NEW YORK (MNI) – Forecasters see a 485,000 level in the March
report on U.S. Housing Starts Tuesday vs. the 479,000 actual result in
the February report in the ongoing three-month MNI Forecast Competition.

Forecast contest participants delivered their Housing Starts
forecasts by the 10:30 ET deadline.

On Friday, the 0.8% increase in the March report on U.S. Industrial
Production Friday differed by 0.3 point from the 0.5% that was the
average of entries in the ongoing three-month MNI Forecast Competition.

Earlier Friday, the Consumer Price Index report result also
differed by 0.3 point from the 0.8% increase that was the average of
entries.

Thursday, the average of the forecasts for the report on the U.S.
Producer Price Index of 1.2% turned out to be 0.5 point off the
forecast competition mark.

Wednesday, the average of the forecasts for the report on U.S.
retail sales of +0.8% turned out to be 0.4 point away.

Tuesday, the average of the forecasts for the U.S. February Monthly
Trade Balance of $45.7 billion turned out to be off the actual result,
$45.8 billion, by only $100 million.

The next statistic to be estimated is that for the U.S. New
Home Sales report April 25. The deadline for those estimates is Friday,
April 22, at noon ET.

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$$$]