Closure of the border between Thailand and Myanmar raises 2.5 billion baht loss of up to 3 billion baht or equivalent to 87 million U.S. dollars to 100 million U.S. dollars per month. Provincial Industry Association said, closing the door of Mae Sot-Myawaddy border since 18 July this year has caused an economic loss estimated for the two countries reached 100 billion baht, or about 3.3 billion U.S. dollars.

“The local businessmen hope that the borders were reopened as soon as possible,” the association said on Monday (10/18/2010).

Myanmar government shut the door Mae Sot-Myawaddy border since July as a reaction to the procurement of levee Thai on the River Moei. Myanmar accuses the procurement of levee that can affect water flow and cause erosion on the river side. Since closing the door, the people and all types of vehicles, including transport goods across the border is prohibited.

Organization of the OPEC oil exporting countries to discount the price of U.S. $ 90 oil last week and keep output targets unchanged yesterday. Betting oil supplies in the warehouse and the global economic recovery will prevent fluctuations in crude oil prices.

In the OPEC meeting in Quito Ecuador, Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi assess the number of U.S. $ 70 – $ 80 fine for oil. In addition, she also considers the supply (supply) and demand is balanced. OPEC predicted oil demand growth would be slow as well as world economic recovery, in the midst of an adequate supply of commodities. By Bill Farren-Price, founder of consultancy Petroleum Policy Intelligence in Winchester UK, OPEC was listening to the level of U $ 90 is aberration or a trend. “They have taken the view that there are factors that will not survive in the New Year, among others, weakening U.S. dollar, “he said as quoted by Bloomberg, today. OPEC has made the production limit at 24.84 billion barrels per day since December 2008, when the organization announced the largest decline in production quotas because of falling demand and prices at the beginning of a global recession. In mid-2008, crude oil prices tumbled more than $ 100 to U.S. $ 32.4 per barrel. El-Badri said OPEC has a capacity of oil reserves amounting to 6 million – 7 million barrels per day. As for OPEC supplies 40% of the total world oil. On 10 December, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that world oil supplies rose 400,000 barrels per day to 88.1 million barrels per day in November, its highest level ever, particularly on non-OPEC production. Global production increased by about 1.6 million barrels per day from the previous year. Half of that value comes from the producers of non-OPEC.”The market is supplied by a well and does not require prices above U.S. $ 90 per barrel,” said Edward Morse, Chief of Research Commodities at Credit Suisse Group in New York. ? ? International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that world oil demand in 2011 grew 1.6%, weaker than the growth this year by 2.8%.

Bank of America’s leading, Morgan Stanley, on Wednesday said the acquisition of its profits soared up to 1.96 billion dollars in the second quarter. Better performance in business helped the company build a trading profit of 149 million dollars in the same period last year and strong gains from the first three months of 2010. Results-based company in New York came supported an increase in revenues 53 per cent to 7.95 billions of dollars versus the same period of last year. That was offset by 361 million dollars to pay for the cost of a new British tax on bonuses.

“The challenging market this quarter … we will strengthen the leading market position in investment banking business that focuses on our clients (and) improve the flow of clients in sales and trading,” said CEO James Gorman. But he warned that the decline continued in many major economies will present difficulties. “We still have a lot of work to be done across our global franchise and anticipates that the difficult market environment can continue in coming months,” he said.

U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly widened in May for the second month as imports exceeded exports, the government said Tuesday. The gap in goods and services rose 4.8 percent to 42.3 billion dollars from 40.3 billion dollars in April, the Ministry of Commerce said in a report, as quoted from the AFP. Most economists expect the deficit fell to 39.4 billion dollars.

Imports rose 2.9 percent to the highest 18-bulansebanyak 194.5 billion dollars while exports rose 2.4 percent to the highest 19-month to 152.3 billion dollars i.e. Recent data indicates that the trade could blunt the economic growth in the United States despite the increase in imports in the world’s biggest economy offers hope for global economic recovery, analysts said.

That “trade show will be a bigger drag on growth in the second quarter than we first anticipated,” said Aaron Smith, a senior economist from Moody `s Economy.com.

The U.S. economy grew by 2.7 percent in the first quarter of 2010 but analysts expect slowing expansion this year amid high unemployment caused by the worst recession in decades. While the widening of the deficit is “negative” for the U.S. gross domestic product, “it is a net positive for global growth,” said analyst Kimberly DuBord of Briefing.com. The increase is driven by U.S. imports of consumer goods, motor vehicles, spare parts and machinery and capital goods.

The new data also shows that the political sensitive trade deficit with China widened 22.3 billion dollars in May from 19.3 billion dollars in April, a development that could trigger calls for the acceleration of China’s Yuan currency appreciation. Three weeks after China’s central bank pledged to loosen currency controls in the midst of international pressure, the U.S. Treasury Department said last week Yuan remain “undervalued” against the dollar. Beijing accuses the United States has maintained its currency to remain low against the greenback to trade advantage.

“To maintain the cheap China-made products on the shelves of U.S. stores and prevent U.S. exports to China, Beijing undervalues Yuan by 40 percent,” said Peter Morici, a business professor at the University of Maryland.