ENERGY, METALS, CURRENCIES

Oil prices declined as traders weighed the approaching winter season in the Northern Hemisphere and the lower fuel demand. Light sweet crude for November delivery fell 74 cents to trade at $61.10 a barrel on the Nymex. Heating oil lost about 3 cents to $1.935 a gallon. Gasoline slipped nearly 4 cents to $1.792 a gallon. London Brent dropped $1.04 to $58.17.

Gold hit an 18-year high, climbing close to $480 in European trading. In London the precious metal December contract briefly touched $479.60 per ounce, but then retreated to $477.40. per troy ounce, up from $475. In Hong Kong gold rose $6 to close at $478.55. Silver jumped to a 10-month high, trading at $7.82 up from $7.67.

Copper hit a record price of $1.82 a pound on supply-and-demand issues.

In European trading the U.S. dollar climbed against its major counterparts on positive payroll data Friday and news that Angela Merkel will take over as the new German chancellor, a fact raising doubts about the healing reforms in the country’s economy. The euro was quoted at $1.2044, down from $1.2121.The dollar changed hands at 114.27 yen, up from 113.76. The British pound was trading at $1.752, down from $1.7624.

EARNINGS NEWS

Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC: chart), defense company, announced that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita will lead to a 25-to-30-cents-a-share charge in Q3 and repairs will amount to approximately $1 billion. The company revised its guidance for 2005 earnings to the range of $3.55 to $3.65 a share, down vs. a previous outlook of between $3.90 and $4 a share. The company stated it envisages a total hurricane impact on 2005 earnings of 40 cents a share, with work delays accounting for 8 cents of that total. Northrop announced that hurricanes will not damage its overall financial performance.

Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (NAT: chart), oil tanker shipper, posted Q3 net income on Monday of 26 cents a share, down from 57 cents a share in the same period last year missing analysts’ expectations of 43 cents a share. The company announced that its Q3 dividend would be 60 cents a share, payable Nov. 17 to shareholders of record on Nov. 2.

W.R. Berkley Corp. (BER: chart), insurance holding company, announced after the closing bell on Friday that it anticipates losses in Q3 of 24 cents a share after-tax, due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The company's pre-tax estimates involve losses of $35 million incurred from Katrina and $15 million from Rita, and are net of applicable reinsurance and reinstatement premiums.

Dominion Homes Inc. (DHOM: chart), single family homes builder, announced after Friday's closing bell that its Q3 earnings will miss analysts’ expectations of 38 cents a share, due to lower-than-expected home sales and deliveries. The company stated that it sold 433 homes in Q3, down from 598 homes a year earlier, a decline of 28%. The sales value of the homes sold during Q3 declined 25%, to $81.8 million from $109.4 million in the year-ago period.

Unisys Corp. (UIS: chart), provider of services and technology to commercial businesses, announced that it would post a Q3 loss of 7 cents to 9 cents a share, including a two-cent charge for a change in debt redemption, missing analysts’ forecasts of a loss of 4 cents a share. The company had previously forecasted earnings of 4 cents to 6 cents a share. The net loss, including pension expense, would amount to 16 cents to 18 cents a share. Revenue would drop 4% on lower-than-anticipated results in both its services and technology businesses.

Mercantile Bank Corp. (MBWM: chart), banking services company, reported on Monday that Q3 net income advanced to 56 cents a share, up vs. 41 cents in the year-ago period on revenue growth, matching analysts’ estimate. Net interest income rose 30% while non-interest income came to a 15% increase over the comparable period last year.

CORPORATE NEWS

Lincoln National Corp., insurance provider, has agreed to buy Jefferson-Pilot Corp. for $7.5 billion, or $55.48 a share in cash and stock. The deal is one of the most significant in recent times and will create one of the nation's biggest public life-insurance companies.