Tuesday, March 30, 2004

Posted here Tuesday, March 30, 2004 at 6:09:29 PM     This could be the equivalent of the Madrid Bombing. OPEC May Ratify Output Cuts, Sending Crude Oil Prices Higher http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000102&;sid=apv78X979BaI&refer=uk March 31 (Bloomberg) -- OPEC at a meeting today may leave in place production cutbacks planned for next month, six ministers said, a decision that may send oil prices in New York above $40 a barrel to reach levels last seen in the 1990-1991 Gulf War. OPEC has ``had a stranglehold on this market for a very long time, so to doubt them is not a very smart move,'' said Edward Silliere, vice president of risk management at Energy Merchant LLC in New York. Oil prices may rise to $40 or $42 a barrel later this year as a result of OPEC's plan, he said. ********

Posted here Tuesday, March 30, 2004 at 5:11:12 PM     also recommend http://newyorker.com/printable/?fact/040329fa_fact THE CHURN by KATHERINE BOO C eative destruction in a border town. LastAugust, in a corner of South Texas where local newspapers still call businesses "corporate citizens," an  emergency vehicle paid a visit to a highly fortified underwear mill. The hundred-and-fifty-three-year-old Fruit of the Loom company, owned by Warren Buffett's Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway, had just announced that its Cameron County factory would close by the end of the year. Much of its production would be shifted to Honduras. The news brought the county government's mass-layoff response squad to the scene. ********