HP Buys EDS; St. George Agrees to Westpac Takeover; UPS Fights Uphill Battle Against Gas Prices; Cameco Profit’s a “Cake” Walk; Petrobras Post 68% 1Q Profit; High Cost of Oil Dampens Demand; AIG Raises Capital; Yahoo Jumps on Possible Proxy Battle.

The base metals were mostly higher on Tuesday. Copper pushed higher in the pre-dawn hours, but then dropped in New York, rallying slightly at the end to finish at $3.7897/lb., down a bit less than a penny.

A little less than 12 months ago, the world’s biggest financial players suddenly found they could not turn some $1.3 trillion of their assets into cash.

The base metals were down again on Friday. Copper plummeted for a third straight day, dropping from the open to past noon, after which it did bump up at the end to finish at $3.7796/lb., down 6½ cents.

We’re in the middle of a recession and there are a ton of expensive stocks on the market. Are they worth it? I just did a search of companies with price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios of over 100. These stocks are pricey. Buying reasonably priced companies in the best of times can be tricky.

U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers will likely cut its key interest rate to 2.0% from 2.25% this, which would mark the seventh such move since the central bank launched its rate-reduction campaign in mid-September.

Another multibillion-dollar write-down hits the Street. China gets chopped in two… Shanghai Composite erases 2007 gains. Rice at another record high… U.N. warns of coming “silent famine,” food rationing hits U.S. soil. Euro near $1.60… global finance chiefs grow tired of the declining dollar.

How does the prospect of $4 a gallon gasoline sound to you? Undoubtedly, it doesn’t sound all that great. But what if I said that gasoline prices were headed for the $4 a gallon level, but once they got there, they’d head no higher?

Boeing Struggles to Get 787 Off Ground; Citigroup Sells $12 Billion in Loans; UPS Failing to Deliver; American Airlines Cancels 1,000 Flights; IBCB Expects 50% First-Quarter Profit Spike; Hershey Trust CEO to Retire; New Oil High; Wholesale Inventories Climb.

U.S. markets headed lower today (Wednesday) on profit and recessionary worries.