Harold Maass of The Week The Best of Today's Business

NEWS AT A GLANCE

BP turns off the spigot

Oil giant BP (BP) has shut down the biggest oil field in the U.S. to replace a corroded piece of pipeline that is leaking. The Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska provides 8 percent of U.S. production. The loss of its 400,000 barrels a day won't create a big supply problem, but it will cause jittery traders to bid up the price of oil, said Tetsu Emori of Mitsui Bussan Futures of Tokyo. "Oil prices could increase by as much as $10 per barrel," he said. (USA Today) Oil prices surged roughly 2 percent on news of the shutdown, which hit as summer gasoline demand peaked. (Bloomberg)

Google and Viacom try something new

Google (GOOG) plans to distribute Viacom (VIA) video clips in an experiment aiming to tap into the growing popularity of online video. The plan is to sell ads to be matched up with excerpts from "SpongeBob Squarepants," MTV's "Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County," and the MTV Video Music Awards. Web site owners will then be allowed to post the material, something many already do with YouTube clips. But the Viacom content will give the Web sites something new -- a slice of ad revenue. (The New York Times, free registration required)

Apple's fishy options

Apple Computer (AAPL) granted executives stock options dated just before the company's stock surged on several occasions between 1997 and 2001, The Wall Street Journal (paid subscription required) reported today. In January 2001, Apple gave four top officers -- not including CEO Steve Jobs -- options on 8 million shares on the eve of a rosy earnings report. The next day the stock jumped by 11 percent, giving the executives an instant paper profit of $7.5 million. (Reuters)

U.S. beef returns to Japan

Japan resumed limited imports of U.S. beef today after cutting off shipments in January over fears of mad cow disease. Japan was the biggest overseas market for American beef before it cut off imports in December 2003. It briefly allowed purchases of meat from young cattle, but clamped down again after a faulty shipment slipped past inspectors. Japan is taking no chances today -- airport inspectors and Health Ministry officials will examine every box in the 5.1-ton shipment imported today by Costco Wholesale's Japanese unit before the meat is sent to stores. (AP in Yahoo! Finance)

BEST COLUMNS OF THE DAY

The Fed needs a breather

The Federal Reserve can finally give it a rest, says John M. Berry in Bloomberg.com. The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee has hiked short-term interest rates at 17 straight meetings to slow down economic growth and keep inflation under control. It should pause at its meeting tomorrow. Last week's feeble jobs report "provided further confirmation -- if any was really needed -- that U.S. economic growth has slowed significantly." Another hike now could do more harm than good.

Brands rule the world ... sort of

Brands have tremendous value, says Sebastian Mallaby in The Washington Post (free registration required), so companies go to great lengths to protect them. Nike doesn't have to "pay more than the prevailing wage" in poor countries. It does so to preserve its good name. Wendy's stopped frying food in trans fats for the same reason. And Wal-Mart's "environmental makeover was essential" to shoring up its besieged brand. "Washington seems incapable of tackling serious policy challenges," so it's nice to have the "rising power of brands" on the side of public health, workers, and the environment.

GOOD DAY FOR: Underdogs, as Japan's Big Three automakers -- Toyota (TM), Honda (HMC), and Nissan -- have seen sales drop in their home market as buyers snap up small, fuel-efficient minicars made by Suzuki Motor and other smaller companies. (MarketWatch.com)

BAD DAY FOR: Secrets, as India's highest court has ordered Coca-Cola (KO) to divulge its secret formula. The court ordered Coke and PepsiCo (PEP) to divulge their ingredients after an environmental group said the companies' soft drinks contained high levels of pesticide residues -- a claim industry spokesmen emphatically denied. (The (London) Times)

NOTED: Thirty-seven percent of teens and 39 percent of young adults ages 18 to 24 said they would pick a computer if they could have only one electronic device. Twenty-one percent of both age groups chose a cell phone, and only 15 percent of teens and 17 percent of young adults picked a TV. (Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll)