Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Hartford Financial Services Group(HIG), the sixth largest US insurer by market value, said worsening hedge fund results will reduce yields on its so-called alternative investments by at least half in the third quarter.
- Crude oil in NY is rising to a record $80.50/bbl. in NY as investment fund speculation rises ahead of a potential Fed rate cut that may bolster the economy.
- AOL, the Internet division of Time Warner(TWX), will move its corporate headquarters to NY and set up a network to help advertisers purchase online ads and track the effectiveness of their campaigns.
- Newell Rubbermaid Inc.(NWL), the maker of Graco baby buggies and Rolodex organizers, raised its full-year earnings and third-quarter sales forecasts, sending the shares toward their biggest gain since April 2006.
- An unfounded concern that the US economy will slip into a recession has pushed some stocks down too far, investor Laszlo Birinyi said.
- ITT Corp.(ITT), the world’s largest maker of night-vision goggles and pumps, agreed to purchase EDO Corp.(EDO) for about $1.58 billion in cash to bolster its defense electronics and communication services.

Wall Street Journal:
- Nokia(NOK) Agrees to Buy Cellphone-Ad Firm.
- BASF AG, the world’s biggest chemical company by sales, is ready to start buying businesses after a year of waiting on the sidelines, citing Kurt Bock, the company’s CFO.
- Time Warner Inc.(TWX) will confirm Jeffrey L. Bewkes as CEO before the end of the year.
- Paetec Holding last night sealed a deal to purchase telecom provider McLeodUSA for $492 million, marking the end of independence for one of the leading lights of the dot-com boom.
- Dartmouth College, Brigham Young University and Spain’s ESADE led the national , regional and international rankings of corporate recruiters’ favorite graduate schools of business in a Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive survey.

China Securities Journal:
- PetroChina Co. will invest $1.33 billion in renewable energy sources, including coal-bed methane, wind and geothermal projects, by 2020, citing a company executive.

Arab News:
- Sheikh Salman ibn Fahad al-Oudah, a popular Saudi religious scholar, criticized Osama bin Laden’s negative impact on the global image of Islam and questioned violent tactics used by al-Qaeda in Iraq and Afghanistan, citing al-Oudah.