U.S. markets tilt down Wednesday morning
NEW YORK, April 9 (UPI) -- U.S. markets tilted slightly lower Wednesday despite news Citigroup found three private equity firms to buy $12 billion worth of debt.
Markets are balanced between a sense the era of subprime mortgage write-downs could be ending and the day-to-day worries of first quarter corporate reports, The Wall Street Journal reported.
UPS announced a cut in first quarter earnings of 10 percent Tuesday.
In late-morning trading Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 18.40 or 0.15 percent to 12,558.04. The Standard & Poor's index fell 5.46 or 0.4 percent to 1,360.08. The Nasdaq composite index dropped 14.17 or 0.6 percent to 2,334.59.
The 10-year treasury note gained 9/32 to yield 3.52 percent.
The dollar fell. The euro traded at $1.5764 from Tuesday's $1.5708, while the dollar traded at 102.3 yen from Tuesday's 102.57 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei average dropped 138.54 points to 13,111.89, off 1.05 percent.
Fees are up, up and away on U.S. flights
WASHINGTON, April 9 (UPI) -- U.S. airlines have turned to fees and fuel surcharges to offset the rising price of jet fuel, various sources said Wednesday.
Northwest, Delta, Continental and US Airways followed United Airlines' February move in charging $25 for checking a second bag. Delta announced recently it would charge $3 for each bag checked at the curb, The Washington Post reported.
Northwest recently raised the fuel surcharge from $140 to $160 for one-way international flights, the report said.
Because of fuel costs, "there is no airline right now that has a long-term viable business plan," industry analyst Darryl Jenkins told the Post.
Jet fuel is $130 a barrel, up from $90 a barrel last year.
The additional fees are frustrating passengers as they have come during a time of staff and service cutbacks.
Airlines are reducing flights to keep remaining planes packed with passengers. They are also cutting back on meals and raising fees for over-sized bags, sending a child alone on a flight and making reservations by phone, the report said.
Grain prices prompt pull from conservation
WASHINGTON, April 9 (UPI) -- Millions of acres of set-aside farmland are going back into production in the United States on the rise in commodity prices, environmentalists said.
The two groups -- farmers and conservationists -- are at odds over the erosion of the Conservation Reserve, part of the 1985 Farm Bill that paid farmers $51an acre for taking land out of production, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
Roughly 36.8 million acres have been set aside. But, as grain prices rise farmers, whose conservation commitments last 10 years, have been opting to put the fallow land back to work.
"We're in a crisis here. Do we want to eat, or do we want to worry about the birds?" asked Baltimore baker J. R. Paterakis.
Groups like Ducks Unlimited see the loss of vibrant nesting grounds. The Department of Agriculture estimated the idle acreage has increased the duck population by 2 million birds.
The program paid out $1.8 billion last year, but farmers pulled roughly half the 5 million acres up for renewal last fall out of the program, the report said.
"Airlines are going to add as many fees as humanly possible," said Michael Miller, an analyst with the Velocity Group.
India, Venezuela looking at energy deals
NEW DELHI, April 9 (UPI) -- India may become Venezuela's next energy target as President Hugo Chavez seeks to steer his Latin American nation away from dependence on the United States.
With swelling revenues resulting from skyrocketing oil prices, the continent's only member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Nations is reportedly looking into making a multibillion-dollar investment in refinery and other petrochemical projects in India.
In return, India will receive a stake in Venezuela's huge oilfields, yielding about 200,000 barrels a day, the Press Trust of India reported.
The agreement came during the visit of Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, the first such by an Indian minister to Venezuela, report said.
Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafal Ramirez Carreno was quoted as praising India's refining capacity and saying his national oil company PdVSA will look at setting up a refinery in India.
"We see export of 200,000 barrels per day of oil (from a field jointly operated by PdVSA and OVL) to a refinery project in India," he said.
The field is in the Orinoco heavy oil basin, which may hold up to 270 billion barrels of reserves, the PTI report said.
