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World energy powers embarked on a new level of dialogue to try to rein in runaway oil prices at an emergency meeting in this Red Sea city, but were unable to come up with a quick fix.

Host Saudi Arabia vowed to pump still more oil in response to consumer countries’ requests, but said that alone would not be enough to calm a market driven to a record close to $140 a barrel last week by an array of factors.

“In this critical hour, the world community should rise to its responsibility and cooperation should be the cornerstone of any efforts,” Saudi King Abdullah said on Sunday, calling for a global “energy-for-the-poor” initiative.

A barrel of oil has doubled in price over the past year, stoking inflation and triggering protests from Asia to Europe guaranteed cash advance loan.

Major producers, consumers and top oil company executives gathered in Saudi Arabia’s commercial capital to try to reverse what some see as the world’s third oil shock.

They plan to hold a follow-up meeting in London before the end of the year.

“What I’ve heard so far are basically all good ideas, but it will probably not change the price tomorrow morning,” Royal Dutch Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer told Reuters.

The final communique, echoing previous consumer-producer statements, emphasized the importance of greater transparency in oil markets and more investment in production. 

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Mortgage companies, facing criticism that they aren’t doing enough to stem the housing crisis, are pledging to let troubled borrowers know whether they’re approved for help within 45 days of receiving a homeowner’s application.

The promise is expected to be announced Tuesday by the Hope Now alliance, a Bush administration-backed industry group, as part of a new set of guidelines for mortgage companies participating in the effort. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the guidelines.

The agreement is designed to clarify the mortgage assistance process for borrowers and the industry alike, but is not legally binding.

It also tries to alleviate a major stumbling block: the reluctance of companies that hold second mortgages, such as home equity loans, to agree to such modifications. Such requests should be approved, the agreement says, unless the holder of the second mortgage would be put in a worse financial position.

Consumer groups, however, say Hope Now’s efforts will never match the growth in foreclosures around the country, and are pushing for a new $300 billion program to allow the government to back new loans for struggling homeowners.

"There isn’t a serious level of modification going on because the program is voluntary," said John Taylor, president of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a consumer group in Washington, who described the newest announcement as "baby steps."

Housing counselors have complained that the process of loan modifications is bureaucratic and difficult to understand, and say it is tough for consumers to get someone on the phone with the authority to help.

The industry has also favored repayment plans, which aim to help borrowers get back on track after missing a few payments, rather than lower interest rates or forgive part of the principle balance.

Consumer advocates have pressed Congress to let bankruptcy judges rewrite the terms of mortgages for strapped borrowers, but that proposal faces intense opposition from the Bush administration and Republican lawmakers and is unlikely to make it through Congress this year.

Statistics released last month by Hope Now showed that nearly 183,000 borrowers received some form of loan workout in April, the highest monthly number since the effort started last summer.

But the group was also criticized last week by a federal bank regulator, who questioned the accuracy of trade groups’ mortgage assistance data paydayloans. The regulator, Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan called them "responses to surveys that produced aggregate, unverified results from individual firms."

Mortgage industry consultant Howard Glaser, a housing official in the Clinton administration, questioned the significance of the changes Hope Now is announcing, noting that lenders approve a new loan far more quickly than the 45-day period.

"When they are repairing their defective loan product, they take their time," Glaser said.

Foreclosure filings last month were up nearly 50% compared with a year earlier. Nationwide, 261,255 homes received at least one foreclosure-related filing in May, up 48% from 176,137 in the same month last year and up 7% from April, foreclosure listing service RealtyTrac Inc. said Friday.

Members of Hope Now include Bank of America Corp. (BAC, Fortune 500), Citigroup Inc. (C, Fortune 500), Washington Mutual Inc. (WM, Fortune 500) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC, Fortune 500). 

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At least two major oil companies said late Wednesday they have agreed to settle lawsuits over the use of the gasoline additive MTBE, a potential carcinogen that has been found in drinking water.

Representatives of Valero Energy Corp. (VLO, Fortune 500) and Chevron Corp. (CVS, Fortune 500) said they had joined the settlement, although a number of other oil companies are also named in a memo supporting the deal that was obtained by The Associated Press.

