, as of last week, 2008-2009 exports of:
Corn remained down 32% from a year ago.
Soybeans slipped from up 11% to up 10% from a year ago.
Cotton slipped from up 4% to up 3% from a year ago.

The USDA said that 2009-2010 exports of wheat improved from -36% to -31% from a year ago. December wheat closed down 6.5 cents at $5.55, the lowest close in almost seven months.

The USDA said that 660,000 tons of U.S. soybeans were sold to China for 2009-2010. Also, 152,400 tons of U.S. corn were sold to unknown destination for 2009-2010. November soybeans were down 9.5 cents at $10.06.

December corn closed down 11.75 cents at $3.575, the lowest close in nearly seven months with good growing weather in the midwestern U.S. Also, Tuesday's bearish acreage report continues to weigh on prices.

Livestock
October cattle fell .55 to 90.22, hurt by today's poor jobs report.

Coffee
According to Dow Jones Newswires, weather for Brazil's coffee harvest should remain favorable for at least the next week. September coffee finished down 1.25 cents at $1.1780, the lowest close in eight weeks.

Energies
The U.S. Department of Energy said that underground supplies of natural gas were up 70 billion cubic feet at 2.721 trillion cubic feet. Supplies are now up 29% from a year ago. September natural gas dropped 18.7 cents to $3.757, the lowest close in nine weeks.

September crude oil fell $2.53 to $67.74, the lowest close in four weeks, pressured by yesterday's increase in gasoline supplies and today's weak U.S. jobs report.

Metals
Some might think that gold would be up on today's poor economic news, but October gold closed down $10.50 at $932.30, pressured by strength in the U.S. dollar.

Currencies
Eurostat said that the unemployment rate in the EU-27 increased from 8.7% to 8.9% in May, the highest in almost four years. Also, producer prices were down 5.7% in May from a year ago. The September euro closed down 1.22 cents at $1.4025.

The European Central Bank (ECB) met and kept its interest rate unchanged at 1.0%, as expected. ECB President Trichet said that he expects positive growth by the middle of next year.

Australia's exports totaled A$20.4 billion in May, the lowest in over a year. The September Australian dollar closed down 1.37 cents at 79.12.

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Medical bills prompt more than 60 percent of U.S. bankruptcies:

"Bankruptcies due to medical bills increased by nearly 50 percent in a six-year period, from 46 percent in 2001 to 62 percent in 2007, and most of those who filed for bankruptcy were middle-class, well-educated homeowners, according to a report that will be published in the August issue of The American Journal of Medicine."

"Unless you're a Warren Buffett or Bill Gates, you're one illness away from financial ruin in this country," says lead author Steffie Woolhandler, M.D., of the Harvard Medical School, in Cambridge, Mass..."

"Overall, three-quarters of the people with a medically-related bankruptcy had health insurance, they say."

Read the entire article at >CNN.com June 5, 2009.