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CBOT Rice Review: Slips As Lack Of Demand Weighs 3 hours ago CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Chicago Board of Trade rice futures ended sharply lower Wednesday as a lack of demand continues to weigh on the market, an analyst said. November rice ended down 40 cents to $17.30 per hundredweight and January rice ended down 41 1/2 cents to $17.62. Prices have fallen sharply since hitting a high of $20.44 last month, when the market had rallied on concerns about the crop following hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Although the crop remains troubled, with lower yields expected, firstgrain.com analyst Ed Taylor said the...

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil dropped more than 6 percent to below $88 a barrel on Monday as a global market rout churned concerns that faltering fuel demand could slow further. U.S. stocks tumbled 6 percent to the lowest level in nearly five years as part of an international sell-off on fears the global economy was heading into recession. U.S. crude settled down $6.07 at $87.81 a barrel after hitting an eight-month low of $87.56. London Brent crude fell $6.57 to settle at $83.68 a barrel. Crude prices have plummeted from a peak over $147 a barrel set on July...

LONDON (AFP) - Oil prices fell below 105 dollars Friday on concerns over slowing energy demand and a strong US currency, while the market awaited next week's OPEC meeting on crude output levels, traders said. Brent North Sea crude for delivery in October dropped 97 cents to 105.33 dollars a barrel in electronic deals after slipping under 105 dollars earlier in the day. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for October, fell 96 cents to 106.93 dollars a barrel in pit trading. "Crude prices featured on the downside on persistent concerns over weakening oil demand and as the US...

$65 oil is coming (maybe) A top analyst expects crude prices to start plummeting. If you don't believe it, you're not the only one, and a few stocks look good if you're in the skeptics' camp. By Jon Markman If you're frustrated over the high cost of gasoline at the pump, don't trade in your Hummer for a Vespa just yet: A leading energy analyst is telling clients these days to prepare for crude oil to retreat back below $65 per barrel over the next three years. How could it happen? He says conservation, new drilling, efficient new vehicles, alternative...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Commodity markets slumped broadly Wednesday, dragged by crude oil prices that dropped below $125 a barrel after the government reported a big rise in gasoline stocks, suggesting high pump prices were hitting U.S. fuel usage. Gold prices sank almost 3 percent while industrial metals such as aluminum and copper tumbled to five-week lows. Soybeans and wheat fell, giving back most of Tuesday's rebound. Corn slumped too as investors fretted about demand for biofuel products that had until June enjoyed a boom competing with the rally in oil. The broad sell-off pushed the Reuters-Jefferies CRB index ,...

World oil production fell by 0.2 percent in 2007, the first decline since 2002, while consumption rose by 1.1 percent, BP (British Petroleum) said on Wednesday, highlighting a tight supply/demand balance that has helped push oil prices to record levels. Production fell by 130,000 barrels per day (bpd) last year to 81.53 million bpd and reserves were essentially flat at 1.24 trillion barrels, London-based BP said in its 2008 Statistical Review of World Energy. The figures compiled by BP underline the world's challenge of boosting production to meet growing demand, particularly from developing economies such as China and India.

North Korea is refusing to proceed further with its nuclear disarmament unless other countries at arms talks guarantee promised energy aid, a South Korean official said Thursday. Seeking to break the latest stalemate at the nuclear negotiations, the five other countries in the arms talks - the U.S., China, Japan, Russia and South Korea - met with the North on Wednesday in the truce village of Panmunjom in the middle of the Demilitarized Zone dividing the Koreas. "The North has taken the position that if that (energy aid) is not fully guaranteed, it cannot cooperate in making further steps" at...

China's Oil Needs Keep Rising For Trucks, Industry, Stockpiles Reinhardt Krause 1 hour, 37 minutes ago Beijing's Summer Olympics, Sichuan's 7.2-magnitude earthquake in May and a buildup in strategic petroleum reserves put China's always difficult-to-discern oil demand even more in the dark. China has become the world's second-largest oil consumer after the U.S. as its people drive more cars and its factories produce steel and other energy-intensive goods. Despite China's growing role in global consumption, its actual demand for oil remains a mystery. In May, the U.S. urged China to join the International Energy Agency to help calm oil markets....

