Business Desk
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

FINANCIAL SERVICES
GOLDMAN MAY REPORT RECORD EARNINGS
Goldman Sachs may report today record fiscal third-quarter earnings, led by an increase in oil trading and mergers advice. Net income probably climbed 29% to $1.13 billion, or $2.29 a share, during the three months ended in August from $879 million, or $1.74, a year earlier, according to the average estimate of 21 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. The analysts are often wrong because they misjudge the trading gains and losses of Wall Street firms.
– Bloomberg News
ENERGY
RUSSIAN OIL PRODUCERS AGREE TO FREEZE GAS PRICES
MOSCOW – Russia’s major oil producers agreed at a meeting with Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko yesterday to freeze their domestic gasoline prices until the end of the year, his spokesman said.
“Almost unanimously and absolutely voluntarily, the heads of the oil companies said that they are ready from today to freeze their fuel prices until the end of the year,” a spokesman, Stanislav Naumov, said in comments broadcast on NTV.
Lukoil, the biggest Russian crude oil producer, confirmed it had capped gasoline prices with immediate effect until the end of the year. But no other companies made a similar announcement. One major oil company, TNK-BP, which is a 50% joint venture with British oil giant BP, declined to confirm the price freeze, but said it would make an announcement today.
– Associated Press
OPEC AGREES TO MAINTAIN PRODUCTION QUOTAS, OFFER SPARE CAPACITY
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to maintain its current production quotas and offer its spare oil production capacity to any customers that ask for extra oil, the group’s president said. The group can pump another 2 million barrels a day, and the decision will be completed and announced formally at a meeting today, the official, Sheikh Ahmad Fahd al-Sabah, said in an interview in Vienna. The surplus capacity is enough to supply Britain, Europe’s second-largest economy. Any additional barrels will have to come from Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s biggest producer, which is able to pump lower quality, sour crudes that few refineries are available to handle.
– Bloomberg News
IN BRIEF
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s staff recommended filing an accounting fraud suit against Tyco, an assistant district attorney of Manhattan, Owen Heimer, said … Microsoft agreed to acquire Alacris in order to gain technology which is expected to make smart cards easier to use … Nike said first-quarter profit rose 32%, helped by sales of new lines of Shox sneakers and lower marketing costs. The shares surged after Nike’s global orders rose at the fastest pace in at least 10 years … Tom Mueller, who served as president and chief operating officer of Wendy’s since 2000, resigned after the no. 3 American hamburger chain posted its smallest quarterly sales gain in six years in July … Pamela Thomas-Graham is stepping down as chairman of CNBC, the business news cable channel owned by NBC Universal, for a senior job at Liz Claiborne … Stock in Trump Entertainment Resorts, Donald J. Trump’s new casino holding company, will begin trading today on the Nasdaq market under the symbol TRMP.
– Bloomberg News, Dow Jones Newswires, and Associated Press