"Every man has a right to his opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts." - Bernard Baruch

Morning News of Note:

• Oil: Oil Soars to Record as Hurricane Katrina Shuts U.S. Production Crude oil soared to a record above $70 a barrel in New York after Hurricane Katrina forced companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. to evacuate rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, where 30 percent of U.S. oil is produced. Oil had its biggest gain in 29 months as Katrina, the U.S. Gulf coast's worst storm since 1969, disrupted production and headed for refineries that make as much as 15 percent of the nation's fuel. Hurricane Ivan last September cut the region's oil output by as much as a third. (Full Story) Bloomberg
• ALL: Allstate, Insurers May See Record Claims From Katrina Hurricane Katrina may cost U.S. insurers such as Allstate Corp. as much as $30 billion, making it the most expensive storm to ever hit the U.S., storm modeler Eqecat Inc. said. Katrina's center was about 85 miles south-southeast of New Orleans at 5 a.m. local time, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. The storm, with winds of 150 miles (241 kilometers) an hour, was moving north at 15 mph. Shares of European insurers including Allianz AG declined. (Full Story) Bloomberg
• KNOT TGT: Knot Inc.-KNOT may be bought out by TGT-BusinessWeek Online: According to BusinessWeek Online sources, TGT is a leading candidate to buyout wedding planning site KNOT, which it already has a business relationship with since April. Both TGT and KNOT declined to comment
• US Economy: Fed Chariman Greenspan said asset price targeting unlikely anytime soon; US housing boom will inevitably simmer down; end of boom will slow consumer spending; home prices may decline; expects Fed to refine risk management strategy; Fed cannot ignore inflation pressure in fiscal gap outlook (Saturday)
• WMT: sees Aug SSS up 3.3% vs prev guidance up 3-5% (Saturday)

Market Comments: Classic market action of keeping investors on their toes, as well as catching the majority leaning the wrong way. I closed my portfolio Friday at 100% net long. So I was sweating today's open a bit when I saw the storm fears brewing. But after a brief dip lower, the market quickly bottomed and now all of the major indexes are in positive territory. I know it's early, but so far this is bullish action.