Obese people are contributing to the world food crisis and climate change, experts say. The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine calculated the obese consume 18% more calories than average. They are also responsible for using more fuel, which has an environmental impact and drives up food prices as transport and agriculture both use oil. The result is that the poor struggle to afford food and greenhouse gas emissions rise, the Lancet reported. It comes as the World Health Organization predicts the obese population will double by 2015 to 700m. In the UK, nearly a quarter of adults are...

Many investors have become contrarians and are now apparently experts in being able to spot bubbles. Hence, they all are fully aware that a bubble exists in agricultural commodities at this juncture. Really, you can listen to just about any financial source and hear some commentator warning about the epic bubble that is evident in agricultural commodity prices. However, some of these same folks were completely blindsided by the collapse of the tech bubble in 2000. And they also were shocked that real estate prices could ever decline in value. Of course, this new class of maverick investor is also...

HARARE, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe's High Court rejected an opposition demand Monday for the immediate release of long-delayed election results, prolonging a political crisis that has paralyzed this southern African nation for more than two weeks. An opposition spokesman said the party would stage a nationwide "stay-away" from work on Tuesday. The main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, says he won the March 29 election outright, and has accused President Robert Mugabe of holding back the results so he can orchestrate a runoff and ensure his 28-year grip on power. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change had hoped that the court — though...

China's oil reserve build-up adds to global demand It plans a stockpile equivalent to 30 days' worth of imports by 2010 By Moming Zhou, MarketWatch Last update: 6:40 p.m. EDT March 11, 2008 SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- China's plans to build its strategic petroleum reserves to at least 100 million barrels by 2010 could add more pressure to crude prices which have already been at record highs. The world's second-largest oil consumer already has built two underground storage reserves in east China and will put into use two more storage bases soon, a senior Chinese official said over the weekend,...

A Global Need for Grain That Farms Can’t Fill By DAVID STREITFELD LAWTON, N.D. — Whatever Dennis Miller decides to plant this year on his 2,760-acre farm, the world needs. Wheat prices have doubled in the last six months. Corn is on a tear. Barley, sunflower seeds, canola and soybeans are all up sharply. “For once, there’s great reason to be optimistic,” Mr. Miller said. But the prices that have renewed Mr. Miller’s faith in farming are causing pain far and wide. A tailor in Lagos, Nigeria, named Abel Ojuku said recently that he had been forced to cut back...

WASHINGTON: Forget the import of jet fighters and uranium for the moment. It’s India’s purchase of wheat in the international market that is attracting world attention — besides domestic controversy. A massive purchase of nearly 800,000 tonnes of wheat by India at record prices earlier this week has added to what agricultural experts are calling the great wheat panic of 2007. Wheat prices had already reached record levels ahead of the Indian move, thanks to falling or stagnating production in many countries — blamed on poor weather and crop diversion — and growing population. Now, prices are going through the...

With gasoline prices rising, political rhetoric is rising even faster. Liberals in Congress and in the media have launched a war of words, whose net result may well be a demand for some form of price control. Price controls are not a new idea. There have been price controls in countries around the world. There were price controls during ancient times in Babylon and in the Roman Empire. Whatever the hopes that may have inspired price controls, economists have studied their actual consequences, which have been remarkably similar from one place to another and from one time to another --...

A speed limit of 20mph could be introduced across much of London within three years. The measure, which would affect central London and residential areas where the limit is usually 30mph, is being demanded by the London Assembly Green Party, backed by road safety experts. Jenny Jones, the Mayor's Green road safety adviser, said she had discussed the plan with Ken Livingstone and that he backs more 20mph zones, but needed a little "arm-twisting" to accept their introduction across London.

