• briefing asia infrastructure aug 15, 2006 • briefing asia energy aug 15, 2006

China and India; supply problems in Iraq, Nigeria and Venezuela.
But before we take things further, either here or at the actual futures market itself, an even more basic question: What are futures for? Why not just buy and sell oil in the present, like you do mittens or melons? Well, imagine you bought a million barrels of oil at $76 a barrel and the tanker toting it is a week away from port.
ANDREW LEBOW: If I`m worried that the price of oil in that boat is going to go down, then I am going to want to sell futures in order to protect against my downside.
PAUL SOLMAN: The downside that the price will sink by, say, $5 a barrel to $71 before the boat docks. With a million barrels, that would cost him $5 million. But on the futures market, he can make a side bet, which will pay him the difference between $76 and the lower price -- in our made-up example, $71 -- the price on the day his ship comes in. So he locks in $76 with this so-called futures contract.
ANDREW LEBOW: And if the price goes down, I`m going to profit on the futures markets. If the price goes up, I`m going to lose money on the futures, but my physical barrel is going to be higher.
PAUL SOLMAN: So Lebow would be hedging, protecting the price of the physical oil he`s already paid for. But, of course, he can only buy oil at a price in the future if someone`s willing to sell at that price.
And that`s why there`s a futures market: the NYMEX, the New York Mercantile Exchange, where traders like those in the pit match up orders from oil suppliers and users with investors and speculators willing to take risks. What`s new these days is the flood of investment and speculation money flowing through this floor.
Half of Man Financial`s trades are done for oil users and suppliers, called commercials. They phone folks like Lebow; he relays their trades to the Man men on the floor, the ones in blue and red jackets.
But the other half of Man Financial`s clients are now investors and short-term speculators, who`ve jammed an extra $100 billion into the market in just the past few years, often investing your and my money via mutual funds. Some think these investors are driving up the price, but not Lebow.
ANDREW LEBOW: Ultimately, the price will respond to supply and demand. And speculators don`t control supply and demand; the commercials do, and the end users do, and governments do.
PAUL SOLMAN: Ultimately. But what about now, with the Middle East again in flames right there on TV? Dave Shapiro had been on the desk for 16 hours straight.
Are investors and speculators driving these huge swings?
DAVID SHAPIRO, Man Financial: Oh, without question.
PAUL SOLMAN: Economic theory says the more investors in a market, the more stable it is. Shapiro doesn`t see that these days in oil.
DAVID SHAPIRO: Any time you get a piece of news like this, that is a market-moving piece of news, these moves get exaggerated because people are like, "I`ve got to get out. I`ve got to get out, and, you know, damn the price." And they`ll just sell into it, if they feel they have to get out. If they sell it hard now, and they think it`s going to go down another dollar in the course of a day, they`ll hit it hard now and, you know, damn prices. "I got to cover my positions."
PAUL SOLMAN: What do investors themselves say? Eric Bolling, tossing a completed trade into the pit, makes side bets for his own account, based on, among other factors, geopolitics. But though a rocket had just hit Haifa in Israel, neither he nor the market took much notice.
ERIC BOLLING, Energy Trader: Although terrible, a building hit in Haifa has really no impact on the price of oil. There`s no oil in Haifa; there`s no production, per se.
Iran produces probably in the top-four producing nations in the world. They produce oil that the world needs, and it`s such a tight supply-and- demand situation going on right now that any sort of supply disruption from the Iranians would cause prices to spike.
PAUL SOLMAN: While Israel versus Hezbollah wasn`t disrupting supply, yet. And how much of today`s price is driven by investors, does Bolling think?
ERIC BOLLING: My guess would be somewhere around 10 percent of the barrel, $7, $8.
PAUL SOLMAN: And if you shave that $7 off today`s price? Subtract another $15 or so for geopolitics -- Iraq, Nigeria, Venezuela -- says Bolling, and yet another $7 to $10 due to fears of a terrorist attack on America, you`re left with a long-term base price of oil of $40 to $50.
At the NYMEX show-and-tell exhibit, oil analyst Larry Goldstein agreed with the $40-to-$50 range. How much does he attribute to speculation?
That guy behind you is presumably taking an order from some investor somewhere to buy or sell a futures contract in oil. How much are those investors behind that guy driving up the price of oil?
LARRY GOLDSTEIN, Petroleum Industry Research Associates: We believe, in the short term, they`re having a dramatic impact on driving up the price of oil. But the price of oil, with or without them, would be historically high.
PAUL SOLMAN: But by how much is just a guess. Meanwhile, back in the pit Monday, it was 3:00 and trading had ended.
