NEW YORK (MNI) – The reading of +0.2% for the May Consumer
Price Index from the Labor Department Wednesday morning differed from
the average reading of a 0.4% increase by 0.2 percentage point, and the
+0.1% result for U.S. industrial production from the Federal Reserve
differed from the average forecast of no change by 0.1 percentage point.

Forecast estimates were delivered Tuesday for the CPI by the 10:30
ET deadline and for IP, by the 11:15 ET deadline.

Earlier Tuesday, the reading of a +0.2% change in May U.S. retail
sales from the Commerce Department differed from the average of
forecasts, for no change, by 0.2 point. And the +0.2% change in the May
U.S. Producer Price Index reported by the Labor Department differed from
the average of contest forecasts, +0.3%, by 0.1 percentage point.

The next statistic to be estimated is the result of
Thursday morning’s report on Housing Starts from the Commerce
Department. The deadline for those forecasts was 10:30 ET and averaged
503,000.

Each month until June 30, the three forecasters with the highest
scores will be awarded Visa gift cards worth up to $500. The three-month
Best Overall Forecaster gets $1,500.

June 8 MNI announced the May winners:

— Joseph Theelen, University of Amsterdam (UvA)
— Dr. Stephen Kirchner, University of Technology, Sydney (UTS)
Business School
— Mike Moran, Dawai Capital Markets America

May 5 MNI announced the April winners:

— Omair Sharif, RBS
— Fernando Melro dos Santos, Private
— Dr. Stephen Kirchner, UTS Business School

Other results so far in the competition have been:

Data Avg MNI
Indicator For Unit Forecast Median Actual

International Trade Apr Bln$ -49.0 -47.4 -43.7
Nonfarm Payrolls May Chg in Thsn 182 170 54
ISM Mfg Index May Index 59.1 57.5 53.5
Durable Goods Orders Apr Pct Chg Flat -2.6 -3.6
New Home Sales Apr SAAR in Thsn 282 300 323
Industrial Production Apr Pct Chg +0.5 +0.4 Flat
Housing Starts Apr SAAR in Thsn 522 570 523
CPI Apr Pct Chg +0.5 +0.4 +0.4
PPI Apr Pct Chg +0.8 +0.6 +0.8
Retail Sales Apr Pct Chg +0.6 +0.6 +0.5
International Trade Mar Bln$ -45.5 -47.7 -48.2
Nonfarm Payrolls Apr Chg in Thsn 206 185 244
ISM Mfg Index Apr Index 60.6 59.5 60.4
Durable Goods Orders Mar Pct Chg +1.1 +1.8 +2.5
New Home Sales Mar SAAR in Thsn 260 280 300
Housing Starts Mar SAAR in Thsn 485 525 549
Industrial Production Mar Pct Chg +0.5 +0.6 +0.8
CPI Mar Pct Chg +0.8 +0.5 +0.5
PPI Mar Pct Chg +1.2 +0.9 +0.7
Retail Sales Mar Pct Chg +0.8 +0.5 +0.4
International Trade Feb Bln$ -45.7 -44.0 -45.8

Participants can register for the online contest without cost at
http://mni.lumenogic.com/mni/login/login.html where there is more
information and a guided tour. The results will continue to be published
by Market News International.

The contest runs until June 30. The contest will decide who wins
the title of Best Overall Forecaster, the recipient of the $1,500 prize.

When the outcome of each economic indicator is published — the
initial release without revisions — each individual forecast will be
scored for how soon it was registered and for its accuracy. The total
score for every participant will be summed up on a monthly basis and
ranked in descending order.

Each month until June 30, the three forecasters with the highest
scores will be awarded Visa gift cards worth up to $500. The MNI
Forecast Competition outcome for each indicator, determined by averaging
all participant forecasts, will be published on the MNI Main Wire and by
MNI Bullet Points at least 12 hours prior to the official release time.

At the end of June, MNI will award the competition’s Best Overall
Forecaster award with a Visa gift card of $1,500.

The competition covers the following 10 U.S. economic reports:

International Trade Balance
Retail Sales
PPI
CPI
Industrial Production
Housing Starts
New Homes Sales
Durable Goods Orders
ISM Manufacturing Index
Nonfarm Payrolls

** Market News International New York Newsroom: 212-669-6430 **

[TOPICS: MAUDS$,M$U$$$]