Surfers Beware:Tropical Storm Katia's Atlantic Journey

The National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Katia is continuing to chart its course across the Atlantic Ocean,and is expected to affect the Lesser Antilles by Friday with swells that cause hazardous surf and rip current conditions.
Realistically,some surfers seek out such exciting conditions.
The storm,which was briefly a hurricane on Thursday,is heading N/NW at 16 mph/26 kmh .This course is expected to continue with slowing forward speed over the next 48 hours.Maximum sustained winds are 70 mph with higher gusts.In the next 24 hours or so,Katia is expected to become a hurricane again.Its winds are extending outward up to 140 miles/220 km from the center.
Katia is located about 830 miles/1335 km E of the Leeward Islands.
Its ultimate destination is yet to be determined.
Meanwhile,Tropical Depression 13 has caused Exxon Mobil and BP to evacuate oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico,while Chevron and Shell have evacuated non-essential personnel from theirs.Oil prices headed up a little when this news broke.
A tropical storm warning is posted from Pascagoula,Mississippi to Sabine Pass,Texas.
Update:Katia became a hurricane again on Friday.It currently has maximum sustained winds of 75 mph/120 kmh.The storm is moving NW at 12 mph/19 kmh.It is a category 1 hurricane,but could begin strengthening on Sunday.
Katia's hurricane force winds extend up to 35 miles/55 km from the center;tropical storm force winds extend up to 175 miles/1280 km.Hazardous surf and swells may affect the Lesser Antilles over the weekend,the National Hurricane Center said.
Tropical Depression 13 is now Tropical Storm Lee,and has caused the shutdown of 139 oil rigs,or 27% of manned platforms,in the Gulf of Mexico.This results in the loss of 48% of oil production and 33% of natural gas production in the Gulf.Remnants of
T.S. Lee could eventually make their way into the Northeast next week,as indeed Hurricane Katia could as well,should it continue on its current path.For now,though,New Orleans and Mississippi are gravely concerned about Lee's slow and rainy effects on them this holiday weekend.
Update 2:The remnants of T.S. Lee could reach the Mid-Atlantic region by Wednesday evening,bringing the potential for 5-10 inches of rain to the already-waterlogged area.It has sustained winds of 50 mph and is hugging the coast of Southern Louisiana,just barely moving at a speed of only 2 mph.Tropical storm warnings are posted from Dustin,Florida to Sabine Pass,Texas,but tourists are still wandering around New Orleans on this last holiday weekend of the summer.
Near the Leeward Islands,Katia has weakened to a tropical storm again,with winds about 70 mph/112.65 kmh.Another round of strengthening is expected to occur.The storm continues to head slowly toward the Mid-Atlantic region,but such weather will often veer eastward at the last minute,taking it on a track away from the east coast.

Templeton Global Finds Value

Gary Motyl,Chief Investment Officer at the Templeton Global Equity Group,says they find value in virtually every country and industry.They're not really finding over-valuation to any great degree.The emerging markets are being quite astute.You have to give them credit.Templeton has a fair amount of exposure to both Chinese and Indian stocks.
In total,Mr.Motyl believes,things are back on track for the global economy.He thinks the recent pullback in Europe does give one an opportunity.They like BP,regarding it as a great total return stock.BP has a strong balance sheet,with a good management team setting themselves up for the next 5-10 years.Templeton also likes Sanofi Aventis,a pharmaceutical company that has positioned itself to be a primary player in the diabetes market.There will be a great demand for those products,Mr.Motyl observed.

Exxon Mobil Explores Alternative

After lagging behind other integrated oil companies in the development of alternative energy sources,Exxon Mobil has listened to many of its shareholders and gotten down to the future-distant though it may be.It is to spend 600 million dollars to develop transportation fuel from algae.The production of algae-based fuels is at least 5-10 years off.One acre of algae can yield about 2,000 gallons of fuel.
Chevron and BP have been multisource energy companies for some years now,while Exxon limited itself to improving batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles,and funding basic research.The Rockefeller family,whose ancestor John D. Rockefeller founded Standard Oil,the precursor of Exxon,have been especially vociferous about Exxon's reluctance to embrace alternative energy production.

Exxon Mobil's Shiny Quarter

Exxon Mobil(XOM),the largest western oil company,has reported brilliant results for the fourth quarter of 2007.The Irving,Texas firm has again justified its reputation for superb management.It's 11.7 billion dollar profit was the biggest in U.S. corporate history.Year over year,it posted a 40.6 billion profit.Its revenue was 116 billion.The money was made on higher oil and natural gas realizations,amounting to per share earnings that were 15 cents above estimate.Exxon even made money on downstream refinery operations at a time of rising costs.It bought back 88 million shares to stabilize prices,but also had to pay 30 billion in taxes.By some calculations,Exxon may no longer be the world's largest oil company.Petro China(PTR) is theoretically greater in terms of market capitalization,being worth an estimated one trillion dollars.China has dismissed such speculation,as it has no intention of relinquishing its control of PTR.The Chinese system is not equivalent to western capitalism,within which Exxon works.At any rate,the stupendously successful Exxon isn't concerned about such chatter.Among western oil companies,BP ranks second,while Royal Dutch Shell(RDSa) is third and Chevron(CVX) is fourth.Goldman Sachs(GS) says oil will be higher in 2008,with an average price of 95.00 U.S. a barrel.To ensure future production,Exxon is exploring several blocks off the coast of Libya for oil and gas deposits.Some of them are in deep water.At the same time,it is using Enhanced Oil Recovery technology at the mature Means Field in west Texas to greatly increase the field's output.As well,advanced 3-D seismic imagery of a Gulf of Mexico resivoir revealed new hydrocarbon deposits,which more than doubled production rates.In Colorado's Piceance Basin,advanced technology is allowing Exxon to unlock natural gas buried in rock up to 16,000 ft./4876.8 m deep.Shares of XOM were down in early European trading this morning.