Drivers on San Franciscorsquo;s Bay Bridge were greeted by 5,000 pounds of metal on Wednesday when a recently repaired eyebar snapped under pressure from high winds. Unlike the 2007 bridge collapse tragedy in Minneapolis, no one was killed and only one motorist suffered minor injuries. A lucky break since the accident happened during rush hour on a bridge that services 280,000 commuters every day. This isnrsquo;t the first newsworthy item in the Bay Bridgersquo;s history, as a 50-foot section of the upper level collapsed onto the bottom level during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The image was quickly beamed to millions of homes around the U.S. as they were tuning in for Game 2 of the World Series. Though a major disaster was averted this time, the clock is ticking unless measures are taken to rebuild, reinforce and restore Americarsquo;s crumbling infrastructure. One in four of Americarsquo;s bridges are either structurally deficient or functionally ...

Rosneft has been fined $180 million by the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service for deliberately driving up wholesale prices for gasoline and other oil products in the first half of 2009, and Lukoil was warned that it could face a similar penalty...in which case, it's going to need the $1.5 billion it is trying to raise by selling dollar-denominated debt to international investors.  The state-owned Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower plant was raided by riot police yesterday as part of a probe into an August flood that killed 75 employees.  Iran agrees with the 'general framework' of the UN-brokered proposal that it send most of its enriched uranium to Russia for processing into reactor fuel, but plans to make some changes.  'One common reaction is: 'If the foreigners are prepared to agree to this, there must be something wrong with this from Iran's point ...

The U.S. Airlines industry has gone through several ups and downs in the past five years. Major negative influences on the industry included skyrocketing oil prices since 2005, economic recession in the U.S. since 2008, global economic downturn in 2009 and the "swine flu" outbreak. The airlines industry is cyclical and sensitive to a number of key drivers, the most prominent of which is the world price of crude oil. Since the beginning of 2009, prices of crude oil have been half of what they had been the year before, creating some relief for airlines. However, some industry operators hedged their fuel contracts at higher rates and are still paying the price. Many of the top airlines in the industry have responded by reducing services and aircraft fleet sizes, introducing new fees and higher fuel surcharges and reducing the number of people employed. Even with the price ...

Entergy Corporation (ETR) earlier today announced that it expects GAAP earnings and operational earnings to be approximately $2.31 per share and $2.39 per share, respectively, in the third quarter of 2009. This is low compared to the year-ago GAAP numbers of $2.41 per share and operational results of $2.50 per share.   The anticipated decrease in the quarter’s operational earnings is due primarily to lower results at the Utility, Parent and Other segment, partially offset by increased earnings at Non-nuclear Wholesale Assets segment. Utility, Parent & Other is expected to clock lower year-over-year operational earnings in third quarter 2009, primarily due to the absence of the 2008 adjustment reducing income tax expense and higher operation and maintenance expense. Entergy's Non-nuclear Wholesale Assets quarterly operational results are expected to improve due to the absence of the 2008 adjustment increasing income tax expense on account of the redemption of an ...

This post provides links to a number of interesting articles I have read over the past few days that you may also enjoy.

• Robert Fisk (Independent): Secret plan to ditch the US dollar’s dominance uncovered, October 6, 2009. Arab states have launched a secret plan with China, Russia and France to stop using the US currency for oil trading.

• Ambrose Evans-Pritchard (Telegraph): China calls time on dollar hegemony, October 6, 2009. You can date the end of dollar hegemony from China’s decision last month to sell its first batch of sovereign bonds in Chinese yuan to foreigners.

• John Hussman (Hussman Funds): Defensive, but a measure of equanimity, October 5, 2009. My view continues to be that the intrinsic condition of the US economy has not improved, and that the green shoots we’ve observed are a transient artifact

...

China is Investing Billions in Renewable Energy One firm has already built China’s largest wind turbine manufacturing factory. And it’s working with the Chinese Science Academy to develop new wind, solar, and geothermal technologies… for which it will own 70% of the rights. But this company’s business reaches far beyond the Chinese border, with operations in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe. It’s first quarter net income increased by 294% over a year ago. Click here for the full report.

Shortly after U.S. President Barack Obama announced hefty import duties on Chinese-made tires, China’s Ministry of Commerce over the weekend said it would explore possible sanctions against U.S. automobile and chicken imports.

The dispute has caused some concern over an escalation in protectionist measures between the two nations, but few analysts believe the dispute will spiral out of control and threaten a global recovery.

President Obama on …

China is Investing Billions in Renewable Energy One firm has already built China’s largest wind turbine manufacturing factory. And it’s working with the Chinese Science Academy to develop new wind, solar, and geothermal technologies… for which it will own 70% of the rights. But this company’s business reaches far beyond the Chinese border, with operations in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe. It’s first quarter net income increased by 294% over a year ago. Click here for the full report.

Shortly after U.S. President Barack Obama announced hefty import duties on Chinese-made tires, China’s Ministry of Commerce over the weekend said it would explore possible sanctions against U.S. automobile and chicken imports.

The dispute has caused some concern over an escalation in protectionist measures between the two nations, but few analysts believe the dispute will spiral out of control and threaten a global recovery.

President Obama on Friday …

Entergy Corporation’s (ETR) utility subsidiary Entergy Arkansas has requested from the Arkansas Public Service Commission a $223 million hike in the base rate late last week. Entergy Arkansas supplies electricity to 684,000 customers spread across 63 counties in the state of Arkansas. The requested hike was to cover the cost of purchase of the Ouachita plant and restoration costs associated with the January 2009 ice storm in northern Arkansas. As per company estimations, this would raise the bill of an average residential customer with a monthly consumption of 1,000 kilowatt-hours by $7.86. Entergy Arkansas officials, however, feel that the actual burden would be much less. The improvement is expected to stem from lower fuel costs, which would improve on account of a decrease in natural gas prices. New Orleans-based Entergy is primarily engaged in electric power production and retail distribution of power. With 30,000MW of ...

Last week, Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (ETP) informed that it has entered into a settlement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which had accused the natural gas and propane gas distributor of unfair trading activities during Hurricane Rita in 2005. However, the partnership did not disclose the terms of the agreement as it is still subject to approval by the federal agency. The FERC had earlier alleged that Energy Transfer employed a complicated scheme to artificially suppress the price of physical natural gas at the Houston Ship Channel in September and November 2005, and then report the manipulated prices to a widely circulated trade magazine. The FERC is claiming $69.9 million in disgorgement of profits, as well as interest, and $82 million in civil penalties associated with these market manipulation claims. At the time, Energy Transfer denied any wrongdoing. We welcome the news of ...

This post provides links to a number of interesting articles I have read over the past few days that you may also find enjoyable.

• Doug Kass (TheStreet.com): Sooner or later, the piper must be paid, August 28, 2009. My view is that investors will shortly see through the current sugar high and the better-than-expected earnings cycle and will begin to look over the valley at the chronic and secular issues that have emerged from the past cycle and from policy decisions aimed at returning the domestic economy toward self-sustaining growth.

• Michael Kahn (Barron’s): Dollar and frothy sentiment are new worries, August 26, 2009. There’s a fine line between risk taking and risk ignoring. Bulls may be doing both.

• Economist.com: Has the tide turned for corporate profits?, August 27, 2009. The recent rally in shares has

...