The companies confirmed their involvement after The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site that several oil companies agreed to pay $423 million plus cleanup costs to settle groundwater contamination litigation involving 153 public water providers in 17 states. That would make it the largest settlement to date involving the additive.

"We’ve worked hard to reach a responsible resolution to the cases being settled and are pleased to be moving forward," Chevron spokeswoman Stephanie Price said.

Valero’s agreement "resolves many of the lawsuits" filed against the oil refiner over its prior use of the gasoline additive, company spokesman Bill Day said in a brief statement to the AP.

He said the "settlement agreement is being reviewed by the court and is not yet final." He did not provide details of the agreement and declined to name other companies involved in the deal.

According to the Journal, the other defendants settling include BP PLC’s (BP) BP America Inc., ConocoPhillips (COP, Fortune 500), Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s Shell Oil Co., Marathon Oil Corp (MRO, Fortune 500)., Petroleos de Venezuela SA’s Citgo Petroleum Corp low rates payday advance. and Sunoco Inc.

Those companies were among those listed in the court document obtained by the AP. Messages left with the companies seeking comment were not immediately returned.

At least six companies declined to settle, the largest being ExxonMobil Corp (XOM, Fortune 500)., the Journal said.

Each company’s contribution to the settlement was undisclosed, as was the potential cleanup cost. Past estimates have put the tab to remediate all tainted sites as high as $30 billion, the Journal reported.

The newspaper’s report quoted Scott Summy, an attorney for the plaintiffs, who said covering the cleanup costs for 30 years was a "creative approach" to resolving a matter that involves so many parties. That provision of the settlement removes the threat of litigation over future contaminated wells, he told the Journal.

The AP could not immediately reach the plaintiff’s attorneys for comment.

MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether, is a chemical added to gasoline to boost its octane level and cut air pollution. It was first added to gasoline in 1979, but its use declined after it was banned in a number of states.

MTBE has been found in ground water, including in some communities’ drinking water supplies. The Environmental Protection Agency said the chemical is a potential human carcinogen at high doses, although it is unclear at what level it poses a health risk. 

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Another day of surging commodity stocks, particularly in the energy sector on record high crude oil, sent the Toronto stock market to less than 20 points away from its all time record closing high.

Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index ran ahead 236.46 points or 1.64 per cent to 14,607.99, close to the time high of 14,625.76 from late last July.

"It still seems to be the commodity story," said Ian Nakamoto, director of research at MacDougall, MacDougall and MacTier.

"You’re looking what’s charging ahead, it’s the energy, the golds, the mines. I still view those as a play on the developing world as opposed to the developed world."

However, he cautioned investors it’s still too early to sound the all clear just yet: "It’s still very volatile – even though we’re up, I don’t call this euphoric."

New York markets finished higher despite high oil prices while investors got some consolation from retailing giant Wal-Mart Stores, which turned in better-than-expected sales last month.

The TSX Venture Exchange gained 34.87 points to 2,539.45 and the Canadian dollar moved down 0.98 cent to 98.32 cents US as the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts dropped to 213,900 units in April from 243,000 in March.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., attributed most of the decrease to a drop in multiple starts after near-record highs in March and February.

New York’s Dow Jones industrials gained 52.43 points to 12,866.78.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 12.75 points to 2,451.24 while the S&P 500 index climbed 5.11 points to 1,397.68.

Wal-Mart reported same-store sales rose 3.2 per cent during April, easily beating Wall Street’s 2.1 per cent growth forecast. The world’s biggest retailer also said it expects May sales growth, excluding fuel, to be flat to up to two per cent and its shares gained 33 cents to US$57.16 in New York.

In Canadian retail news, shares in Canadian Tire (TSX: CTC) gained $1.77 to $78.07 as the retailer posted first-quarter net earnings of $66.7 million, up 19.8 per cent from the year-earlier period’s $55.7 million.

In Toronto, the energy sector was up almost three per cent as the June crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange added 16 cents to a record close of US$123.69 a barrel. EnCana Corp. (TSX: ECA) added $2.91 to $87.48 and Canadian Natural Resources (TSX: CNQ) climbed $4.19 to $96 after hitting an all time high of $96.29.

Gold prices headed up with the June bullion contract in New York ahead $10.90 to US$882.10 an ounce on a weakening U.S. dollar, taking the TSX gold sector ahead 5.6 per cent. Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX: ABX) was up $1.81 to $41.

