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U.S. indexes post gains Tuesday

WASHINGTON, July 8 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes posted strong gains Tuesday as oil prices continued to recede from the record high set Friday.

Oil prices dropped to $135.88 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

By close Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 152.25 points to 11,384.21, up 1.36 percent. The Standard and Poor's 500 index rose 21.39 points to 1,273.70, up 1.71 percent. The Nasdaq composite index rose 51.10 points to 2,294.42, up 2.28 percent.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,147 stocks advanced and 1,032 declined on a volume of 1.725 billion shares traded.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose 6/32 to yield 3.886 percent.

The euro traded at $1.5657 from Monday's $1.5719, while the dollar traded at 107.52 yen from Monday's 107.15 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei index lost 326.94 points to 13,033.10, off 2.45 percent.

In London, the FTSE 100 index fell 72.20 to 5,440.50, off 1.31 percent.

Oil man Pickens to promote domestic energy

DALLAS, July 8 (UPI) -- Texas oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens said he will spend millions on advertising to promote a national move to domestic energy sources.

The Pickens plan is to switch from gasoline to natural gas for vehicles and replace gas-burning power plants with a variety of sources, including coal, solar, wind and nuclear power, the Dallas News reported Tuesday.

"We've gotten ourselves into a trap," Pickens, 80, said. "The problem is, we said, 'Send us the oil and never mind the cost.'"

The U.S. bill for 5 billion barrels of imported oil at $140 a barrel is $700 billion, Pickens told the newspaper.

"Things were fine until the price went vertical on us," he said.

Pickens said his plan is to force energy to the forefront of issues in the presidential election.

So far, he has had mixed reactions. "His idea has some merit," said Bruce Bullock, director of Southern Methodist University's Maguire Energy Institute.

But, Rayola Dougher, an economist for the American Petroleum Institute, said the idea "sounds a little gimmicky," the report said.

GM may cull overlapping brands

DETROIT, July 8 (UPI) -- General Motors Corp. may cull certain overlapping vehicle brands from its product line as it swings over to more fuel-efficient vehicles, a U.S. source said.

The source said GM could sell or eliminate a brand, but the company repeated its assertion that the Hummer is the brand only currently being reviewed, The Detroit News reported.

Company spokesman Tom Wilkinson said the company could take steps to cut "structural costs" or sell "non-core assets."

"In addition, we will consider opportunistically executing financing transactions in the global capital markets, although we have nothing to announce," he said.

Analysts at J.P. Morgan have said GM needs to raise capital, a challenge given the sliding value of GM stock, the report said.

At Monday at the close of the market day, GM stock was valued at $10.24 per share, the News reported.

GM may cut more jobs, but auto industry analyst Jim Hall at 2953 Analytics LLP in Birmingham, Mich., said eliminating similar brands will mean "less duplicated sheet metal at dealerships."

"Clearly some current products don't have a place in the larger scope of things," Hall said.

British budget gap may reach $14.7 billion

LONDON, July 8 (UPI) -- The British Treasury is looking at a budget deficit of nearly $15 billion next year, due to the nation's sliding economy, a research group said.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research said the economic downturn would reduce expected tax revenues by $15.72 billion. Declining home sales would also cut stamp duty revenues by 50 percent to $5.9 billion, The Independent reported.

The losses are equal to cuts of 57,000 teaching jobs or closing five hospitals, the Independent reported.

"Public finances are in this state due to overly optimistic forecasts for tax receipts, allowing the previous chancellor to go on an exuberant spending spree," said Simon Kirby, a research fellow at the NIESR.

"The government is being utterly complacent," said Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable.

"A squeeze in current public spending and possibly a rise in general taxation in the medium term are not likely to be embraced warmly by government or opposition," he added. "Perhaps this is the time to face that reality."