ERIC BOLLING: We`re closed.
PAUL SOLMAN: And what happened?
ERIC BOLLING: Well, we`re down about $1.80 right now. The final price hasn`t come up yet. There we go, $75.30. So it`s $1.75 lower on the day.
PAUL SOLMAN: Even though war is possibly raging in the Middle East?
ERIC BOLLING: Right. Well, again, it has less to do with Israel and Lebanon and more to do with the Iranian response to Israel and Lebanon, and the Iranian response to the U.N. Security Council asking them to back off that uranium enrichment program.
PAUL SOLMAN: On Monday, and in the days immediately after, the Iranian response wasn`t that bellicose, so the price subsided, said Eric Bolling, and...
ERIC BOLLING: .. and that`s a very good thing. It`s a good thing for the world. It`s a good thing for the price of oil. It`s a good thing for the economies in the world.
PAUL SOLMAN: A good thing, for the moment.
(BREAK)
JIM LEHRER: And finally tonight, the analysis of Brooks and Oliphant, New York Times columnist David Brooks and columnist Tom Oliphant. Mark Shields is off tonight.
Tom, did you know all about the oil futures market?
TOM OLIPHANT, Columnist, Boston Globe: Some of it. It is amazing how many people will tell you that as much as a third of the price in the market is the result of speculative activity. I mean, it makes you wonder where the government is.
JIM LEHRER: Yes. Well, the government is totally out -- this market is completely free, is it not, David?
DAVID BROOKS, Columnist, New York Times: Well, it certainly is, though oil in fungible. You know, it is affected by politics, and that`s why we talk about politics and not just economics. They are kind of ruthless about the war in Israel, by the way.
JIM LEHRER: I know, to listen to them discuss the war, they discuss it in very, very clear economic oil-price terms. Yes, yes, not that we were not going to talk about it.
And speaking of that, David, what kind of marks would you give the Bush administration, and particularly Secretary Rice, for how they`re handling this situation in the Middle East?
DAVID BROOKS: I think they and she are actually doing quite well. I think they have two priorities. The first is to make sure Hezbollah is the loser in all of this, and that has to be if the Lebanese government is going to survive. And so they`re waiting. They`re letting Israel hammer. And we`ll see whether that military effectiveness works, which is the key.
But then their second strategy, which really hasn`t been talked about that much, though if you talk to them on the phone privately this is all they`re doing these days, which is to make sure the Lebanese government comes out the long-term winner. So you don`t just have a Hezbollah loser, you have a winner, and that winner is the democratically elected government.
And they`re doing a bunch of things to try to make that the case. The first thing they`re doing -- and they`re on the phone all the time these days -- is to get the moderate Arab governments, the Saudis, the Jordanians, and the Egyptians, together with the Europeans and us to create a Security Council resolution that can send in international force, and then that international force will retake control of the south of Lebanon.
The second thing they`re doing is setting up the financial packages that will allow the Lebanese government to have something to offer the people of south Lebanon when the military thing is all over.
And then they`re trying to work out some -- what they call outside issues. And I think Martin Indyk earlier talked about Shebaa Farms and other things, which would give the Lebanese government a chance to say...
JIM LEHRER: Explain what that is.
DAVID BROOKS: Shebaa Farms is a very small bit of disputed territory between Lebanon and Israel. And the Israelis -- and, indeed, the U.N. -- says it`s a totally bogus issue, but that`s not the point right now. The point is to give the Lebanese some chance to say, "We delivered for you," so to give that government some legitimacy. And so they are working both sides, the military side and the coalition side.
JIM LEHRER: Do you agree the administration has done a good job?
TOM OLIPHANT: Not entirely. In fact, tonight when we don`t know whether or not Israel will be going over the blue line in force, the question is whether the military operations get in the way of the larger political purposes and whether they end up being self-defeating.
What I find a little interesting about this crisis at this point is that the polling data is starting to come in, and President Bush does not appear to be holding a very strong hand. You would expect normally to have a very sharp spike in approval for what he is doing, but it`s not showing up.
Gallup is showing almost a 10 percentage-point difference, in favor of disapproval, in terms of how he`s handling this. Lebanon makes Americans unusually worried because of its history, which is not favorable.
And I think it`s very interesting late today to begin to see Democrats taking independent actions in this crisis, compared to what was going on in Congress earlier this week when you get these routine resolutions that pass overwhelmingly. Joe Biden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, possible presidential candidate, Harry Reid, the Democratic leader in the Senate, and interestingly enough, even Bill Clinton himself beginning to make noises about things like special envoys. How does it help this process...
