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Energy Dept. Says Oil, Gas Prices to Stay High (Finance, 26 articles)
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The oil company's annual Statistical Review of World Energy, published yesterday, offered a vivid illustration of the fundamental imbalance between supply and demand that has helped to drive crude prices to record highs of $139 a barrel this month. What has driven oil prices to their current dizzy heights? According to the oil producers' cartel Opec, the blame lies with speculators in the international markets. Although the decline in the dollar against other currencies has been a popular explanation for oil's record run, Rosengren said data show the increases in oil prices have far outstripped the pace of the dollar's decline. NEW YORK - Retail gas prices rose further above a national average of $4 Monday, and are likely to keep rising as distributors and retailers hike prices in response to last week's unprecedented oil price rally. Consumers are cutting back on their consumption of gas in response to the high prices, but gasoline producers have little choice but to keep raising prices when the cost of their chief raw material - crude oil - rises. Saudi Arabia will call for a summit between oil producing countries and consumer states to discuss soaring energy prices, Information and Culture Minister Iyad Madani said Monday.
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Boston Fed chief rebuts theory that rate cuts spurred oil prices (Finance, 11 articles)
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HARWICH - Allowing inflation and unemployment to rise in the short-term would be an "appropriate" response by policy makers to soaring oil prices, Donald L. Kohn said yesterday. Kohn, speaking here at a conference sponsored by the Boston Federal Reserve Bank, said that moving quickly to bring down inflation in the face of oil and commodity price shocks could produce a sharp increase in unemployment. " Business contacts in most districts reported increases in input prices... especially prices for energy, petroleum derivatives, metals, plastics, chemicals, and food the Fed said in its Beige Book summary of economic conditions.
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Other stories about inflation, cent and rate:
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Apple unveils £100 3G iPhone (Finance, 8 articles)
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The basic model now sells for less than the cost of an iPod Classic (not counting the $70 monthly charge for using AT&T's mobile phone and data network, which eventually makes the purchase more expensive than an iMac). Apple plans to make up the difference in sales revenue with volume and with subsidies wireless carriers will now pay for the right to carry the gadget. In changing the pricing arrangements, Apple is pulling out of revenue-sharing arrangements with some wireless carriers, a move that frees the carriers to charge higher prices for the service.
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Corporate Express accepts Staples offer (Finance, 7 articles)
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The acquisition, which will be Staples largest ever, will shift the Framingham-based company's business mix from primarily selling products to individuals and small businesses to delivering to large corporate customers - an area Corporate Express dominates. NEW YORK- Office-supply retailer Staples Inc.'s acquisition of Dutch office supply retailer Corporate Express will put its North American delivery business on par with the size of its retail business, an executive said on Wednesday. Early Wednesday, Staples said Corporate Express NV accepted its buyout offer of about $2.7 billion a bid which the Framingham, Mass.-based company raised three times in a dogged effort to seal the deal.
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Wine uncorks challenge to beer as alcohol drink of choice: StatsCan (Finance, 6 articles)
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The study proposed a hypothetical tax increase of 25 per cent, with price increases for beer of 1.7 per cent, 6.8 per cent for spirits and 7.5 per cent for wine. That helped exporters record some gains, with Toyota rising 2.4 per cent to Y5,550, Nissan gaining 2.5 per cent to Y959 and Canon, which increased 3.4 per cent to Y5,520. The People's Bank of China told banks to set aside record reserves to curb credit growth and inflation, as the national statistics bureau reported factory-gate prices rose 8.2 per cent from a year earlier, after gaining 8.1 per cent in April.
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A cold market for jumbo loans shows signs of a thaw (Finance, 5 articles)
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When the federal government enacted rules in February to help borrowers get big mortgages, Rick Garcia hoped he 'd finally be able to refinance his West Hills home. Interest rates have long tended to be at least slightly higher on jumbos than on smaller mortgages because government-sponsored mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were barred by law from buying or guaranteeing anything but sub-$417,000 "conforming" loans. Rising defaults and foreclosures and an oversupply of homes are more likely to stunt a real-estate recovery than tighter mortgage standards, lenders say.
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Biogen Idec advised to reject Icahn (Finance, 5 articles)
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Two influential shareholder advisory firms recommended yesterday that Biogen Idec Inc. shareholders reject billionaire investor Carl Icahn's effort to win several seats on the Cambridge biotechnology company's board at its annual meeting June 19. Although the RiskMetrics Group found that Icahn's slate of three nominees has impressive credentials, the advisory firm concluded there was no compelling reason to oust Biogen Idec's own board members. The fund exceeded its target of $225 million, with all of Madrona's existing institutional investors signing up, including the University of Washington.
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Bank sector in turmoil as HBOS share price falls (Finance, 4 articles)
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Barratt Developments, Britain's second-largest housebuilder, was forced to reassure the City about its financial position yesterday after a collapse in its share price. The British banking sector was thrown into fresh uncertainty yesterday as underwriters to the huge HBOS rights issue were faced with the prospect of being lumbered with $4 billion of unwanted shares. The fresh alarm was triggered when HBOS shares dropped below the 275p price at which it plans to issue $4 billion worth of new stock in five weeks, closing at 258p, down 12 per cent.
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Price of crude oil soars, pushing up U.S. trade deficit (Finance, 4 articles)
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Unemployment The number of people out of work and claiming benefits rose by 9,000 in May, and an increase in April was revised up to 11,200. Average earnings growth eased in April, with headline earnings growth falling to an annual 3.8 per cent in the three months to April, from 4 per cent in March. WASHINGTON - The US trade deficit widened in April as the surge in oil prices propelled imports to a record, overshadowing the biggest gain in exports in four years.
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Pending home sales rise in April (Finance, 4 articles)
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June 10, 2008 WASHINGTON - Pending sales of previously owned US homes unexpectedly rose in April to the highest level in six months as foreclosed properties flooded the market and drove prices sharply lower, a real estate trade group report showed yesterday. The National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in April and seen as a key barometer of future housing activity, increased 6.3 percent to 88.2 from an unrevised 83.0 in March. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted mortgage application index, boosted by increased demand for both purchase and refinance loans, rose 10.9 percent to 557.1 in the June 6 week.
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blaster@cs.columbia.edu
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