Third Oil Crisis

The British Foreign Office has warned its nationals — traveling to or living in the United Arab Emirates — about the increased threat of a terrorist attack.

The alert, posted on its Web site, urged Britons in the oil-rich Gulf kingdom to be vigilant — especially in public places — because of a “high threat of terrorism.”

The UAE is among the most moderate Gulf states and is home to thousands of expatriates.

“We believe terrorists may be planning to carry out attacks in the UAE,” the Foreign Office statement read.

“Attacks could be indiscriminate and could happen at any time, including in places frequented by expatriates and foreign travelers such as residential compounds, military, oil, transport and aviation interests.”

By Monday, the U.S. State Department had not issued any warnings about the UAE … read this article

Thousands of Argentine farmers protesting grain export tax increases returned to road blockades nationwide on Sunday, angry over a police crackdown at a barricade the day before.

Farmers lined up tractors across rural roads nationwide in the latest salvo in a bitter three-month standoff with President Cristina Fernandez that has at times emptied supermarket shelves and raised the specter of recession in one of the world’s top soy and corn exporters.

Protest leaders said in a statement that, at least through Wednesday, striking farmers will suspend grain exports and prevent trucks carrying most agricultural products from passing on national highways. Some perishable goods, such as milk, are to be allowed.

News footage showed rows of tractors blocking roads and farmers huddling around fires, bracing against the South American winter winds blowing across the open pampas. The farmers have suspended their protests then returned to the blockades several times as talks have stumbled … read this article

European shares were little changed Monday after sharp gains in some Asian markets, as the dollar firmed against the yen following the weekend meeting of Group of Eight finance ministers.

Banks rose across Europe in a important week for the financial sector. Lehman Bros. was to report earnings later Monday, while Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley report Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

“The focus will be on the U.S. banks this week,” said Heinz-Gerd Sonnenschein, strategist at Deutsche Postbank in Bonn. “I expect Goldman to be solid and hope that all the bad news is out of the way on Lehman.”

In morning trading, the FTSE 100 index rose 0.3 percent. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index, a blue chip barometer for the euro zone, fell 0.1 percent. The DAX in Frankfurt rose 0.2 percent, while the CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.2 percent.

The Tokyo benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average closed 2.7 percent higher, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong rose 1.9 percent. Stocks slipped 0.1 percent in Sydney, while the South Korean benchmark Kospi index rose 0.8 percent … read this article

Asia stocks rallied on Monday as the U.S. dollar rebounded and oil fell below $134 a barrel, boosting confidence in the region’s exporters, but bonds fell on expectations central banks will raise rates to fight inflation.

Oil prices declined by $1 to $133.86 a barrel after United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, had told him it will boost output to the fastest in decades.

Along with U.S. inflation data that showed underlying price pressures rose moderately in May, and the biggest weekly rise in the U.S. dollar in three years, the easing in crude prices improved the prospects of some of Asia’s well-known exporters such as Canon in Japan and Samsung Electronics in South Korea.

“A softer yen sparked hopes for upward earnings revisions for some exporters,” said Takahiko Murai, general manager of equities at Nozomi Securities in Tokyo.

“But we have to brace for an eventual dramatic slowdown in Japan, where the stock market and the economy depend on overseas demand, considering the recent declines in Asian shares and rising inflation worries in emerging countries.” … read this article

Oil hit a record near $140 a barrel on Monday on weakness in the U.S. dollar and an emergency shutdown of a North Sea oil production platform that stirred supply worries.

The rally came despite expectations top world oil producer Saudi Arabia will soon boost output to its highest rate in decades amid calls from consumer countries like the United States for more output to ease an economic downturn.

“The week has started off with a bang, … apparently on participants’ lack of confidence in the Saudi’s ability to stem rising prices,” John Kilduff, senior vice president at MF Global wrote in a note.

U.S. light, sweet crude for July delivery was up $2.01 at $136.87 a barrel by 1630 GMT, off a record high of $139.89 set earlier in the session. London Brent crude was up $1.54 at $136.55.

