Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- OPEC, seeking to stem a two-month plunge in oil prices, said Venezuela and Nigeria will cut crude production by a combined 170,000 barrels a day.
- Pirate Capital founder Thomas Hudson, seeking to calm investors after half of his staff left, told clients of the hedge-fund company that he plans to deliver returns of more than 20%.
- A more rapid slowdown in economic growth and further signs of waning inflation would be needed to prompt the Fed to cut interest rates, St. Louis Fed Bank President William Poole said. Poole also said the “worst inflation news may be behind us.”
- The Fed will probably lower its benchmark interest rate in the first quarter of 2007 as inflation pressures diminish, according to economists at Citigroup(C).

Wall Street Journal:
- President Bush plans to focus on easing bottlenecks slowing the distribution of ethanol during his remaining time in office.
- The SEC relaxed a rule that controls the number of agreements mutual funds must enter and the time they have to file shareholder information.
- The FASB is starting a series of changes in policies that could have a big impact on companies, investors and workers with defined-benefit pension plans.

NY Times:
- New York’s overall crime rate has fallen 5% so far this year compared with the same period in 2005.

Washington Post:
- Muslim leaders in the US said they will try to get more of the country’s 2.2 million voting-age Muslims to vote this year.
- Iran may be moving more slowing to enrich uranium than previously believed because of technical difficulties with the process.

Boston Globe:
- Harvard University and four other colleges have agreed to donate $10 million in cash and services to 10 of Boston’s poorly performing public shools.

CNBC:
- Amaranth Group’s talks with Citigroup to gain working capital ended last night, which may force the hedge fund to begin liquidating all its positions.

Variety:
- Apple Computer(AAPL) and Wal-Mart(WMT) are in talks to form an alliance that would allow the retailer to profit from iTunes downloads and give Apple(AAPL) access to more film titles from the major Hollywood studios.

Oriental Morning Post:
- Wal-Mart Stores(WMT) may pay $200 million to buy 27 stores from Trust-Mart, a Taiwan-based mainland China supermarket chain operator.

El Universal:
- A Florida lawmaker is calling for sanctions against Citgo Petroleum, the US subsidiary of Venezuela’s state oil company, after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called President Bush “the devil” at the United Nations meeting last week in New York. State Representative Hasner asked Florida’s Transportation Dept. to force Citgo-affiliated gasoline stations from the Florida Turnpike because of Chavez’s remarks. Chavez should be given a clear message that “Florida won’t support institutions that seek the destabilization of the US,” Hasner said. 7-Eleven, the largest US operator of convenience stores, said it will start selling gasoline under its own brand after a 20-year relationship with Citgo Petroleum.