Oil Flirts Again with $100 a Barrel

NY Times late Wednesday:

Oil prices flirted with the symbolic $100-a-barrel level in overnight trading.

Crude oil futures briefly rose above $99 in overnight trading and an Energy Department report showed that inventories fell slightly last week, leaving investors wondering how soon oil will be nudged above its inflation-adjusted record of $102. Crude settled in New York trading at $97.29, down 74 cents.

Andy Grove Advocates Disruption

In the Wall Street Journal Online, The Informed Reader, Andy Grove, onetime CEO of Intel, discusses corporate "cross-boundary disruption," such as Apple moving into the music business.

As a suggestion, Mr. Grove says General Electric Co. could benefit from a cross-boundary disruption by building an electric car. Neither auto makers nor energy companies seem willing to exploit new energy sources or reduce the U.S.’s dependence on foreign oil. GE has the money and expertise to build both an electric car and the machinery needed to charge it. — Robin Morone