(CROSSTALK)
JIM LEHRER: Yes, Biden sent a letter late today asking for a special envoy.
TOM OLIPHANT: I don`t mean to be cynical about this, but I have a sneaking suspicion that some of those Democrats are aware of the polling data, and that may be why this was a late-breaking development.
JIM LEHRER: What about this issue -- do you want to pick up on any of that, David?
DAVID BROOKS: Well, I guess I`d just say quickly that the Biden letter I don`t understand, because there is a strategy. They`re work on it. Joe can call them up, and they`ll explain it to them, I`m sure.
The second thing on the polls is kind of interesting. I think that`s partly Bush. You know, he`s down, so anything he`s associated with is going to be down, partly the images. But partly -- and I think this is a post-Iraq...
JIM LEHRER: Images meaning...
DAVID BROOKS: Like we saw on the top of the program.
JIM LEHRER: Absolutely.
DAVID BROOKS: But partly a post-Iraq effect, that fighting terrorists is futile. They seek into the ground, and you can never fight them, which is a difference behind the way people used to see Israel.
People used to see the Israeli army as something super-effective. They could take care of terrorists, and they could win whatever they set out to do. I think that image in the U.S. and, actually more importantly in the Arab world, has been hurt by Iraq.
Now the fact is, Israel has had a pretty effective war they`ve just won against Hamas, so they might be able to succeed, but people expect people to fail now.
JIM LEHRER: On the issue of Lebanon specifically, David said a while ago that that is part of the administration`s unseen policy at this point, mostly unseen, and uncommented upon, that they really are trying to stabilize Lebanon. But the Lebanese government is saying just the opposite. "You`re killing our people. You`re letting"...
TOM OLIPHANT: That was part of my earlier point. Another way to focus on it, I think, is to look at two dates that are coming up very, very quickly. One of them is next Wednesday in Rome, where this group of friends of Lebanon or Lebanon core group, Secretary Rice will be there, the Lebanese will be there, a very important gathering.
And then, a week from Monday, the mandate for the UNIFIL force...
JIM LEHRER: That`s the U.N. force that`s already there, small force, yes.
TOM OLIPHANT: That`s right, just observing the carnage, basically. But the question of what kind of a new mandate all in this period has to be done.
And I think the question that`s being asked a little bit more frequently in the last 24 hours is: How are you supposed to achieve these political tasks, involving goodwill at some point, if there has been a sharp escalation in the fighting starting tonight?
DAVID BROOKS: But the Israelis and the Lebanese government have the same long-term interests. They both want to get Hezbollah out of the south. They`re not going to get them out, obviously not going to totally disarm them, but to get some sort of assertion of government authority in the south. They both want that.
But then, as Tom was saying, the trade-off between the force it takes to weaken Hezbollah and how much you alienate people, that`s the crucial calculus.
JIM LEHRER: But you agree with Tom that the real issue now is, if Israel goes in there on the ground with an invasion in the next 24 hours or whenever, that could change all of the equations?
DAVID BROOKS: A lot of this depends on the effectiveness. I`ve been studying Ha`aretz. There`s a very good defense correspondent there. Ha`aretz is the Israeli paper.
JIM LEHRER: Israeli newspaper, yes.
DAVID BROOKS: And there`s a defense correspondent there named Harel, and he seems to know what he`s talking about. And I would say his reports have been sober, suggesting that the Israelis talk about degrading 50 percent, but it`s not clear how much they`re doing.
JIM LEHRER: Degrading 50 percent of Hezbollah`s capabilities.
DAVID BROOKS: Right. But that`s the crucial precondition.
TOM OLIPHANT: And I just think, though, that one of the reasons there is an increasing -- it`s not skepticism or -- there`s no question about Israel`s justification here. That`s not at issue. The question is: What is wise and what is prudent?
And I think, for a lot of Americans, there`s a question of deja vu here. I mean, when you`re hearing that we`re going to have an invasion that is directed at evil, and that the success in confronting that evil can transform the region, the tendency of Americans is to say, "Wait a minute. I`ve heard that line before, haven`t I?" And that`s where Iraq plays in.
So I just think it`s remarkable this early in a crisis that Americans are not flocking to support President Bush, and they are not flocking to support Israel. Opinion in this country is sharply divided, not on whether Israel is justified, but on whether the military operation should continue or whether there should be cease-fire and an attempt at negotiation.
