Free Republic

There are major, serious problems in the methodology of these national polls about control of Congress that make most of these polls useless as predictors of which party will control Congress after this election: 1) A meaningful poll cannot ask this question at a national level, because control of Congress will not be decided in a national election. Control of Congress will be decided in a large number of separate House and Senate elections. Control of Congress is decided in much the same way in which control of the White House is decided through a series of separate state by...

New York - Today, Rex W. Tillerson is the candyman. He's the chief executive of Exxon Mobil (nyse: XOM - news - people ), the gigantic integrated petroleum company--which had tantalizing news to report.On Monday, Tillerson's colossus announced it struck a deal with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) and that emirate's Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC) to buy a 28% stake in the Upper Zakum oil field. The presumably rich field is off the coast of U.S. ally United Arab Emirates.ADNOC will retain a 60% interest in the field and Japan Oil Development will continue to hold the 12%...

DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp. and the auto parts supplier it once owned, Delphi Corp., announced deals Wednesday with the United Auto Workers that would offer buyouts to 13,000 hourly Delphi employees and up to 100,000 hourly GM workers represented by the United Auto Workers.GM workers will be eligible for payouts of between $35,000 and $140,000 depending on their years of service. At Delphi, up to 5,000 workers will be eligible to return to GM, Delphi's former parent, while 13,000 U.S. hourly workers will be eligible for a lump sum payment of up to $35,000 to retire.

Despite the doldrums that have descended upon Detroit, it looks like some automobile manufacturers have cash to burn. Early on Monday, Toyota announced that it would build 100,000 Camrys per year at a Subaru assembly plant in Lafayette, Indiana, and that it might share its hybrid technology with Subaru. Toyota became a major shareholder in Subaru’s parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries, after Fuji and General Motors parted company late in 2005. The Subaru facility in Indiana had previously been operated as a joint venture with Isuzu, but when that Japanese truck builder halted production of the Axiom and Rodeo sport...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street will examine inflation data this week for any signal that an end to Federal Reserve interest-rate increases is in sight, and if it likes what it sees, stocks could climb to five-year highs. Investors were cheered last week by a consumer prices report that showed tame inflation and bought up sectors sensitive to higher-interest rates like financial and home building stocks.

OK, I'll make this a short, readable, "vanity" editorial because I know you're all busy. Here's my idea for a good solution to the UAE ports deal that should be a winner for the White House: I don't think partnering with an American company is going far enough to keep the GOP base happy. The UAE needs to do a spin-off of the American port operations into a new company, probably a limited partnership (LP). Then bring a British executive over from P&O Ports to be CEO and bring in somebody like Peter Ueberroth or Billy Payne to be Chairman...

Beijing has rebuffed renewed US demands for a faster acceleration of its currency, saying that it would maintain its policy of "gradualism" in building a flexible system suited to the development of its own economy.A statement published on the website of the People's Bank of China, the central Bank, part of its quarterly survey of the economy, said Beijing would maintain a "basically stable" renminbi.

Washington could be forced to launch a dispute­- settlement case in the World Trade Organisation if China continues to refuse to hand over information on its enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR), say US trade officials. The Chinese last month rebuffed an initial request from the office of the US trade representative and has even questioned the US right to ask for such information. Yesterday a senior US trade official said dialogue was continuing with China but suggested they were now expecting a prompt response to their demands.

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Tokyo Stock Exchange said on Wednesday it would halt all trade at 2:40 p.m. (0540 GMT) as the number of trades was nearing the bourse's system capacity limit.

HOUSTON, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Marathon Oil Corporation MRO today announced plans to pursue an expansion of its 245,000 barrel per day (bpd) Garyville, La., refinery. The project, currently estimated to cost approximately $2.2 billion, is expected to increase the refinery's crude throughput capacity by 180,000 bpd to 425,000 bpd, with completion possibly as early as the fourth quarter 2009. The initial phase of the expansion will include front-end engineering and design (FEED) work that could lead to the start of construction in 2007. The final investment decision is subject to completion of the FEED and the receipt of applicable...

