Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- The record price increase in copper this year is prompting substitution as plumbers and electricians worldwide are switching to aluminum and plastic replacement products.
- Tropical Storm Wilma formed today over the Caribbean Sea, tying a 1933 record for the busiest Atlantic hurricane season.
- President Bush said Iraq’s Oct. 15 constitutional vote is a milestone for democracy in the region and the US is making “progress toward peace.”
- Newell Rubbermaid CEO Galli resigned after sales fell for 10 consecutive quarters, abandoning his three-year plan to turn around the struggling maker of plastic storage containers.
- Research in Motion said its BlackBerry software will be used in Palm’s new Treo telephone, a boon for the company as it fights a patent challenge that could end the sale of BlackBerry devices in the US.
- The US Supreme Court refused to revive a Justice Department bid for $280 billion from the tobacco industry, leaving the Bush administration with a scaled-back version of its lawsuit.
- Oil and gasoline are rising on concern a tropical storm may enter the Gulf of Mexico, disrupting oil output that’s already 67% below normal following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
- GM said it agreed with the UAW on a plan to reduce health-care expenses and may sell control of its consumer credit unit as it posted a $1.6 billion quarterly loss.
- Refco Inc., the futures broker facing insolvency because of a bad-debt scandal, is in talks to sell part of the company to a group led by NY buyout firm JC Flowers.

Wall Street Journal:
- International Lease Finance Corp., an aircraft leasing unit of American International Group, will buy 20 of Boeing’s new 787 aircraft, known as “Dreamliners”, for $2.4 billion.
- Sharebuilder Securities, a Bellevue, Washington-based online broker, has started an Internet service for small companies to set up 401K US retirement plans consisting entirely of exchange-traded funds.
- Computer outsourcing contracts fell for the third consecutive quarter and will drop 10 to 15% in value this year, citing a consulting company.
- Carmike Cinemas is drawing interest from hedge funds because they figure its stock may have bottomed out.
- The New York Mercantile Exchange, the largest energy and metals futures exchange in the US, is losing customers and trading at its London open-outcry trading floor.
- US consumers, more interested in getting the latest product rather than owning it, are shifting to renting in favor of buying merchandise.
- The US Senate Commerce Committee this week plans to review legislation that would set a firm date for switching all television broadcasts to digital mode.
- Apple Computer’s version of the iPod digital music player that also shows videos and television may undermine a decades-old system for distributing TV programming to viewers.

AP:
- Mattel’s American Girl dolls and children’s books may be boycotted by conservative groups in protest of the company’s support of the non-profit organization Girls Inc., which supports extensive abortion rights, easy access to contraception and advice for girls who are dealing with issues of sexual orientation.

NY Times:
- GE’s NBC Universal has revised its offer for closely held DreamWorks SKG, whiel Viacom’s Paramount Pictures is also considering bidding for the company.
- Some US utilities and Internet service providers are now offering high-speed connections over regular power lines.

Irish Independent:
- Ryanair Holdings Plc, Europe’s largest low-fare airline, will introduce an online casino as part of its new in-flight entertainment service.

Financial Times:
- Apax Partners Worldwide LLP, Texas Pacific Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts are leading buyout firms that paid a record $8.2 billion in fees to investment banks in the first nine months of 2005.

AFP:
- Six Shiite Muslim-dominated provinces in southern Iraq voted by more than 90% in favor of a new constitution, citing initial figures provided by the country’s independent electoral commission.