Higher demand, lower subsidies driving costs Milk prices worldwide are rising at the fastest rate ever and won't be falling anytime soon because of growing demand in China and Latin America and dwindling government supplies. Dairy farmers have failed to keep pace with a 3 percent increase in annual milk consumption, according to Rabobank Groep in the Netherlands, the world's biggest agricultural lender. Reduced subsidies eliminated milk surpluses in Europe and slowed production growth in the U.S., government data show. The rally started last year after Australia reduced exports because of its worst drought in a century. "Over the next...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Gasoline prices hit a new record at the pump on Monday, but gas futures prices fell on concerns that $3 gas will crimp demand. Oil prices, meanwhile, rose on reports of refinery problems in the U.S. and abroad.

(AP) Carmen Gonzalez plucks one of the 50 frogs from the aquarium at her bus stop restaurant, bangs it against tiles to kill it and then makes two incisions along its belly and peels off the skin as if husking corn.

Mild winter weather has something to do with it. So does heavy selling by financial funds. But a largely overlooked factor in the recent plunge in oil prices may portend an end to the multiyear rise in crude: For the first time in years, the developed world is burning less of it. Fresh data from the International Energy Agency show oil consumption in the 30 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development fell 0.6% in 2006. Though the decline appears small, it marks the first annual drop in more than 20 years among the OECD countries, which...

SULAIMANIYA, Iraq: The Kurdish security contractor placed the black plastic box on the table. Inside was a new Glock 19, one of the nine-milimeter pistols that the United States issued by the tens of thousands to the Iraqi Army and police force. This pistol was no longer in the custody of Iraqi Army or police officers. It had been stolen or sold, and it found its way to an open-air grocery stand that does a lively black-market business in police and infantry arms. The contractor bought it there. He displayed other purchases, including a short-barreled Kalashnikov assault rifle with a...

ALBANY, N.Y. - Considered a political albatross in 2000, former President Clinton is arguably the most sought-after Democratic campaigner in the final days of the midterm elections. Jetting into New York's state capital on Thursday, Clinton plans to pump up the congressional candidacy of Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand and probably drop a good word or two about his wife, the state's junior senator. It'll be a short visit before Clinton takes wing again, off to another competitive race as his party tries to take back Congress and capture statehouses across the country. He has the frequent-flier miles to prove it: _On...

SINGAPORE (AP) - Oil prices fell in Asian trading Tuesday after losing nearly US$2 a barrel in the previous session amid easing concerns about the possibility of more production cuts by OPEC members. The contract dropped 3 per cent overnight in New York as traders discounted threats of output cuts and focused on high U.S. oil product inventories. Despite reduced refinery runs, traders were expecting to see a build in U.S. gasoline and distillate stocks in weekly petroleum supply data released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Energy. Light, sweet crude for November delivery dropped 11 cents to US$60.92 a...

Syrians demand military action to reclaim Golan Heights By Patrick Bishop in Beirut (Filed: 18/08/2006) Bashar al-Assad praised Hizbollah's 'victory' Pressure is mounting on Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, to follow Hizbollah's example and consider force to eject Israel from Syrian land that it has occupied for nearly 40 years. The public appetite for action is just one of the uncomfortable consequences regional rulers are facing, as Arabs compare their leaders' performances over Israel with the Lebanese "resistance". Mr Assad, who supports Hizbollah, was quick to praise the militia's "victory" in a post-conflict speech and to bathe in its reflected...

Angry MPs demand recall of parliament Discontent over UK's Lebanon policy Patrick Wintour, Ewen MacAskill and Oliver Burkeman in New York Wednesday August 9, 2006 The Guardian (UK) Up to 100 MPs, most of them Labour, are to demand an immediate recall of parliament to debate the crisis in Lebanon because of growing fears about the government's strategy. The call is expected to come in the next 48 hours and its organisers have been in discussion with the Liberal Democrat and Scottish Nationalist parties. Negotiations are also under way with campaign groups backing the call for an immediate ceasefire that...

