Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Crude oil is falling for the first time in three days after the International Energy Agency cut its demand forecast for the third consecutive month.
- Russian and the US will sign terms for the former Soviet state to join the World Trade Organization next week, clearing one of the last hurdles for an agreement that may add $10 billion a year to the Russian economy.
- Copper is plunging to a four-month low, capping the biggest weekly decline since September. The Beijing-based customs office said recently that warehouse inventories monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 15% this week and that Chinese imports plunged 22% so far this year. Merrill Lynch, today, is telling clients its sees copper collapsing 47% by 2008.
- Jeff Shankman, the former chief operating officer of global markets at Enron Corp., plans to raise as much as $250 million in the next six months for an energy hedge fund.
- SEC Chairman Cox said the agency will propose rules next month that raise hedge fund investing requirements.
- US Treasuries are headed for their biggest weekly advance since September on decelerating inflation readings and optimism about demand for new securities.
- Economists at Citigroup(C), JPMorgan Chase(JPM), Royal Bank of Scotland Group and Commerzbank AG cut their forecasts for the European economy after French growth unexpectedly stalled in the third quarter.
- Gold in NY is falling on skepticism China will buy the precious metal to diversify its foreign-currency reserves.

Wall Street Journal:
- Sweden’s new right-leaning government, led by Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, is on track with its program of promoting economic growth by shrinking the country’s welfare system.
- Starbucks Corp.(SBUX) is trying to offer new choices in its interior designs to help it defuse opposition as it expands worldwide.
- Businesses gained a victory in coping with US accounting standards after regulators agreed to relax the requirements for verifying and assessing internal financial controls.
- Citigroup(C) so far has little to show for its efforts to expand in China’s $2 trillion banking market as the Chinese government has resisted expansion by foreign banks.
- GM(GM) plans to sell a new Buick model, which carries seven passengers, at a lower price than rival vehicles from Toyota Motor’s(TM) Lexus and Honda Motor’s Acura.
- Dell Inc.(DELL) has sacrificed its leading position in the global computer market in favor of higher profit and investors are signaling approval.
- US Large-cap Growth mutual funds seem poised for a rally, after several years of underperformance.

NY Times:
- Burger King Holdings(BKC), OfficeMax(OMX) and Anheuser-Busch(BUD) are among companies augmenting advertising by creating entire television shows featuring their products.
- Cummins(CMI) and Caterpillar(CAT) are among companies either building or using diesel engines to meet US EPA requirements.
- Allergan(AGN) is offering free injections of its wrinkle-filler Juvederm to users of Restylane, which is sold in the US by Medicis Pharmaceutical(MRX).
- The five principals of Fortress Investment Group LLC stand to make $6.8 billion from the hedge fund’s initial public offering.
- NBC has ordered nine more episodes of “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” even as the number of viewers has plunged 41%.
- President Bush began efforts to remove Defense Secretary Rumsfeld almost three months ago and put off the ouster because of fear it would be interpreted as political opportunism.

Philadelphia Inquirer:
- Robert Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television, will be a partner in Pinnacle Entertainment’s(PNK) bid to build a $350 million waterfront casino in Philadelphia.

Boston Globe:
- Fidelity Investments will eliminate the $20 annual fee on all college-savings plans and lower the minimum investment required to start an account.