Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- OPEC may raise its production to 30 million barrels a day, or as much as 95% of the group’s capacity.
- The US won allies in the European Parliament in a bid to defeat French and German attempts to end the European Union’s 15-year embargo on the sale of weapons to China.
- Oil and metals prices may fall as US consumer spending slows, ending a rally similar to the technology-stock bubble that burst in 2000.
- Greenhill Capital Partners LLC, the investment unit of merger and restructuring advisers Greenhill & Co., raised $558 million for its second US buyout fund.
- Pfizer said earnings will fall to $8.6 billion because of no revenue growth and expenses related to restructuring and repatriated profits.
- High gas prices aren’t causing most consumers to cut back on spending on clothes, electronics, and other goods, a private survey found.

Wall Street Journal:
- Google, Yahoo and other Internet companies are accused of complicity in overcharging for ads, so-called “click fraud,” by a group of advertisers.
- Spain’s sale of arms to Columbia and Venezuela has added to strains in US-Spanish relations following Madrid’s decision to pull its troops out of Iraq last year.
- The SEC will vote tomorrow on new rules governing stock trading in the US.
- AIG, Chubb, Liberty Mutual and other major US insurers have dropped support for a $140 billion federal trust fund to pay asbestos-related claims.
- ChevronTexaco, Exxon Mobil and Royal dutch/Shell will jointly develop several natural gas fields off Australia.
- Google’s customers will be able to see driving directions and pinpoint locations on detailed satellite maps starting today.
- Quiksilver, which makes surf-inspired clothing and sells under the brands Roxy and Radio Fiji, risks alienating hip customers by trying to boost sales by becoming a broader “lifestyle” company.
- Caterpillar and Gannett’s shareholders will vote next week whether to switch to majority voting from plurality voting in its board selection procedures.
- Turnover among Chief Financial Officers of Fortune 500 companies increased 23% in 2004 from the year before.
- US carmakers and the Canadian government are expected to say today that they have reached an agreement to reduce global-warming emissions from autos and trucks they sell in Canada.
- US regulators plan to widen their probe of contracts that mix insurance and financing techniques after they complete an investigation of such transactions at AIG.

The New York Times:
- As many as 800 US remote-controlled defense aircraft are being flown in Iraq and Afghanistan, up from less than 10 four years ago.
- Coca-Cola is attempting to improve its marketing and development of new beverages, as the company seeks to lure traditional soda drinkers that may switch to other drinks.