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Enron Mail |
A. Market Updates U.S. Markets ? US equity markets are closed today but may open Friday. NYSE/NASDAQ/AMEX officials will reconvene later today to decide on restart. ? Chicago markets (CBOT/CME) closed early at 1:00pm CDT, CBOT electronic a/c/e trading expected to resume tonight for grains, and resumption of all commodities under consideration. ? NYMEX: still closed, electronic Access trading planned to open later tonight (start time still under consideration) ? In equity news, frightened travelers are expected to avoid planes once carriers resume flying, prompting Standard & Poor's to consider cutting the long-term credit ratings of all U.S. airlines, British Airways and Air Canada. That would raise borrowing costs and worsen the industry's least profitable year in a decade. The losses at U.S. airlines, until this week predicted to reach $2.6 billion, may now rival the $4.8 billion loss of 1992. ? In Europe, the four biggest airlines -- British Airways, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Air France SA and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines NV -- will all now post a full-year loss due to their reliance on profits from the trans-Atlantic market. ? In Asia, services to and from the U.S. contribute 10 percent to 20 percent of revenue at Cathay Pacific Airways and Singapore Airlines Ltd. Some $3.8 billion was wiped off the market value of airlines based in Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and other Asian capitals in two days. The plunge in stocks reduced the value of Asia's eight biggest carriers by about 14 percent. B. Transportation/Infrastructure Updates Air Travel ? 145 domestic airports have now been cleared to reopen, though Logan International Airport will remain closed indefinitely, despite the Federal Aviation Authority's decision to open U.S. airspace for commercial airplanes. ? At least some regularly scheduled United Airlines flights are expected to begin at 7 p.m. EDT Thursday, and some scheduled flights on American Airlines and TWA after 4 p.m. EDT. Delta Air Lines said "very limited operations" would start sometime after noon EDT Thursday. Continental has canceled all regularly scheduled flights for the day, but planned to offer special service in cities such as San Francisco and Cleveland. Maritime Transportation ? Open, including NY harbor, which is doing individual vessels inspections and escorts into the harbor C. Political Updates ? Indications are beginning to point to a substantial military strike against Bin Laden assets in Afghanistan as well as the Taleban government. Lawrence B. Lindsey, the president's chief economic adviser: "We've been working on getting the basic infrastructure of America up and running again, that's the main thing we've been doing." World Bank officials want to cancel their annual meeting in conjunction with the International Monetary Fund, now slated for Sept. 28-29 in Washington, according to media reports. The DC police have also asked that the meetings be cancelled, but World Bank officials must wait for Treasury Secretary O'Neill to make the decision. Bank officials fear the Bush administration will want the meeting to take place to underscore that Washington is back to business as usual.
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