Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- OPEC may maintain output near a 25-year high as attacks against Nigeria’s oil industry and concern about a dispute with Iran keep prices high.
- Google(GOOG) co-founder Sergey Brin said his Internet company will fight the US government for as long as it takes to avoid handing over information on user searches.
- Iran said the UN was being “manipulated for political purposes” in its first official observance today of the memory of the Holocaust.
- The US dollar is rising against the euro ad yen after new home sales exceeded expectations.
- Crude oil is rising for a second day on fears that a standoff over Iran’s nuclear research may cause disruptions to supply.

CNBC:
- The FDA has approved Pfizer’s(PFE) Exubera inhaled insulin drug for sale, Pfizer CEO McKinnell said.

Wall Street Journal:
- Television networks are mixing advertising with entertainment in children’s shows in a way that it’s hard to distinguish one from the other.
- US companies may soon be moving to restate earnings to avoid problems with accounting for financial instruments that they use to minimize risk.
- Intel Corp.(INTC), Hewlett-Packard(HPQ) and seven other computer makers said they pledged to keep investing in the Itanium computer chip, which is far outsold by x86-design chips.
- The potentially deadly “blackworm” computer virus may activate Feb.3 and start destroying data on computers it has reached.
- President Bush plans to nominate Kevin Warsh, an adviser on domestic finance and capital markets, and may name Randall Kroszner, of the Univeristy of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business, to the board of the Federal Reserve.

NY Times:
- US banks, credit unions and money management firms are seeking to benefit by offering health savings accounts, the centerpiece of President Bush’s plans for healthcare.
- Atlantic Sea Island Group proposed building a $1 billion liquefied natural gas terminal on a 53-acre man-made island between Long Island and New Jersey.
- Most US airlines may begin to see a return to profitability during the next two years as a smaller number of available seats has enabled them to raise ticket prices and fly more full planes.
- NYC taxes on co-op and condo buildings with four to 10 apartments fell by an average of $1,800 per unit.

AFP:
- Iran promised to allow UN nuclear inspectors access to the former Lavizan military site in the capital Tehran, citing unidentified diplomats. The pledge, a key concession to investigators studying Iran’s nuclear program, was made in a letter faxed to Ollie Heinonen, deputy director for safeguards at the UN’s IAEA in Vienna.

Reuters:
- Mittal Steel is poised to bid for Arcelor SA.

Middle East Economic Survey:
- Kuwait said the emirate’s crude production capacity will climb 67% by 2020, citing unidentified senior Kuwaiti oil officials.