Kraven Moorehead

By Richard Valdmanis

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices surged to a seven-month high near $72 a barrel on Wednesday after a U.S. government report showed a slowdown in crude imports eating away at inventories in the world's top energy user.

U.S. crude for July delivery rose to a high of $71.79 a barrel before pulling back to trade up $1.04 at $71.05 by 1:20 p.m, EDT. London Brent rose 85 cents to $70.47 a barrel.

The gains came after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported nationwide stockpiles fell by a larger-than-expected 4.4 million barrels last week as imports dropped by 676,000 barrels per day.

"The number that kind of stands out right away is the drop in crude oil imports," said Gene McGillian, analyst at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. "If imports are going to drop, we're going to see some of the stockpiles erased."

The report also showed a decline in gasoline inventories as refiners slowed production and demand notched higher.

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WASHINGTON -- Oil and gasoline prices are rising fast as Memorial Day weekend approaches, but not because supplies are tight or demand is high.

U.S. crude oil inventories are at their highest levels in almost two decades, and demand has fallen to a 10-year low, but crude oil prices have climbed more than 70 percent since mid-January to a six-month high of $62.04 on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, although refiners are operating at less than 85 percent of capacity, leaving them plenty of room to churn out more gasoline if demand rises during the summer driving season, the price of gasoline at the pump has climbed 28 cents a gallon from a month earlier to $2.33.

This time, Wall Street speculators - some of them recipients of billions of dollars in taxpayers' bailout money - may be to blame.

Big Wall Street banks such as Goldman Sachs & Co., Morgan Stanley and others are able to sidestep the regulations that limit investments in commodities such as oil, and they're investing on behalf of pension funds, endowments, hedge funds and other big institutional investors, in part as a hedge against rising inflation.

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updated 1:12 p.m. PT, Fri., May 8, 2009

MISSOULA, Mont. - W.R. Grace & Co. and three former executives were acquitted Friday of federal charges that they knowingly allowed residents of a northwestern Montana town to be exposed to asbestos from its vermiculite mine.

Jurors received the case Wednesday, nearly 11 weeks after hearing opening arguments.

An indictment unsealed four years ago charged that W.R. Grace and several of its one-time executives knowingly endangered the lives of mine workers and other residents of Libby and ignored warnings by state agencies to clean up the vermiculite mining operation.

Continue reading "Acquittals in Montana mine asbestos case Many town residents blamed company for deaths, sicknesses" »

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AP Business
WSJ: BofA CEO Lewis testifies to NY AG that Bernanke, Paulson wanted Merrill losses kept quiet

NEW YORK (AP) — Bank of America Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis told the New York attorney general he believed former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke wanted him to keep quiet about the worsening terms of the bank's acquisition of Merrill Lynch, according to testimony reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

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The special inspector general says TARP is 'inherently vulnerable to fraud, waste and abuse.' The risk grows as the plan becomes more complex, he says.

BY RALPH VARTABEDIAN AND TOM HAMBURGER | Los Angeles Times Writers
10:24 AM EDT, April 21, 2009

WASHINGTON - In the first major disclosure of corruption in the $750-billion financial bailout program, federal investigators said Monday they have opened 20 criminal probes into possible securities fraud, tax violations, insider trading and other crimes.

The cases represent only the first wave of investigations, and the total fraud could ultimately reach into the tens of billions of dollars, according to Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general overseeing the bailout program.

The disclosures reinforce fears that the hastily designed and rapidly changing bailout program run by the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve is going to carry a heavy price of fraud against taxpayers -- even as questions grow about its ability to stabilize the nation's financial system.

Continue reading " From the Los Angeles Times Crimes suspected in 20 bailout cases -- for starters" »

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The government has completed the transaction providing nearly $30 billion more in support to American International Group Inc., minus $165 million in controversial bonus payments.

The Treasury Department also says it added Bank of America Corp. and Countrywide Home Loans Servicing to its mortgage relief program. That means a total of nine companies are participating in the $75 billion effort.

The department also approved the applications for six more banks to participate in the $700 billion financial rescue program, bringing the total number of banks being helped to 553.

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