Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Iran offered to deliver to the US as much as 20 million barrels of crude oil to help offset a disruption to supplies from the Gulf of Mexico caused by Hurricane Katrina.
- Entergy has restored power to about 633,000 of its 1.1 million customers who lost electricity when Katrina struck the central US Gulf Coast last week.
- PetroQuest Energy CEO Charles Goodson told CNBC that 95% of its oil and gas production has been restored a week after Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore.
- The Fed can afford to “wait and see” the economic impact of Katrina before raising interest rates again, the OECD said.
- US troops today handed military control of the Shiite city of Najaf to Iraqi forces, in what is the first step in the transfer of security responsibilities across the country, the military said.
- President Bush is likely to name a woman or minority to the US Supreme Court.
- US Treasuries are falling after the ISM services index unexpectedly rose and oil prices fell, bolstering the prospects for the economy.
- Crude oil and gas are falling on expectations the release of emergency fuel reserves after Katrina will ease shortages and record prices will curb demand.
- The US dollar is rising the most in almost three weeks against the euro and gained against the yen after an industry report showed growth in US service industries unexpectedly accelerated in August.

Wall Street Journal:
- Shares of small and medium-sized US companies are still climbing, whereas the major stock indices have been going nowhere in particular for some time.
- Gulf coast companies are offering employees affected by last week’s hurricane money, food or shelter even as they try to get them back to work.
- Officials in President Bush’s cabinet meet today to plot a strategy for helping victims of Katrina regain jobs and shelter.
- WWL-AM, a conservative talk-radio station, was the only New Orleans-area broadcaster able to report what was happening when Hurricane Katrina hit the southern states last week, and presenters became advisers helping to plot escape routes and alerting authorities.
- US Muslim organizations said at a convention this weekend that they have begun several programs aimed at preventing people from using their religion to justify violence.
- The recovery from Katrina could create so much demand for temporary housing for relief workers and displaced residents that it could offset losses in the hotel industry from buildings damaged in the storm.

Bond Buyer:
- John Kennedy, treasurer for the state of Louisiana, said speculation that the state, the city of New Orleans or other local municipal issuers might need to seek bankruptcy protection after Katrina is “nonsense.”

Market News International:
- China won’t revalue its currency again until at least the second half of 2006 because of disagreement within the government.