Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- President Bush today will direct the government to begin taking steps to reduce dependence on foreign oil supplies and will urge Congress to enact legislation aimed at the same goal.
- Gasoline futures in NY are falling 1.4% as inventories may increase for a second straight week following three months of declines.
- Copper is falling 3.5% in NY to the lowest price in two weeks on speculation that demand will slow in China, the world’s biggest consumer of the metal. Copper inventories in Shanghai have surged 275% in about six months.
- Nokia Oyj(NOK) said its market share will rise in the second quarter, sending the stock to the highest in more than four years.
- Members of Ford Motor’s(F) founding family are discussing the sale of part of their controlling stake in the money-losing automaker, three people with direct knowledge of the talks said.
- Leading worldwide bus manufacturer Van Hool today unveiled at its Lier, Belgium, plant Belgium’s first zero-emission, 43-foot hybrid electric transit bus equipped with a UTC Power fuel cell system. UTC Power is a United Technologies(UTX) company.
- Platinum supply exceeded demand last year for the first time since 1998 and the surplus will grow because of rising South African output, according to auto catalyst manufacturer Johnson Matthey Plc.
- Alcoa Inc.(AA) probably will fail to retain investment-grade credit should its $26.9 billion bid for rival Alcan Inc.(AA) succeed, S&P said.
- OAO Lukoil, Russia’s biggest independent energy company, said crude oil output climbed 6.5% to 2 million barrels a day in the first quarter, led by gains at fields overseas. Lukoil plans to spend $27 billion over the next ten years to boost overseas output 700%.
- OPEC should raise output before its September meeting to make up for lost exports from Nigeria and prepare for an increase in demand for winter fuels, a US Energy Department official said. At least 500,000 barrels of oil production a day has been halted in Nigeria.

Wall Street Journal:
- CBS Corp.(CBS) is starting a new venture that will involve syndicating its entertainment, sports and news videos to Web sites.
- Tim Barakett, who runs Atticus Capital LLC, a NY hedge-fund firm, makes big bets, doesn’t worry about volatile performance and has no intention of making an IPO.

NY Times:
- CBS Corp.(CBS) has no plans to replace Katie Couric as host of the “CBS Evening News” and the broadcast remains profitable despite lower ratings than other network news shows.

Washington Post:
- Rural electric cooperatives plan to spend $35 billion building conventional coal plants during the next 10 years with help from a federal low-interest loan program.

USA Today:
- US cities are making street signs brighter and larger, widening sidewalks and developing housing that’s more suitable for the additional 35 million people who will be age 65 or older by the year 2030.

AP:
- Wal-Mart Stores(WMT) will offer Skype Technologies headsets, handsets and webcams in 1,800 stores to give consumers access to equipment to make free and inexpensive Internet telephone calls.

Arabesquespress:
- Algerian exports of liquefied natural gas to the US may increase threefold to 12 billion cubic meters a year within three years.