The chief executive of Yamana Gold Inc.(TSX: YRI) says success at the El Penon mine in Chile and high gold prices will lead to stronger financial results in the coming months following a better-than-expected first quarter low fees payday loan. Its shares shot ahead $1.11 to $14.92.

The financial sector was down about 0.75 per cent, largely due to the latest earnings report from Manulife Financial (TSX: MFC). Its shares fell $1.97 to $36.90 after the company reported profit of $869 million, down from a year-ago $986 million as sliding equity markets took an estimated $265-million bite out of earnings.

Elsewhere in the sector, Bank of Montreal (TSX: BMO) was 76 cents lighter at $49.69.

Onex Corp. (TSX: OCX) was off eight cents to $32.54 as the international conglomerate booked a 13 per cent rise in first-quarter revenue to $6.23 billion but net earnings declined to $45 million. That compared with $149 million in the year-ago quarter which included $116 million from discontinued operations.

Telus Corp. (TSX: T) shares rose $1.80 to $47.40 after it reported a 49 per cent increase in first-quarter net income to $291 million as revenue grew 6.6 per cent over a year earlier to $2.35 billion.

Air Canada (TSX: AC.A) climbed 15 cents to $8.20 after a first-quarter net loss of $288 million, including a $125-million provision for cargo price-fixing investigations and $89 million in currency setbacks.

Biovail Corp. (TSX: BVF) moved up 68 cents to $12.52 after the drug company unveiled a new strategic plan to focus on central nervous system disorders, close its Puerto Rico operations and sell non-core assets. Biovail also reported first-quarter profit moved down to $56.4 million from $93.8 million a year ago. Revenues dropped to $208.5 million, compared with $247 million a year before.

Timminco Ltd. (TSX: TIM) said Thursday that it has signed a second deal to supply solar grade silicon to Solar Power Industries Inc.

The deal came as Timminco, confronting skepticism about its solar-cell-grade silicon production process, said that a consultant has confirmed its validity and its shares were up $1.15 to $24.85.

Irving Oil Ltd. and Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (TSX: ATD.B) are expanding their partnership into Atlantic Canada and New England. The companies said Thursday the new arrangement covers 252 Irving Oil convenience-store sites which will be leased and operated by Couche-Tard. Alimentation shares climbed 59 cents to $15.40.

On the TSX, advances beat declines 1,041 to 566 with 216 unchanged as 502.8 million shares traded worth $8.8 billion.

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Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) is prepared to walk away from its $43.6 billion bid for Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) if the two sides can’t agree on a price, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a technology conference near Milan, Ballmer said Yahoo’s better-than-expected first-quarter results, reported on Tuesday, have not changed Microsoft’s view of Yahoo’s value.

Microsoft sees Yahoo as a way to compete with arch-rival Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) in the Internet search and advertising arena, but it has limits to what it is willing to pay to get a deal done.

“We’re prepared to move forward without a merger with Yahoo,” Ballmer said. “We think the best way to move forward quickly (and gain critical mass against Google) is to come together with Yahoo.”

“Hopefully that works free instant credit score estimator. But if it doesn’t, we go forward,” he said. “Time is money. We made (that) clear in the last letter we sent.”

In that letter, Ballmer set a Saturday deadline for Yahoo’s board to accept a deal with Microsoft or face a lower bid that Microsoft would take directly to Yahoo’s shareholders. Yahoo’s board of directors has said Microsoft’s cash-and-stock offer significantly undervalues the company.

Analysts downplayed the possibility of Microsoft walking away from the deal.

“It is unlikely Microsoft will walk away, as the company has a strategic imperative to establish a more significant presence in Internet advertising,” Marianne Wolk, analyst with Susquehanna Financial Group, wrote in a report on Wednesday. 

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Local health departments face a mounting work force crisis as they struggle to recruit, train and retain qualified workers ranging from nurses to epidemiologists, according to a study released today by the Center for Studying Health System Change.

Inadequate funding, a lack of competitive salaries and benefits, an exodus of retiring workers, too few trained workers and lack of enthusiasm for public health as a career choice were all reasons for the shortage, according to the study. It was funded through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Respondents described public health funding as inadequate, undermining public health agencies’ ability to recruit and retain a sufficient and trained work force savings account payday advance. Many respondents blamed a lack of political support for public health.

