Tropical Storm Isaac Shutting Down Off-Shore Oil Production Rigs
Tropical Storm Isaac is shutting down off-shore oil production rigs, meaning on-shore gas prices could be affected. Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal ticks-off the possible production interruptions in his state: “Fifty percent of oil production, 40% of natural gas production is likely to be shut in if this storm takes a western path that would go up to 90% of oil production, 75% of natural gas production,” recounted the Governor.
In related news, oil analyst Stephen Schork expects “much higher volatility this week” due to Isaac, and Monday morning Benchmark crude is up $1.03 to $97.18 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after falling 12 cents to finish at $96.15 per barrel on the Nymex on Friday. Brent crude was up $1.21 to $114.80 on the ICE Futures exchange in London. Houston’s Apache Corp. oil services company is withdrawing 750 workers and contractors from its installations as well as cutting production of oil and natural gas.
Airline Cancellations due to TS Isaac
Airlines are canceling hundreds of flights because of Tropical Storm Isaac airports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale hit the hardest, canceling 573 flights. If you’re traveling today, check ahead for delays affecting your flight or connections.
Apple i-pad Infringement Lawsuit
With the dust settling from Friday’s decision in favor of Apple in it’s patent-infringement lawsuit against Samsung, the next big thing is a new iPad, reported to be rolled out in September. ABC News Technology Editor Joanna Stern shares what she’s hearing about the smaller iPad: “We don’t actually have that many details on the look and feel of what this product is going to be. But we do know it will have a smaller screen and you can expect it to run iOS which is the operating system for iPhone and iPad. And I think it’s going to be very based on content consumption. That’s what we’ve seen from a number of these smaller tablets. They’re all aimed at reading books and watching movies.”
Samsung Electronics stock did not fare well on Friday after a jury awarded more than one billion dollars in damages to Apple in their patent infringement lawsuit. Samsung shares dropped 7-point-5 percent, losing more than $12 billion in market value, on concern some devices may be banned completely in the U.S. A hearing is set for next month to consider Apple’s request for a permanent U.S. sales ban on devices such as the Galaxy-S and S-II smartphones and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 computer.
General Motors
General Motors is recalling nearly 45,000 of its 2012 Chevrolet Sonic subcompact cars because of a defect that could prevent washer fluid from spraying on the car’s windshield. The recall covers cars manufactured from May 5, 2011 through February 24 of this year. The safety recall is expected to begin around September 7th.
Hertz
Rental car company Hertz is buying its rival, Dollar-Thrifty Automotive Group, for approximately $2.3 billion. Dollar-Thrifty’s stock jumped more than five percent in premarket trading. The sale prices are an eight percent premium to the company’s Friday closing price of $81 per share. Within the deal that’s contingent upon the Dollar Thrifty acquisition, Hertz is also selling its Advantage business to rental car company Franchise Services of North America and Macquarie Capital. It’s all awaiting antitrust clearance from the Federal Trade Commission.
First Day of School for HISD
Today is the first day of school for HISD students. The Houston Business Journal surveyed back to school shoppers about how much of their purchases were made during Texas’recent tax-free weekend. 72 percent of respondents reported doing no shopping, choosing to eschew the crowds. Only seven percent reported doing all of their back to school shopping over the tax-free weekend.
Social Security Benefits
Are you willing to pay higher taxes if it will save Social Security benefits for future generations?What about raising the retirement age? A new Associated Press GFK poll on public attitudes toward the nation’s largest federal program finds that both options are preferable to cutting monthly benefits, even for people who are years away from applying for them.
Ask.com
The parent company of Ask-dot-com is buying The About Group from The New York Times Co. for $300 million in cash. That would be Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp, which also operates the dating site Match-dot-com. About.com provides information on a wide variety of topics, but has suffered in the past year because of a change in the way Google handles search results, making About.com content harder to find.
Tropical Storm Isaac Forces The Shut-Down Of Off-Shore Oil Production Rigs was originally published on news92fm.com
