Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. (MER) has raised its annual infrastructure-spending estimate for emerging markets by 80%, as developing countries try to keep pace with fast-growing economies and large cash reserves, BusinessWeek reported.

In the energy market Thursday, crude for August delivery jumped as high as $146, before settling at yet another alltime closing high of $145.29 up $1.72. July reformulated gasoline tacked on 2.2 cents, to $3.571/gallon.

Editor’s Note: Are market fundamentals to blame for sky-high crude oil prices? Of course not, says Andrew Gordon. It’s the tens of billions of dollars pouring into the oil futures markets are. Sure, demand is high – but the high-end costs of producing oil are $70 max, so a barrel of the black goo should cost about $110.

The price of oil climbed 38% between April and June, the biggest quarterly increase in nine years. Today oil stood at $141 a barrel, a slight drop from yesterday’s sky-high $143.

Editor’s Note: Money Morning’s William Patalon III says Dubai’s oil-sponsored development bonanza could yield some great returns on well-placed investments. At the top of the list is Dubai’s ambitious $82-billion plans for the aerospace industry.

Crude oil prices are up again today despite a pledge by Saudi Arabia to boost production.

Traders focused instead on disruptions to Nigerian supply and heightened Middle East tensions — namely Iran’s threat of a “devastating” response to any attack on its nuclear sites by Israel.

On Friday, Pentagon officials said a large-scale Israeli military exercise in the eastern Mediterranean early this month may have been a dress rehearsal by Israeli forces for an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.