Today's Headlines

- Crude oil is falling to a five-month low after an EIA report showed that US oil inventories are higher than a year ago.
- Facebook, the college friend-finder Web site that competes with News Corp.’s MySpace.com, is encountering rising opposition from its members to new features that track changes made to profiles pages.
- NY developer Larry Silverstein’s plans for the World Trade center site include the construction of three of the city’s four tallest buildings, including the planned 1,776-foot Freedom Tower.
- The Nasdaq Stock Market(NDAQ) plans to expand into options trading, entering a market that’s growing more than twice as fast as equities.
- Stanley Fink, who build Man Group Plc into the world’s largest publicly traded hedge-fund manager, is stepping down as CEO after almost two decades at the company and as returns in the industry decline.

Wall Street Journal:
- Clear Channel Communications(CCU) is to provide real-time traffic information free to US customers who buy BMW’s 2007 models with a satellite navigation system.
- Wal-Mart Stores(WMT) began diversifying merchandise in different outlets in an effort to boost sales by catering to different local demographics groups.
- ESPN Inc. and apparel maker VF Corp. plan a sportswear line that will go on sale this month.
- BlackBerry’s new Pearl model offers video, camera, music and e-mail designed to appeal to consumers who want a device with all the bells and whistles.
- Some investors are withdrawing money from index funds that track hedge funds, having noticed that they tend to lag.

NY Times:
- Members of the Clinton Administration, including ex-Secretary of State Madeline Albright, sent letters to Walt Disney(DIS) complaining about an upcoming TV movie on the 9/11 terrorist attacks that depicts Clinton administration as preventing efforts to find Osama bin Laden.

AP:
- H&R Block(HRB) will offer bank accounts to customers who need to electronically deposit their income tax refunds.

Washington Post:
- Dunkin’ Donuts, a doughnut chain with 4,400 stores, is moving into new markets while chasing the coffee-drinking customers of Starbucks(SBUX).

China Coal News:
- China’s raw coal production in August rose 8.8% to 193.4 million metric tons as generators added capacity.

AFP:
- Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki signed an agreement today with the US Army that put Iraq’s military back under control of the government.