Thursday, September 01, 2005

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- The Fed is “finished” raising its interest-rate target because Hurricane Katrina will have a “profound effect” on the economy, said Paul McCulley, a managing director at PIMCO.
- President Bush urged “zero tolerance” on looters and other lawbreakers as rescuers stepped up efforts to evacuate more than 40,000 people from New Orleans.
- Gasoline futures rose more than 9% on expectations that refineries shut by Hurricane Katrina will take weeks to recover.
- President Bush will take a ground and another air tour tomorrow of the Gulf region.
- Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian will increase his stake in GM to 9.53% from about 7.2%.
- Sales at US retailers including Wal-Mart and Federated rose a healthy 3.6% in August on demand for fall clothing and school supplies.
- The US dollar is headed for its biggest two-day decline versus the euro since mid-July on worries over slower US growth.

Wall Street Journal:
- Hurricane Katrina, which has closed New Orleans port and stranded thousands of loaded barges on the Mississippi River, has depressed prices for corn, wheat and soybeans.
- US government emergency funding for victims of Katrina may add as much as $20 billion to the US deficit.
- Katrina may have left as many as two million people without food or shelter.
- US and foreign carmakers may become indirect victims of Katrina as soaring gas prices prompt consumers to shun gas-guzzling large vehicles that have provided the highest profit in recent years.
- A San Francisco-based startup company, Zoom Systems, hopes Americans will buy costly items such as Bose’s headphones and Apple’s iPod sound systems at vending machines.

NY Times:
- Utilities companies, including New York’s Consolidated Edison, have sent utility crews and trucks to help Entergy, Southern Co. and Cleco restore power in hurricane-damaged areas.

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