Treasury Market Preview by Trade the News Staff - On the U.S. calendar today are the releases of Durable Goods Orders and Existing Home Sales for Jan. as well as Consumer Confidence for Feb. Fed's Fisher is speaking this evening in Austin on the Texas economy. In pre-market releases, the ICSC UBS Index rose 0.2% in the latest week. - U.K.'s Tony Blair said today that Iran is making a big miscalculation and urged the international community to be tough and clear on Iran. Iran's Foreign Minister, Mottaki, commented earlier that Iran will never suspend its uranium enrichment program. According to the FT, among the measures said to be considered by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany against Iran are a travel ban on named individuals in Iran's missile and nuclear programs and the reduction of export credits to companies doing business with Iran. - A major wire noted this morning that the CDX Crossover Index has risen from $115,000 per $10M yesterday. The Financial Times today attributed the gains in Treasuries yesterday to fears over worsening conditions in the sub-prime mortgage market. The FT wrote that the latest concerns center on the Alt-A market, saying that late payments and defaults on such loans are running at four times the historical rate. CNBC reported this morning that Freddie Mac has tightened its lending standards. Wires reported last night that Freddie Mac will not hold investments that include 2/28 mortgages. - In new corporate supply, Procter and Gamble is to price $4B in a multi-part, multi-currency deal. - In European economic news, M3 Money Supply in the Euro-zone rose 9.8% in Jan., above expectations of 9.5%. The M3 data remained near a 17 year high. Retail PMI in the Euro-zone rose to 49.8 in Feb from 47.9 in Jan. In Belgium, CPI rose 0.5% in Feb after increasing 0.5% in Jan. In Switzerland, the UBS Consumption Indicator rose to 1.951 in Jan. from 1.892 in Dec. In Germany, some Federal States have reported CPI this morning, generally coming in above expectations. Elsewhere, according to a major wire source, the ECB council is said to be undecided on whether or not to signal more rate hikes. ECB Garganas said this morning that the ECB will wait and see what to do on rates after March. - In Asia, the Chinese Central Bank Governor, Zhou, commented in a newspaper interview that it is too early to make something of the CPI trend this year and that a rate rise is among the options to combat inflation. He said that the Yuan may rise faster if the trade surplus widens. Chinese stocks dropped sharply today The Shanghai SE Composite index fell 8.8%. - At 8:10 a.m. the 30Y future is up 9 ticks at 112 15/32, the 10Y future is higher by 6 ticks at 108 5/32 and the 2Y future is up 1 tick at 102 3/32.