DAVID BROOKS: I mean, that`s significant. I would just say, if there`s a cease-fire now, then Hezbollah wins. And then they`ll be so emboldened. And we`re in a weird position, in that we have a policy, but we don`t have any military control.
JIM LEHRER: Yes, yes, we have the power of persuasion, you`re saying, but that`s it?
DAVID BROOKS: To some extent, but it`s up to Israel to fight this war. And their long-term interests and ours do not necessarily go together.
JIM LEHRER: David, some of your good friends in the neo-conservative movement suggested today that this was a good opportunity to launch a couple of military strikes against Iran. What do you think of that idea?
DAVID BROOKS: Well, I disagree with the idea. I think it would be rash. I`ve become very incremental these days. I think I have a long-term interest, the same as my neo-conservative friends, and Bill Kristol is the most prominent...
JIM LEHRER: Yes, he`s the one who wrote the editorial in the Weekly Standard that started this.
DAVID BROOKS: Right. And so I want to do things one thing at a time. On the other hand, I think one of the things that Bill recognizes is that Iran is an aggressive, imperial, long-term threat to the country.
And how would this week look if Iran already had a nuclear bomb, a regime that`s stated as its goal the desire to wipe Israel off the face of the map? The world passions are inflamed. Iran has this bomb. We would be terrified that Iran would use that bomb against Israel and that would drag the whole world into the conflagration.
JIM LEHRER: Tom?
TOM OLIPHANT: From my perspective, what has been most interesting about this little flare-up is not that there is still a hard core of opinion from this camp, whatever you call it, but that it has evoked sharp reaction and almost a resurgence in another camp within the conservative world that claims to have learned the limits of America`s power and learned that this kind of ambitiousness in the world can turn out to be reckless, even though the motives are right.
And so, you know, while a lot of Democrats I think are content to maybe hold the coats of these people who are at each other`s threats...
JIM LEHRER: Let them go.
TOM OLIPHANT: ... yes, let them go -- it`s interesting that the other point of view in the conservative world, not merely Pat Buchanan -- it goes a lot further than that; Francis Fukuyama would be another example -- who believe, as conservatives often have taught us over the years, that we should be aware and respectful of the limits of government power.
DAVID BROOKS: These are the ancient two branches of foreign policy conservativism, the one -- and George Will is another on that side -- goes back to Edmund Burke who says societies are extremely complicated. We don`t really know much about them. If you try to do something dramatic, you`re probably going to lead to all sorts of intended consequences, and that`s Burke.
And then the other side, you could say it`s Churchill. You`ve got evil in the world; you`ve got to stand up to that evil; and you`ve got to defeat that evil. And these are two strains, and they`re just playing out.
JIM LEHRER: And we`re about to play out of time here, but before we go, quickly, Tom, you first, why did the president choose stem-cell research to exercise his first veto as a president?
TOM OLIPHANT: He had no choice, because this ran right up against his position. But I think what we saw last night -- this week, rather, was the end of President Bush`s involvement in this issue. It`s now part of this year`s politics. It will be part of `08. If John McCain had been president this week, we`d have had a signing ceremony in the East Room.
JIM LEHRER: What do you think is going on?
DAVID BROOKS: I agree. There`s no question where the majority is. It`s against the president. But he did it on a matter of principle. He believes you don`t create life to destroy it, but it is the minority position in the country.
JIM LEHRER: OK. Gentlemen, thank you both very much.
(BREAK)
JIM LEHRER: And, again, the major developments of this day. Israel amassed tanks and troops near the Lebanese border for a possible ground campaign against Hezbollah. Lebanese civilians streamed into Beirut from the south, and the evacuation of foreigners continued, as well. And Secretary of State Rice announced she`ll go to the Middle East on Sunday.
(BREAK)
JIM LEHRER: And, once again, to our honor roll of American service personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. We add them as their deaths are made official and photographs become available. Here, in silence, are 12 more.
"Washington Week" can be seen later this evening on most PBS stations. We`ll see you online and again here Monday evening. Have a nice weekend. I`m Jim Lehrer. Thank you, and good night.
END
Content and Programming Copyright 2006 MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2006 Voxant, Inc. ( www.voxant.com), which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user`s personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon MacNeil/Lehrer Productions and Voxant, Inc.`s copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation.
Document NSHR000020060724e27l00001
Nigeria_promoting_power_plant_projects_in_China'>Nigeria promoting power plant projects in China
152 words

