Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- A global effort to stem the spread of the deadly bird flu virus may help prevent an influenza pandemic, the World Health Organization said.
- Saddam Hussein’s trial on charges of crimes against humanity will start on time next week after his lawyers failed to get the proceedings delayed.
- GE’s third-quarter earnings climbed 15%, bolstered by higher demand for products ranging from credit cards to jet engines and the sale of a stake in a mortgage- and life-insurance company.
- Genentech’s Avastin, a drug intended for colon, lung and other cancers, may become more widely used as a treatment for a common cause of blindness.
- Electronic Arts signed film director Steven Spielberg to help create three games as the company tries to revive sales.
- Occidental Petroleum’s agreement to buy Vintage Petroleum values Vintage’s oil and gas fields between $8.50 and $9 a barrel versus $10.15 a barrel that Chevron paid for Unocal and $10.66 that China National Petroleum plans to spend for PetroKazakhstan, according to analysts.
- Bill Dudley said today that he is stepping down as chief US economist for Goldman Sachs at the end of next month.
- Crude oil is falling and gasoline is plunging to a 12-week low on indications that near-record prices are reducing fuel consumption in the US.

Wall Street Journal:
- EMC and other data storage companies are reaping a bonanza as large amounts of data overwhelm computers.
- Verizon Communications has been under pressure from cable companies’ Internet-based phone services, and if a joint venture of Google and Comcast acquires a minority stake in AOL, it will make matters worse.

ABC News:
- Saudi Arabia is pumping more than 10 million barrels of crude oil a day this month versus 9.58 million barrels/day during September, citing the nation’s leader King Abdullah.

NY Times:
- Five robots completed a 132-mile course in the Nevada desert in a milestone for artificial-intelligence research.
- Anadarko Petroleum is leading a number of companies that are seeking to find more oil and natural gas in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Reuters:
- The Chicago Board of Trade still plans to proceed with its IPO next week even as futures brokerage Refco faces greater scrutiny and customers defect.