Monday, March 05, 2007

Today's Headlines

- JPMorgan Chase(JPM) overtook Goldman Sachs Group(GS) as the largest US hedge-fund manager, according to a survey released today.
- Crude oil is falling $1.50/bbl. as speculator cut long positions on signs of slowing global growth.
- Crude oil production by members of OPEC dropped 85,000 bpd in February, a Bloomberg survey showed.
- Gold is falling another $4/oz. and has declined over $50/oz. over the last five days and speculators continue to cut long positions as the US dollar stabilizes and inflation worries diminish.
- Motorola(MOT) may be preparing for a fight to keep billionaire activist Carl Icahn off its board.
- Emerging market stocks fell the most in more than eight months, led by Russian natural-gas producer OAO Gazprom.

Wall Street Journal:
- Palm Inc.(PALM) is working with Morgan Stanley(MS) to evaluate strategic options including a sale, private equity investment or acquisition.
- Iraq’s draft oil law, endorsed last month, lists dozens of intact oil fields with proven reserves and other spots for exploration. The draft legislation, expected to be approved this month, may open the country’s 115 billion barrels of proven oil reserves to overseas investors.
- Mutual funds that focus on emerging-market stocks are biding their time, hoping to pick up shares more cheaply, and that’s caused markets to fall.

NY Times:
- Chevron Corp.(CVX), Exxon Mobil(XOM) and other major oil companies are injecting high-pressure steam and carbon dioxide to increase output of oil fields. Technological advances have increased recoverable reserves to 4.8 trillion barrels today from 3.3 trillion in 2000, citing Cambridge Energy Research.

Kommersant:
- Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg plans to invest $1 billion in developing wind and solar power.

O Estado de S. Paulo:
- Brazil, the word’s only major exporter of ethanol, will seek to end tariffs limiting its sales of the biofuel to the US and other countries during talks with the World Trade Organization.

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