19 July 2006

Xinhua's China Economic Information Service

XNHA

English

(c) 2006 Xinhua News Agency. All Rights Reserved
BEIJING, July 19 (CEIS) – Nigeria is in the initial industrial development period and urgently needs overseas investment to pump into infrastructure projects including power plants and railway.
A senior official of Nigerian Investment Promotion Bureau made the remarks at the 4 China-Nigeria Trade and Investment Forum held recently in Beijing.
More than 40 Nigerian government officials and entrepreneurs and 50 domestic enterprises including ZTE, Huawei and Datang Telecom Technology Co., Ltd. attended the forum.
The forum introduced the investment environment of Nigeria and discussions were made on the projects in the fields of power, agriculture, finance, communication, solid mining, processing, telecom, oil and natural gas.
So far China has set up over 60 solely funded and joint ventures in Nigeria, mainly focusing on energy development, infrastructure construction, telecom technology, textile and agricultural products processing. Nigeria has become China’s major investment market in Africa. (?)
Document XNHA000020060719e27j0010e

NIGERIA PROMOTING POWER PLANT PROJECTS IN CHINA
154 words

19 July 2006

Asia Pulse

APULSE

English

(c) 2006 Asia Pulse Pty Limited
BEIJING, July 19 Asia Pulse - Nigeria is in the initial industrial development period and urgently needs overseas investment to pump into infrastructure projects including power plants and railways.
A senior official of Nigerian Investment Promotion Bureau made the remarks at the 4th China-Nigeria Trade and Investment Forum held recently in Beijing. More than 40 Nigerian government officials and entrepreneurs and 50 domestic enterprises including ZTE, Huawei and Datang Telecom Technology Co., Ltd. attended the forum.
The forum introduced the investment environment of Nigeria and discussions were made on the projects in the fields of power, agriculture, finance, communication, solid mining, processing, telecom, oil and natural gas.
So far China has set up over 60 solely funded and joint ventures in Nigeria, mainly focusing on energy development, infrastructure construction, telecom technology, textile and agricultural products processing. Nigeria has become China's major investment market in Africa.
(XIC)
Document APULSE0020060719e27j002jr