A coalition of American Muslim leaders gathered Friday on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall and angrily called on Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to represent all residents on the Israel-Lebanon crisis, not just those who support Israel. The mayor, they said, has expressed strong support for Israel while ignoring repeated invitations to attend interfaith vigils for victims of both sides of the conflict. They noted that Beirut, the scene of heavy shelling, is one of Los Angeles' newest sister cities. "The mayor serves all Angelenos, and his public appearances should reflect that," said Edina Lekovic, spokeswoman...

A record-setting thirst for power during the heat wave that has scorched the state this month caught Department of Water and Power officials by surprise, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. Before this week, the utility's highest peak energy use was recorded at 5,661 megawatts. A stretch of 100-plus temperatures this week, however, created a demand that set a new all-time high of 6,165 megawatts - shocking DWP officials who predicted power usage wouldn't top 6,100 megawatts for four years. "They didn't even believe our customers could ever put such a load on our system - that we could even...

Gasoline demand falls in first half of 2006 API: lofty crude prices hurt demand, gasoline imports at a record By Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch Last Update: 10:00 AM ET Jul 19, 2006 SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Record prices for crude oil contributed to lower U.S. gasoline demand in the first half of this year, but the nation imported the fuel at a record pace, according to the American Petroleum Institute Wednesday. U.S. gasoline demand fell by 0.4% in the second quarter of 2006, compared with an increase of 0.5% in the first quarter, the API said in its June statistical...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California's power grid could post a new electricity demand record by Monday as air conditioners across the state battle a powerful heat wave, the California Independent System Operator said on Thursday. The Cal ISO manages the power grid that connects major power lines in the state. The grid operator called on Californians to conserve electricity by calling a "power watch" from Friday to Monday, said Stephanie McCorkle, spokeswoman for the ISO. As of midday Thursday, there had been no weather-related outages, McCorkle said. "New temperature data (are) indicating a warm air mass is pushing up temperatures...

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil surged to a record high near $76 on Thursday on renewed worries over supply from major exporter Nigeria and as conflict between Israel and Hizbollah in Lebanon heightened international tensions. Prices also rose as the Iran nuclear row appeared to be heading to the U.N. Security Council, North Korea walked out of talks with South Korea and crude inventories in top oil consumer the United States fell more than expected. "Geopolitical risk is out of control," said Tony Nunan, a risk manager at Mitsubishi Corp. "There's a pipeline attack in Nigeria, Israel is taking a strong...

SINGAPORE - Crude oil prices retreated Monday as traders took profits following recent gains and amid easing worries about Iran's nuclear dispute after the country's top nuclear negotiator expressed optimism that the standoff can be resolved peacefully. Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell 37 cents to $73.72 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The drop came after oil prices had climbed for most of the last two weeks, reaching an intraday record of $75.78 a barrel on Friday before settling back at $74.09. The Brent crude contract for August fell 27 cents to...

Freely excerpting: "The real truth is that we don't know enough to relieve global warming, and -- barring major technological breakthroughs -- we can't do much about it. This was obvious nine years ago; it's still obvious." ... "Having postulated a crash energy diet, the IEA [International Energy Agency] simulates five scenarios with differing rates of technological change. In each, greenhouse emissions in 2050 are higher than today. The increases vary from 6 percent to 27 percent." ... "No government will adopt the draconian restrictions on economic growth and personal freedom (limits on electricity usage, driving and travel) that might...

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil fell almost 1 percent to below $70 a barrel on Tuesday, pausing to watch the season's first Atlantic storm as it weakened along a route that will take it well clear of U.S. energy installations. Iran's reluctance to give up its atomic program, unrelenting violence in Iraq and strong demand signals from China all lent the market support, keeping prices up 15 percent this year and within sight of their record high of $75.35. U.S. light sweet crude for July fell 69 cents to $69.67 a barrel by 0746 GMT, extending Monday's $1.27 slump. London Brent...

The American Council on Education is a coordinating body for higher education. Recently it released some interesting statistics - interesting to people who care about higher education, non-profit and fopro alike. Just one in six of the undergraduates in college are the "typical" 18-year-old who lives on campus and gets a BA by cramming 4 years into five. Students who are 25 years old and up account for almost 40 percent of undergraduates. More than half of all the older students attend a community college - 29 percent are in private schools, and 12 percent attend fopros. Most of the...

