Archive for August, 2008

In a special Sunday afternoon trading session, oil prices spiked more than $3 before pulling back as the world oil market signaled its preliminary response to the looming threat of Hurricane Gustav.

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As officials ordered the evacuation of New Orleans, the oil industry shut down rigs and pulled back personnel as Hurricane Gustav bore down on the Gulf coast on Sunday.

The Gulf of Mexico is home to 4,000 drilling platforms and 33,000 miles of pipeline, which send 1.3 million barrels a day to the Gulf Coast's 56 refineries. But a hurricane threatens to deal a powerful blow to the oil-rich region.

It's a title Michigan likely doesn't want.

State regulators shuttered a Georgia bank late Friday, marking the tenth bank failure this year.

Stocks slumped Friday at the end of an upbeat August as Dell's earnings miss, a big drop in personal income and worries about the threat of Hurricane Gustav rattled investors ahead of a long weekend.

Three years after Hurricane Katrina exploded through floodwalls and inundated New Orleans, local businesses again find themselves threatened as a storm named Gustav heads their way.

Gas prices jumped overnight - and are expected to keep rising - in states along the Gulf of Mexico as offshore oil rigs prepare to abandon ship ahead of Tropical Storm Gustav on Friday.

Overall, dealmaking may be in a slump, but Big Pharma has been buying up biotech firms at a record pace - it's now the fastest-growing M&A sector, with deal value up 87% this year.