Chinese Companies

Mobile_saidly_contacts_Swiss_company_on_investment_in_Nigeria'>China Mobile saidly contacts Swiss company on investment in Nigeria

Xinhua News Agency

58 words

17 July 2006

Xinhua Electronics News

XHELEN

English

Copyright 2006. Xinhua News Agency. All Rights Reserved
BEIJING - China Mobile, which freshly failed to buy Millicom, will start negotiations with a Swiss investment company on possible business opportunities in Nigeria.
Market hearsay goes that the Swiss company holds telecom licenses of a string of emerging- market countries including Nigeria. (XEN)
Document XHELEN0020060724e27h00027

Daily Market Movers Digest Stock Alerts, Friday, July 14th, NSOL, XKEM, XSNX, TGLO, CRGO
2,410 words

14 July 2006

M2 Presswire

MTPW

English

(c) 2006 M2 Communications, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Today our stock watch alerts today include stock alerts for Nuclear Solutions, Inc. (OTCBB: NSOL), Xechem International, Inc. (OTCBB: XKEM), XsunX, Inc. (OTCBB: XSNX), theglobe.com, inc. (OTCBB: TGLO), and Cargo Connection Logistics Holding, Inc. (OTCBB: CRGO)
OTC STOCK ALERTS
NUCLEAR SOLUTIONS, INC. (OTCBB: NSOL) "Up 7.89% at close on Thursday"
Detailed Quote: http://www.otcpicks.com/quotes/NSOL.php
Nuclear Solutions, Inc. (OTCBB: NSOL) engages in the research, development, and commercialization of product technologies in the fields of homeland security, nanotechnology, and nuclear remediation. It develops and licenses gravimetric shielded nuclear material/portable nuclear weapon detector, which screens trucks and shipping containers in for the presence of shielded nuclear weapons useable materials, such as uranium and plutonium; embeddable nuclear micro-batteries that supplies power for computer chips, micromotors, remote sensors, implantable medical devices, and other defense and aerospace applications; and tritiated water separation technology, a method used to reduce the volume of stored water contaminated with tritium, the radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The company, through its subsidiary, Fuel Frontiers, Inc., also intends to design, finance, construct, and operate multiple ethanol synthesis facilities worldwide. It has strategic relationship with Multipartner, S.P.A for consulting and developmental services in Europe. The company operates in the United States and Europe. Nuclear Solutions was founded in 1997 as Stock Watch Man, Inc. and changed its name to Nuclear Solutions, Inc. in 2001. The company is based in Washington, District of Columbia.
NSOL News:
July 13 - U.S. ethanol plants look to tax-free financing
Ethanol plants are sprouting like corn in many parts of the United States as gasoline prices skyrocket, and some developers are looking to tax-exempt bonds to help finance them.
"These plants are the best economic development opportunity for small communities," said Todd Sneller, administrator of the Nebraska Ethanol Board, a state agency that promotes the ethanol industry.
Sneller said developers usually requested financing assistance from communities that need good-paying jobs and want to boost the local market for corn.
Ethanol, or ethyl alcohol, is made mainly from corn and is mixed with gasoline to help it burn cleaner. The fuel additive can also be made from other agricultural products or waste.
Ethanol plant developers have obtained or are seeking tax-free financing in Illinois, New Jersey, Indiana and Ohio, to name a few states.
According to the Renewable Fuels Association, a trade group for the U.S. ethanol industry, there were 101 ethanol plants in the United States and 34 under construction as of June 23.
The plants' high cost makes them ineligible under Internal Revenue Service capital expenditure rules for industrial development private-activity bonds. So, developers are trying to obtain tax increment financing bonds, which tap incremental increases in property or sales taxes in an area.
They are also trying to get their plants qualified under IRS rules for issuing tax-free debt to finance solid-waste disposal systems at the facilities.
But obtaining tax-exempt financing may be tough, according to Curtis Christensen, a bond attorney at the Kutak Rock law firm in Omaha, Nebraska.
"It's fair to say these are really hard because of their nature. Under the tax code, it's hard to qualify these facilities," he said, referring to IRS rules and covenants governing solid-waste disposal bonds.
This kind of bond also falls under a requirement -- called private
activity volume cap -- in which the federal government allocates to
each state a limit on financing private projects with tax-exempt bonds.
Even tax increment financing (TIF) bonds can pose problems, Christensen said. He said laws regulating TIF bonds vary from state to state, with some restricting the use of proceeds to general infrastructure improvements like roads.
BOND DEALS IN THE PIPELINE
A company called Center Ethanol plans to use up to $30 million in TIF bonds given initial approval last month to build a plant in Sauget, Illinois, across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri, according to officials.