Uncompetitive salaries were the most frequently cited reason for being unable to attract candidates to public health, especially new graduates who have to pay off large student loans.

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A buyout of hobbled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial likely would be approved by regulators, analysts say, because otherwise the company could file for bankruptcy, injecting further uncertainty into the home-loan market.

Bank of America Corp. is in talks to acquire Countrywide, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported Thursday online, citing unidentified people familiar with the deal. The transaction would put the country’s largest mortgage lender, which has experienced a surge in home-loan defaults and has seen its share price plummet, in the hands of the largest U.S. bank by market capitalization.

A Bank of America-led buyout is “the one and only hope that (Countrywide) has” to avoid bankruptcy, according to Sean Egan, managing director of independent ratings firm Egan-Jones Ratings Co. Egan-Jones warned earlier this week that Countrywide could “falter” unless it receives an infusion of $4 billion in capital within the next two weeks.

“I cannot imagine that the regulators want Countrywide to go under,” said Bert Ely, a banking industry consultant in Alexandria, Va. “I think they’re actually quite nervous about that.”

A combination of Bank of America and Countrywide would require approval from the Federal Reserve, and possibly other agencies. Banking regulators declined to comment on the reports.

Federal law bars banks from making acquisitions that would increase a bank’s market share to 10 percent of U.S. deposits, and Bank of America is nearing that point at 9.88 percent. However, experts disagreed about whether deposits held by Countrywide’s federally regulated thrift, Countrywide Bank, would count toward that limit.

In addition, banking industry experts say Bank of America could easily lower the total amount of money held in deposits by lowering interest rates and losing deposits to competitors.

Federal bank regulators “are not looking to clean up messes like the largest mortgage originator in the country going under,” said Bart Nater, a San Francisco-based senior analyst with consulting firm Celent.

Regulators are likely to be far more concerned with whether Countrywide fails — and the economic ramifications of such a large collapse — than with consolidation in the mortgage industry, Nater said.

For the first nine months of 2007, Countrywide was the largest U.S. mortgage lender, while Bank of America ranked fifth, according to trade publication Inside Mortgage Finance pay day advance. Its publisher, Guy Cecala called the potential deal “by far the most palatable way to resolve Countrywide’s problems.”

A failure at Countrywide, Cecala said, would have severe ripple effects, including forcing the industry and regulators to figure out who would take on the responsibility of collecting payments for millions of U.S. home loans.

It wasn’t clear how quickly a deal might be struck for Countrywide, which has been roiled this week by rumors that a bankruptcy filing was imminent. The Journal reported that negotiations between the two companies could fall apart.

Bank of America, which took on a 16 percent stake in Countrywide over the summer, told The Associated Press it does not comment on market rumor or market speculation. Countrywide did not immediately return calls or e-mails seeking comment.

Countrywide shares climbed $2.63, or 51.4 percent, to close at $7.75 Thursday, while Bank of America shares rose 56 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $39.30.

The New York Stock Exchange said Thursday it asked Countrywide to issue a public statement indicating whether there are any corporate developments that can explain the “unusual” trading activity. The exchange said the Countrywide declined to comment.

Countrywide’s stock has plummeted in recent days to record lows amid intensifying anxiety among investors over a continuing surge in defaults and foreclosures afflicting the Calabasas, Calif., lender and others in the mortgage industry.

Last August, the mortgage lender drew on an $11.5 billion line of credit to steady itself.

Bank of America aided Countrywide by buying $2 billion in the form of nonvoting, convertible preferred stock yielding 7.25 percent annually. The shares can be converted into common shares of Countrywide at $18 per share, with certain restrictions.

If Bank of America should convert the shares, it would hold between 16 percent and 17 percent of Countrywide shares. Like other lenders, Countrywide has tightened its credit guidelines and stopped selling some types of adjustable rate loans.

Last month, when asked whether he saw any opportunities to make yet another deal to expand his financial services empire, Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis casually answered, “Nothing that comes to mind.” When asked specifically about Countrywide, Lewis said he would have “to eat about seven years of my words” if he ever made a deal in the mortgage industry.

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