With so many adult students, opinions are flying everywhere on how they might be served best and what is needed most. Gary Berg, author of Lessons From the Edge, offers up these four main pressures: 1. Diminishing financial support 2. The call to serve adult learners and first-generation college students 3. A need to balance liberal-arts and applied curricula 4. A subsequent necessity of maintaing an evolving institutional mission. Fopros are in a position to address these pressures. Like them or love them, many experts credit the University of Phoenix with being the most innovative of the higher-education bunch. UoP...

India is by far the largest outsourcing market with a predicted 169,000 offshore call center staff by 2010-- nearly double the present number of 95,000. But call centers in Eastern Europe are expected to triple in that same amount of time from 3,700 to more than 10,000. Growth in North Africa is also expected to triple from 7,800 to over 23,000-- mostly driven by Egypt. The major concerns are the high turnover rate in India and the instability in the latter players. Still, India has to be looking west, AND while doing so, looking back over its shoulder at China....

SINGAPORE -- Oil prices jumped Monday in reaction to a threat by Iran's supreme leader that his nation could jeopardize the world's oil supply if the West punished Tehran over its nuclear program. Light, sweet crude for July delivery rose $1.02 to $73.35 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, midafternoon in Singapore. The contract rose Friday to $72.33 following the kidnapping of eight foreigners working on a drilling rig off the coast of Nigeria. The workers were released Sunday. July Brent crude futures on London's ICE Futures rose $1.03 to $72.06 per barrel. Iran's...

Drivers frustrated with paying $3-plus at the pump are taking out their "gas rage" on station clerks and managers, yelling at them and sometimes driving off without paying. Zahid Wahlla has managed the Kent Island Gateway Shell, the first gas station after the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on the way to the beach, for four years. Now he is thinking about selling it because of angry customers and slowing sales. Even though Memorial Day weekend was the station's busiest weekend in the past six months, business is slower than it has been since he opened the station. "We used to be...

After eight months of intensive investigation, the Federal Trade Commission said it found that gasoline prices tend to rise when supplies are perceived to be scarce. The $10 million study mandated by Congress, found that the average price of gasoline in disaster areas was higher than prices under normal conditions. "It's the weirdest thing," said Jack Ashe, FTC analyst. "It's almost as if there is some kind of hidden force because everywhere we looked we found that as supplies went down, prices went up. And that wasn't all, we also found that when demand went up, so did prices." Economics...

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell $1 on Monday to a six-week low as concern that inflation may slow economic growth encouraged selling across commodities markets. U.S. crude was trading 98 cents lower at $67.55 a barrel at 0819 GMT after falling more than $1 to its lowest level since April 10. Brent crude was down 84 cents at $67.85. The drop added to a slide of nearly 5 percent last week after signs that the record cost of many raw materials was pushing up the cost of living and hitting consumers' pockets. Rising inflation may force central banks to...

University of California President Robert C. Dynes said Wednesday "overactive secrecy," helped create a situation where millions in perks were quietly doled out to top executives. Fallout over the extra compensation intensified with some calling for Dynes to resign. But it was unclear whether he had lost the confidence of UC's governing Board of Regents the only people with the authority to fire him. Regents met behind closed doors Wednesday to discuss Dynes' role in approving violations of UC pay policies and board Chairman Gerald Parsky said he would have no comment on UC leadership until Thursday. Concerns about how...

Singapore - Oil rallied above $72 a barrel on Monday, extending a rebound towards record highs as Iran maintained a defiant stance in the face of possible UN sanctions and militants detonated a car bomb in Nigeria. US light, sweet crude zoomed 54 cents higher to $72.42 a barrel by 06:40 GMT, adding to a 91c gain on Friday that helped limit last week's losses to 4.4%. Trading was thin due to holidays in much of Asia and Europe. IPE Brent crude was up 43c at $72.45. "Most people appear to be very nervous and are looking for something to...