The bonds will tap incremental increases in Sauget area property taxes and will be exempt from both state and federal taxes, said Michael Lundy, executive director of the Southwestern Illinois Finance Authority, which approved the financing.
Center Ethanol President Barry Frazier said the bond financing was important given how close the project is to the St. Louis metropolitan area, where labor and land costs are higher than if the plant were built "out in the middle of nowhere."
A final decision on the plant, which would employ about 35 people, was expected within the next two months, he said.
In New Jersey, the state's Economic Development Authority has given preliminary approval to $84 million in tax-exempt, solid-waste bonds for a waste-to-ethanol facility in Dover Township, according to agency spokesman Glenn Phillips. The state has enough private-activity volume cap to cover the issue.
Fuel Frontiers, a subsidiary of Nuclear Solutions Inc. (NSOL.OB), plans to produce 55 million gallons of ethanol a year from old tires at the plant, said company spokesman Fred Frisco. He said final approval for the bonds would be sought in about a month.
In central Ohio's Coshocton, Los Angeles-based Altra Inc. broke ground on Tuesday on a $100 million ethanol plant that will be partly financed with up to $85 million of air quality bonds approved by the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority.
Although the bonds are subject to federal taxes, they are exempt from Ohio income tax, according to Mark Shanahan, the authority's executive director. Shanahan added that three or four other developers have expressed interest in the bonds for their ethanol projects.
XECHEM INTERNATIONAL, INC. (OTCBB: XKEM) "Up 11.82% at close on Thursday"
Detailed Quote: http://www.otcpicks.com/quotes/XKEM.php
Xechem International, Inc. (OTCBB: XKEM), a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the research, development, and production of generic and proprietary drugs from natural sources. Its principal product under development is NICOSAN/HEMOXIN, which would be used for the treatment of sickle cell disease. The company also applies its proprietary extraction, isolation, and purification technology to the production and manufacture of Paclitaxel, which is an anti-cancer compound used for the treatment of ovarian, breast, small cell lung cancers, and AIDS-related kaposi sarcomas. In addition, Xechem International engages in the research and development of other compounds using traditional medicinal plants, microbial fermentation, or semisynthesis to produce anti-cancer, anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, and memory-enhancing compounds. It operates in the United States, India, the People's Republic of China, and Nigeria. The company was founded by Ramesh C. Pandey in 1994. Xechem International is headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
XSUNX, INC. (OTCBB: XSNX) "Up 18.55% at close on Thursday"
Detailed Quote: http://www.otcpicks.com/quotes/XSNX.php
XsunX, Inc. (OTCBB: XSNX), a development stage company, engages in the development, commercialization, and licensing of processes for the manufacture of semitransparent photovoltaic technologies. Its technology, Power Glass, is a solar technology that enables glass windows to produce electricity from the sun. This process of producing electricity is known as Photovoltaics. The company, formerly known as Sun River Mining, Inc., was incorporated in 1997 and changed its name to XsunX, Inc. in 2003. XsunX is based in Aliso Viejo, California.
THEGLOBE.COM, INC. (OTCBB: TGLO) "Up 5.26% at close on Thursday"
Detailed Quote: http://www.otcpicks.com/quotes/TGLO.php
theglobe.com, inc. (OTCBB: TGLO) and subsidiaries provide voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) telephony services, computer games, and Internet services. It offers Voice over Internet Protocol telephony services, which refer to a category of hardware and software that enables people to use the Internet to make phone calls. The company also publishes Computer Games magazine, a consumer print magazine for personal computer gamers; operates CGOnline Web site, which is a source of free computer games news and information featuring news, reviews, and previews. theglobe was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
CARGO CONNECTION LOGISTICS HOLDING, INC. (OTCBB: CRGO) "Up 25.86% at close on Thursday"
Detailed Quote: http://www.otcpicks.com/quotes/CGRO.php
Cargo Connection Logistics Holding, Inc. (OTCBB: CRGO), through its subsidiaries, provides transportation logistics services in North America. It primarily provides truckload and less-than-truckload transportation services, as well as provides value-added logistics services, including provision of the U.S. Customs Bonded warehouse facilities and container freight station operations. The company also provides pick and pack services comprising changing labels or tickets on items, inspection of goods into the United States, and recovery of goods damaged in transit. Cargo Connection Logistics Holding is based in Inwood, New York.
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Document MTPW000020060714e27e00292
Domestic news items from Xinhua -- July 13 (1)
511 words

