Manufacturers order more supplies
In a sign that the recovery is gathering steam, manufacturers are ordering more supplies, says Chicago’s Institute for Supply Management. Its business-activity index rose to 56.1 from 54.2 last month, indicating that factory owners are ordering more raw materials to meet increased demand.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Steep rise in tea prices
Wholesale prices for tea hit an all-time high last week, due to droughts in Kenya, India, and Sri Lanka, the world’s biggest tea exporters. High-quality black tea hit an all-time high of $5.32 per kilogram, up 80 percent since the beginning of the year.
Financial Times
Sales of gold coin rise 75 percent
With investors clamoring to buy gold, the U.S. Mint has had to suspend sales of the American Eagle, the world’s most popular gold coin, while it rebuilds inventories. The mint has sold 1.19 million of the 1 ounce coins so far this year, up 75 percent from last year.
New York Post
"The godfather of spam” receives sentence
The man who calls himself “the godfather of spam” has been sentenced to more than four years in prison for his role in a stock scam. Alan Ralsky, 64, has admitted sending more than 70 million e-mail messages a day under fake names between 1997 and 2003.
CNNmoney.com
Few buyers for FDIC bank seizures
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is having trouble finding buyers for many of the 124 banks it has seized this year. The banks are in such poor shape, say potential purchasers, that they’re not worth acquiring even if the feds agree to cover loan losses.
The Wall Street Journal