Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said the global economy is growing strongly and that recent financial market corrections are “healthy.”
- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission charged Amaranth Advisors LLC with trying to manipulate US natural gas prices and sought to permanently block the hedge fund’s access to all US commodity markets. The injunction extends to Amaranth’s former head of trading, Brian Hunter.
- Chrysler’s sale to Cerberus Capital Management LP will be completed after banks agreed to keep $10 billion of loans that investors refused to buy.
- The IMF raised its forecast for world economic growth to more than 5% for this year and next.
- Crude oil rose the most in more than nine weeks in NY after the US government reported a third straight weekly decline in oil inventories and increased refinery operations.
- Gold is falling from an 11-week high in NY as the US dollar gained the most against the euro in almost five months, eroding the metal’s appeal as an alternative investment.

Wall Street Journal:
- US states are blocking construction of coal-fired plants because of concerns that conventional plants pollute too much and installing cleaner equipment would be too expensive.
- Congress would be unwise to raise taxes on profit at private-equity firms, Steve Forbes wrote.
- Intel Corp.(INTC) made a silicon modulator that can erode data onto a beam of light and transmit it at a rate of 40 billion bits per second, or gigabits, citing researchers at the company.

NY Times:
- US women are the fastest-expanding customer base in the motorcycle industry and Harley-Davidson(HDI) is taking notice.
- Two staff members of NY Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer refuse to be interviewed by the state attorney general’s office about attempts to use state police to gather information on Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.
- IBM(IBM) will today announce a new employee program that allows workers to create 401k-like accounts to be used for training and education purposes.

Hollywood Reporter:
- Microsoft Corp.(MSFT) will cut the price of the Xbox 360 video-game console by $50 on Aug. 8.

Platts:
- Most supertanker owners aren’t making a profit when they hire out vessels because of lower rental rates and higher refueling costs, citing owners. “A majority of ship owners” are losing “lots of money,” Andrew Bonnington, managing editor of Platts Marine Alert, said.

AP:
- Paula Zahn is leaving Time Warner’s(TWX) CNN and turning her prime-time show over to Campbell Brown.

S&P Leveraged & Commentary Data:
- ServiceMaster(SVM) raised $4.45 billion of debt to finance its buyout by Clayton Dubilier & Rice.

China Central TV:
- China’s State Council, the cabinet, will set up a special committee to supervise food safety.