14 July 2006

Xinhua News Agency

XNEWS

English

(c) Copyright 2006 Xinhua News Agency
BEIJING, July 13 (Xinhua) -- The following are domestic news items released by Xinhua on Thursday:
Kunqu Opera's birthplace mulls regulations to preserve 500-year-old art form
Motorola opens first flagship store in Shanghai
Hidden factors may diminish China's actual trade surplus
University heads call for harsher penalties for academic fraud
Xinhua Airlines Group aims to be listed abroad next year
Teachers, students from Beijing join educational program in HK
Health ministry urges timely report of emergency response
China faces threat of natural rubber shortage
Spanish Crown Prince to encourage investment in China
Shanghai Baoshan steel group listed as Fortune's Global 500 for three years
Rural commercial bank promises more loans to small and medium-sized enterprises
Former CPC county head jailed for taking bribes in N. China region
China repeats call for relaxation of Japan's residue standards
UPDATE: Karaoke bars to pay for showing music videos
World Bank gives loan of 1.455 billion dollars to China in past year
Fortune: 20 Chinese mainland firms among world's 500 largest
Official calls for promotion of governance transparency in China
Update: China, Japan agree to expand aviation market access to each other
Chinese FM talks with Lebanese PM on Middle East situation via phone
China, Japan to expand mutual access to aviation markets
Almost 7,000 evacuated as typhoon nears SE China
Update-4-China Exclusive: China refuses to give up claim for return of Yin Ruins relics
Chinese universities should teach entrepreneurial spirit: experts
China pledges to advance strategic partnership with EU
Scientist suggests further monitoring of environmental impact brought by Qinghai-Tibet railway after good beginning
Renminbi to become int'l currency: Joseph Yam
Fortune: 20 Chinese firms among world's 500 largest
China finds huge natural gas reserve in South China Sea
Former chairman of HK listed company jailed for misappropriating, fraud
China seized 3.46 bln fake cigarattes in first half
Gold price higher in Hong Kong -- July 13
China Enterprises Index closes lower -- July 13
Superman returns to Chinese screens but fails to compete with big earners
China to wage new campaign against piracy
2nd LD: Communist Party of China expels nearly 45,000 Party members
Taiwan share prices end 66.49 points down -- July 13
CPC Party school holds graduation ceremony
China warns against intensifying DPRK crisis
Chinese, U.S. presidents to meet on sidelines of G-8 Summit
Weather forecast for major Chinese cities -- July 13