SINGAPORE - Oil prices eased Thursday after U.S. government data showed motor fuel demand weakening, apparently in response to higher pump prices. The data also showed that domestic inventories of gasoline shrank for the eighth consecutive week, and that may have moderated the selling, analysts said. Light, sweet crude for June delivery fell 23 cents to $71.70 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract settled Wednesday at $71.93, down 95 cents. Brent crude for June delivery on London's ICE Futures changed hands at $72 a barrel, down 9 cents. Gasoline futures dropped 2.10...

Sonny Bono, in the fight over Proposition 187 (the 1994 initiative that would have rescinded welfare benefits for illegal aliens) had the best line about the debate over illegal immigration. Many charges were tossed back and forth about the initiative and the motivation of its sponsors. The response of the future Congressman to those charges was always: “What is it about illegal that they don’t understand?” Exactly! Like many others, I watched television as the protestors waved their Mexican flags, then changed those flags to American flags, then yelled “Si Se Puede,” then yelled “Yes, We Can,” then demanded the...

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO (March 31, 2006) -- Representatives from the Blood Donor Center at Naval Medical Center San Diego are scheduled to make an appearance at the depot’s safety fair for an annual blood drive April 6. Every weekend, NMCSD gathers blood from recruits in training, but only receives blood from permanent personnel quarterly. Due to the war on terrorism, blood is in high demand and necessary for hospitals in war zones. Beyond the need for blood is the need for blood platelets. Blood can be broken down into three parts: plasma, cells and platelets. While the...

WASHINGTON, March 30, 2006 – The old concept of mutually assured destruction -- the idea that a nuclear attack would have such devastating consequences that neither the United States nor its foes would dare launch one -- isn't enough of a deterrent in today's strategic environment, a senior defense official told Congress yesterday. "The new strategic environment requires new approaches to deterrence and defense," Peter Flory, assistant secretary for international security policy, told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee's strategic forces subcommittee. The country's strategic deterrence no longer rests simply on its ability to inflict devastating consequences on...

County median home price reaches $604,000 San Luis Obispo County’s median home price inched past the $600,000 mark last month, reaching $604,170, according to data released by the California Association of Realtors. This was a 2 percent gain from January and a 21.7 percent gain from February 2005, when the median price was $496,430. February’s median was still lower than the record set in November 2005 of $605,160. The county saw an 8.1 percent increase in the number of sales of single-family detached homes compared with February of last year. During the same period, the median price of an existing...

German unemployment has unexpectedly risen above the five million mark again ... equivalent to 12.1% of the working age population. the data was skewed by the unusually cold winter ... data also released on Tuesday showed a 1.4% fall in retail sales in December. The figures reinforced recent concerns that Germany's fledgling economic recovery could be held back by weak domestic demand. The headline rise in unemployment came as a surprise with most commentators expecting a modest rise. up to 30,000 people registered as unemployed this month ahead of the introduction of new benefit rules.

SINGAPORE - Oil prices rose Monday on persistent supply fears tied to Iran's tense diplomatic standoff with the West over its nuclear ambitions and militant attacks in oil-rich Nigeria. Light, sweet crude for March delivery rose 53 cents to $68.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange in Asian electronic trading. The contract on Friday rose $1.50 to settle at $67.76 a barrel. Heating oil rose 1.16 cents to $1.8185 a gallon while gasoline gained 2 cents to $1.7564 a gallon. March Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange rose 49 cents to $66.73 a barrel. Prices also rose...

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil climbed further on Tuesday as a militant threat to Nigerian oil exports and Iran's standoff with the West over its nuclear ambitions kept the market worried about supply disruptions. London Brent crude for March was up 27 cents to $63.45 a barrel by 0329 GMT, after rising 58 cents on Monday. U.S. light crude for February jumped 86 cents to $64.78 in catch-up gains after being closed for a national holiday on Monday. U.S. crude earlier touched $64.95 a barrel, its highest since October 4. Crude flows from Nigeria, the world's eighth-largest oil exporter, are being...