Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Federal Reserve Chairman Greenspan said the US economy has “weathered reasonably well the steep rise” in energy prices thanks to market-driven incentives and “flexibility.”
- Microsoft and Yahoo! will let their users instant message each other for the first time, challenging AOL’s dominance of Instant Messeging.
- Research in Motion may have to pay $550 million more than it has set aside to settle claims that its BlackBerry e-mail device infringes another company’s patents.
- Crude oil is rising on speculation that demand may rebound next year from the effects of the hurricanes.

Wall Street Journal:
- The earthquake that hit the Kashmir area of Pakistan and India may have been very costly for Islamic extremists who oppose the US, citing militant groups.
- News that Refco’s CEO secretly owed the company $430 million raises questions about the thoroughness of the auditors and banks that oversaw the IPO nine weeks ago.
- US auto dealers say their sales have dropped sharply this month and they want Ford Motor, Chrysler and GM to boost incentives.
- There are signs that recent steel price increases may slow or start falling.
- RealNetworks may use the $761 billion it will be paid by Microsoft in an antitrust settlement to boost its presence in online music and games.

Boston Globe:
- MIT is founding an international association of research universities to develop nanotechnology for health and medical research.

Lloyd’s List:
- The global oil and gas industry wastes some 2.1 million barrels, worth more than $100 million, every day because many producers aren’t using oil-water separation technology.

Petroleum Intelligence Weekly:
- Saudi Arabia may bring the offshore Manifa oilfield, capable of pumping 1 million barrels a day, back into production as part of plans to boost output capacity after 2009.

Financial Times:
- Phillip Bennett, the suspended CEO of Refco, may have used a hedge fund to disguise the fact that he owed the futures broker $430 million.

Al-Hayat:
- Iran shut two offshore oilfields operated by Royal Dutch Shell Plc because the country was finding it difficult to find buyers of the heavy crude the fields produce.

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