Prices leapt as the dollar fell versus the euro, snapping a three-day winning streak, amid expectations the European Central Bank will hike interest rates to fight inflation… read this article

Saudi Arabia plans to increase its oil production by 200,000 barrels a day next month, the kingdom’s oil minister told U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, according to Ban’s spokesman.

The U.N. secretary-general met with Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi in the port city of Jiddah during a one-day trip to the world’s largest oil producer.

Farhan Haq, a spokesman who is traveling with Ban, said in an e-mail Sunday that the U.N. chief said al-Naimi told him Saudi Arabia would increase oil production by 200,000 barrels a day from June to July. In May, the kingdom increased its production by 300,000.

By July, production should be at 9.7 million barrels a day, Haq said.

Ban also said Saudi Arabia understands that the current price of oil, which topped $139 per barrel earlier this month, is not normal, according to the official Saudi Press Agency… read this article

Only a year ago, Wall Street reveled in an era of superlatives: record deals, record profit, record pay. But a mere 12 months later, nearly half of the profits that major banks reaped during that age of riches have vanished.

The numbers are staggering. From early 2004 to mid-2007, a period of unprecedented wealth on Wall Street, seven of the United States’ largest financial companies earned a combined $254 billion in profits.

But since last July, those same banks - Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley - have written down the value of the assets they hold by $107.2 billion, gutting their earnings and share prices.

Worldwide, the reckoning totals $380 billion, much of which reflects a plunge in the value of tricky mortgage investments.

More downbeat news is expected this week, when several big banks, including the ailing Lehman Brothers, are scheduled to report results for the latest quarter. As the tally of losses keeps growing, many bank executives - and their shareholders - keep asking the same question: When will the pain end? … read this article

Asian and European finance ministers said Monday that the global economy faces “downside risks” from inflation, the U.S. economic slump and tightened credit conditions.

But the finance ministers, wrapping up a one-day meeting, also said that Asia and Europe are “less vulnerable and significantly more resilient to sharp external shocks” than they were 10 years ago, citing structural reforms and economic policies.

The gathering is held every two years as a part of the broader Asia-Europe Meeting, or ASEM, a dialogue and cooperation body that brings together the 27-member European Union and 16 Asian countries, including China and Japan.

ASEM countries represent 51 percent of the world economy as measured by gross domestic product, and account for 62 percent of global trade.

The ministers said that while they remain “positive about the long-term outlook of the global economy” they “recognized that the short-term economic prospects have weakened,” according to a statement issued at the close of their meeting on the South Korean resort island of Jeju … read this article

European shares were little changed Monday after sharp gains in some Asian markets, as the dollar firmed against the yen following the weekend meeting of Group of Eight finance ministers.

Banks rose across Europe in a important week for the financial sector. Lehman Bros. was to report earnings later Monday, while Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley report Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

“The focus will be on the U.S. banks this week,” said Heinz-Gerd Sonnenschein, strategist at Deutsche Postbank in Bonn. “I expect Goldman to be solid and hope that all the bad news is out of the way on Lehman.”

In morning trading, the FTSE 100 index rose 0.3 percent. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index, a blue chip barometer for the euro zone, fell 0.1 percent. The DAX in Frankfurt rose 0.2 percent, while the CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.2 percent … read this article

Oil prices eased further below $135 a barrel on Monday as Saudi Arabia prepared to push production to its highest rate in decades to help keep pace with demand and tame what it sees as unacceptably high prices.

U.S. light, sweet crude for July delivery, which had dropped nearly $2 on Friday on a report suggesting a new increase in Saudi output next month, slipped 36 cents to $134.50 a barrel by 11:39 p.m. British time, a less than 0.3 percent decline.

At the weekend, United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon said the world’s biggest exporter was set to increase output to 9.7 million barrels per day in July, the first official indication of its second supply boost in as many months.

“9.7, that is what he (Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi) said” on July output, the Abu Dhabi-based The National newspaper quoted the UN Secretary General as saying after he met with Naimi… read this article