Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Crude oil fell to a seven-week low as a report showed that OPEC is bolstering output to lower prices and fuel consumption in the U.S. and Asia drops. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries increased output by 200,000 barrels a day in July, according to preliminary estimates from PetroLogistics Ltd. Oil has slipped more than $24 a barrel from the $147.27 record on July 11 as fuel use declined. ``The oil market over the last two weeks has begun to focus on the larger fundamentals, which are bearish,'' said Tim Evans, an energy analyst for Citi Futures Perspective in New York. ``Today's PetroLogistics report on OPEC output points to further increases in supply. The U.S. gasoline market is about as weak as I've ever seen during the summer months.'' U.S. fuel demand averaged 19.9 million barrels a day last week, the lowest since January 2007, the Energy Department reported on July 23. U.S. gasoline consumption fell 3.3 percent from a year ago, the 13th consecutive weekly decline, a MasterCard Inc. report on July 22 showed. Japanese oil imports fell for the first time in nine months, the government said yesterday. South Korea consumed less fuel for the eighth straight month in June, state-run Korea National Oil Corp. said on July 22. The U.S., Japan and South Korea are the world's first, second and fifth biggest oil importers, according to the U.S. Energy Department.
- Legg Mason Inc.(LM) reported a second straight quarterly loss as subpar investment returns led to $18.4 billion in customer redemptions and the Baltimore-based company bailed out money funds saddled with bad debt. Legg Mason rose as much as 4.6 percent in New York trading on signs the worst may be over.
- The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping costs for commodities, had its biggest decline in an 11-day reverse on a lack of cargoes to haul. The index of international transport costs fell 134 points, or 1.5%, to a more than three-month low of 8,637. “There is an oversupply of ships,” Dorian Benson, a director at freight-derivatives brokerage GFI South Africa, said. Investors expect rate to drop, according to forward freight agreements which be on future rates.
- Nickel headed for the biggest weekly decline in London in four months as stainless-steel mills, the biggest users of the metal, said demand is weakening. Copper and aluminum increased. Jinchuan Group Co., Asia's biggest nickel producer, cut prices by 11 percent from today. Acerinox SA, the world's largest stainless-steel producer, and Finland's Outukumpu Oyj said this week that orders from construction slowed. Nickel has fallen 30 percent this year, the worst among all LME-traded metals. Prices are now below production costs of so- called nickel pig iron. LME-monitored copper stockpiles jumped 2,600 tons, or 2 percent, to 133,475 tons, the highest since March 7. They have increased 8.9 percent this month. Including those at commodity exchanges in New York and Shanghai, inventories totaled 181,027 tons, or 3.5 days of global consumption, according to Bloomberg calculations. Last year's average was 4.9 days.
- Russia's dollar-denominated RTS Index fell the most in six months, plunging it into a bear market, after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said OAO Mechel billionaire shareholder Igor Zyuzin may need a ``doctor.'' The 50-stock RTS index sank for a fourth day, dropping 5.5 percent to 1,952.96 at 3:37 p.m. in Moscow, bringing its decline from its May 19 high to 22 percent. A drop of 20 percent from a peak within a year is the common definition of a bear market.
- Honda Motor Co., Japan's second- largest automaker, posted an unexpected 8.1 percent gain in fiscal first-quarter profit after record gasoline prices spurred demand for its fuel-efficient Fit and Civic cars.

Wall Street Journal:
- Gap Is Narrowing in Battleground States. McCain Chips Away At Obama’s Lead In Four Key Races.

CNBC.com:
- Washington Mutual(WM) boosted its liquidity by $10 billion, to $50 billion, in the moth since the end of the second quarter. (video)

NY Post:
- Blackstone Group LP(BX) has allocated $1.25 billion to buy troubled subprime mortgage loans through Bayview Financial Holdings LP. Bayview has already used about 40% of Blackstone’s capital to acquire loans and will renegotiate terms with borrowers who have stopped payment.

Wcbstv.com:
- Barack Obama's campaign has received roughly 10 times more money from declared U.S.Germany, France and Britain than his Republican rival, reflecting his popularity in Europe as he makes his first tour of the continent as the presumed Democratic nominee. donors living in

AP:
- Iran wants to increase its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the country’s chief IAEA delegate said. “We will continue our cooperation with the agency in accordance with our legal obligations,” Ali Ashgar Soltanieh, who represents Iran at the IAEA, said. Soltanieh told the AP a meeting yesterday between VP Gholam Reza Aghazadeh and IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei focused on “the promotion of cooperation” with the agency.

Reuters:
- Brazilian energy giant Petrobras (PBR) plans to install two production units every two years from 2010 to pump oil from sub-salt reserves in the off-shore Santos basin, an official from the firm said on Thursday. Assistant director for Exploration and Production, Alvaro Costa, estimated future production of 1 million barrels per day from the sub-salt layers of the Tupi field.

La Tribune:
- French vehicle fuel consumption plunged 10% in June because of higher prices at the pump, citing Jean-Louis Schilansky, director of the Union Francaise des Industries Petrolieres. The decline was “enormous,” he said. During the previous five months of the year, fuel use was almost unchanged compared with 2007.