SAN RAMON, Calif., Oct. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Chevron Corporation CVX announced today that it has successfully and safely initiated the startup procedures for its refinery at Pascagoula, Miss., which was shut down prior to Hurricane Katrina. The refinery could return to normal operations by the end of the month, ahead of previous estimates.The refinery produces 325,000 barrels per day of refined products. As Hurricane Katrina approached, Chevron took steps to protect staff and the environment by shutting down operations and securing the facility. ----------------------------------------- snip -----------------------------------------------------------------

Oil prices fell by $2 a barrel on Friday as Europe prepared to tap up to two million barrels a day of emergency reserves to help ease a fuel crisis threatening the United States. Petrol tanks have run down in the world's biggest consumer after Hurricane Katrina tore at the heart of the U.S. energy sector in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday and shut in nearly two million barrels per day (bpd) of refining capacity. As the crisis deepened, President George W. Bush asked the International Energy Agency (IEA) to release petrol reserves and urged Americans to conserve fuel....

Unocal Corp. urged on Sunday the company's board to consider a higher takeover offer from China's CNOOC Ltd. than one it backed from Chevron Corp. Peter Schoenfeld, chief executive of P. Schoenfeld Asset Management which holds over 1 million Unocal shares, said the company would be liable to stockholders for any lost premium on the deal if it refused to seek a higher offer. Schoenfeld released a copy of a July 20 letter sent to Unocal's board in which he estimated shareholder damages would be "at least several billion dollars." "We demand that the Unocal board of directors adhere to...

An angry Hillary Clinton has responded to a new book highly critical of the New York Senator, calling it a "work of fiction."But a new report about the book confirms what was first revealed exclusively in NewsMax's Insider Report this past weekend: The late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan and his wife Liz despised Hillary.For the Insider Report, NewsMax pundit John LeBoutillier chatted with Ed Klein, author of "The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She'll Go to Become President."NewsMaxStore has among the first copies of this book. This book is due out later...

Legal experts say that if Florida Gov. Jeb Bush defies state judge George Greer and orders state troopers to rescue Terri Schiavo, he and any other officials who participate in such a move risk a contempt citation from Greer that could put them in jail. But with a powerful ally in the White House, Terri Schiavo's would-be rescuers have nothing to fear from the runaway judge. In 2001, President Clinton pardoned drug dealers, international money launderers - even FALN terrorists, who were spared in a blatant bid to win votes for his wife's Senate campaign. The episode taught a bewildered...

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices held just below $48 a barrel on Tuesday, as the market remained nervous that OPEC producers may cut supplies before the end of the first quarter. U.S. light crude (CLc1) dropped 21 cents to $47.99 a barrel, about $2 above Monday's low when prices fell after OPEC agreed at the weekend to leave output unchanged for now and Iraq's election passed without attacks on oil facilities. ``OPEC have certainly set the stage for oil in the mid-$40s up to $50 and they're still talking a possible cut. It's extremely price supportive,'' said John Brady at...

Talisman Energy Inc. (TSX:TLM) TLM announced first production from the offshore Angostura field in Trinidad and Tobago. Oil production commenced on January 9 and the export pipeline to the onshore terminal at Guayaguayare Bay is being filled. This was preceded by first natural gas production on December 16. "This marks the beginning of a new producing area for Talisman," said Dr. Jim Buckee, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We will continue the offshore drilling program this year and Talisman expects to drill its first onshore wells later this year. Work is also continuing to commercialize the Angostura natural gas reserves."...

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - With most major economic indicators out of the way until the beginning of next year, economists can't resist peeking under the Christmas tree to try to get a sense of how strong the retail season will be. And while hard data is admittedly scarce, economists are sensing a strong shopping season. "It is hard to be conclusive. But from what I see and feel - confidence moving up...it seems like it is going to be a pretty good Christmas," said Stephen Gallagher, chief U.S. economist at Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking. The holiday season is critical...

All the threats and Gestapo tactics used by the Democrats to suppress the broadcast of Stolen Honor have failed.Newsmax is broadcasting Stolen Honor in several swing states this weekend. Check your local listings for the broadcast time in your area.Schultz....I want you to clean up my office rrrrrright now. The DemocRAT Gestapo will be here in 30 minutes and you know they don't like a messy office!"

As of thirty minutes ago, crude oil prices are down 1.67 per barrel to 53.50. This is what I predicted last week: traders are taking profits and correctly anticipating the end of pre-election price manipulation by China, Soros, Super-rich Democrats, and Eurosocialists. This is good news for Bush because while gaoline prices probably will not fall before the election, this drop in crude prices will prevent an upward spike in gasoline prices just before the election. You might even see a small price reduction by a staunchly pro-American oil company such as Exxon-Mobil.You see Kerry, in the final analysis profits...