Chinese Premier Wen in no uncertain terms has told the US that they will not be pressured into revaluing the yuan and when the moment does come, it will be under China’s terms. He said “I do not think the renminbi is undervalued…We are opposed to countries pointing fingers at each other or taking strong measures to force other countries to appreciate their currencies.” The Shanghai index fell to a 4 1/2 week low in a response to more talk of policy tightening. In a ‘be careful of what you wish’ for moment, if China succumbs to the pressure of the US Congress and revalues before they are ready, they will acquire less reserves, less money will then be recycled into US Treasuries, and thus higher interest rates will follow as the largest holder buys less. A convertible yuan is inevitable at some point but political pressure won’t make it

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - June 5, 2009 - Zacks.com releases the latest Industry Outlook. Today's interview is with senior analyst Mario Ricchio, who talks about the Machinery Industry, including Freeport McMoRan (FCX).

A synopsis of today's Industry Outlook is presented below. The full article can be read at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678.

While the credit crunch and slower economic growth dampens private sector spending, fiscal expenditures appear ready to play a counter-cyclical role. China announced a rather large stimulus package in November.

Also, the U.S Congress passed a stimulus package that President Obama signed on Tuesday, February 17, 2009. The bill contains money that will flow into infrastructure spending. The only issue is the timeframe of the spending. For example, according to CBO estimates, of the $27.5 billion in the budget for highway spending (Title XII - Transportation and Housing and Urban Development Highway

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Despite the significant equity market rally off the March lows and the talk of "green shoots," we still see a challenging global economic backdrop and a less than robust environment for the Machinery sector. In fact, what we have seen is certain economies stabilize at much lower levels from peak cycle activity, rather than any sort of V-shaped recovery. As foreign economies deal with weaker exports to the U.S and Europe, industrial customers are cutting back on capital spending. On a y-o-y basis, equipment orders continue to decelerate in almost every end-market -- from machines used in construction, infrastructure, and agriculture. On the bright side, production cuts have helped reduce inventory levels. As a result, we should see less of a near-term drag on output. But let's not confuse a potential inventory rebuild and fiscal stimulus with a real, sustained U.S consumer-led recovery. The combination of U.S job cuts, minimal income growth ...

Despite the significant equity market rally off the March lows and the talk of "green shoots," we still see a challenging global economic backdrop and a less than robust environment for the Machinery sector. In fact, what we have seen is certain economies stabilize at much lower levels from peak cycle activity, rather than any sort of V-shaped recovery. As foreign economies deal with weaker exports to the U.S and Europe, industrial customers are cutting back on capital spending. On a y-o-y basis, equipment orders continue to decelerate in almost every end-market -- from machines used in construction, infrastructure, and agriculture. On the bright side, production cuts have helped reduce inventory levels. As a result, we should see less of a near-term drag on output. But let's not confuse a potential inventory rebuild and fiscal stimulus with a real, sustained U.S consumer-led recovery. The combination of U.S job cuts, minimal income growth ...

Despite the significant equity market rally off the March lows and the talk of "green shoots," we still see a challenging global economic backdrop and a less than robust environment for the Machinery sector. In fact, what we have seen is certain economies stabilize at much lower levels from peak cycle activity, rather than any sort of V-shaped recovery.As foreign economies deal with weaker exports to the U.S and Europe, industrial customers are cutting back on capital spending. On a y-o-y basis, equipment orders continue to decelerate in almost every end-market -- from machines used in construction, infrastructure, and agriculture. On the bright side, production cuts have helped reduce inventory levels. As a result, we should see less of a near-term drag on output.But let's not confuse a potential inventory rebuild and fiscal stimulus with a real, sustained U.S consumer-led recovery. The combination of U.S ...

Despite the significant equity market rally off the March lows, we still see a challenging global economic backdrop and a less than robust environment for the Machinery sector.As foreign economies deal with weaker exports to the U.S and Europe, industrial customers are cutting back on capital spending. Equipment orders are decelerating in almost every end-market -- from machines used in construction, infrastructure, agriculture to base metal projects.There are several data points that help to paint the picture of a sharply deteriorating global economic backdrop. Japan's core machine orders did rise 1.4% in February, but on a y-o-y basis orders were down 30.1%. Orders have fallen in 9 of the last 14 months. What's more, according to the cabinet office in Japan, overseas orders fell 22.9% in February.While a manufacturing survey conducted by the cabinet office indicated core orders would rise 4.1% in the first ...

We remain extremely cautious on the machinery sector.

As foreign economies deal with weaker exports to the U.S and Europe, industrial customers are cutting back on capital spending. Equipment orders are decelerating in almost every end-market -- from machines used in construction, infrastructure, agriculture to base metal projects.

There are several data points that help to paint the picture of a sharply deteriorating global economic backdrop. Japan's core machine orders fell 1.7% in December, and fell in 8 months of the full year 2008.

What's more, according to the cabinet office in Japan, overseas orders fell a whopping 26.8% in December and 16.7% for the fourth quarter of 2008. While a manufacturing survey conducted by the cabinet office indicated core orders would rise 4.1% in the first quarter of 2009, we think this forecast may prove to be too optimistic. We would not be surprised to see core orders decline in each quarter

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We remain extremely cautious on the machinery sector.As foreign economies deal with weaker exports to the U.S and Europe, industrial customers are cutting back on capital spending. Equipment orders are decelerating in almost every end-market -- from machines used in construction, infrastructure, agriculture to base metal projects.There are several data points that help to paint the picture of a sharply deteriorating global economic backdrop. Japan's core machine orders fell 1.7% in December, and fell in 8 months of the full year 2008.What's more, according to the cabinet office in Japan, overseas orders fell a whopping 26.8% in December and 16.7% for the fourth quarter of 2008. While a manufacturing survey conducted by the cabinet office indicated core orders would rise 4.1% in the first quarter of 2009, we think this forecast may prove to be too optimistic. We would not be surprised to ...