let's go to sharon at the nynex. >> couple of pennies higher. local equities did help in the overnight session to bring oil prices above $71 a barrel. we are below that level right now. we did get from hong kong gdp data in the second quarter, indlees helped some asian stocks and that was helping oil prices overnight. right now, again, we are still in this $70 to $72 range. probably trading in this tight range ahead of the weekend here. we are also looking at the dollar index at its lowest level in a week. and the dollar fell even a little bit more after we did get that cpi data. gold hanging on to the gains barely. up almost $2 right now. gold right now will ultimately watch the session. back to you. >> in air a overnight, japan's nikkei gaining .8% to end at its highest level this year. there's the number. 10,597. hong kong's hang seng up. shanghai composite went the other way, down 3%. guy johnson in london, what's up where you are? >> we generally are higher. i know you guys are peeved about the fact that france and germany are coming out of

now to brian schactman for the latest at the nynex. matt it is interesting we talk about the dollar impact, equity impact, now the storms to talk about, a little bit of a buzz going here on the floor, not really sure what it is it is not about the prices, we are down. one thing we haven't talked about is china. disappointing data over the weekend with. of course, the stock market tanked pretty solidly overnight. share a quote with you from mike fitzpatrick at ms global. oil record oil demand from china, where record imports were registered recently will not be enough to carry the world out of the recession either. this is the lows for the whole month of august. a lot of traders coming up to me and saying see how $65 is defended that will be key. preaching to the downside, look out. i also want to take a quick look at the metals market, down across-the-board in commodities, you look at goals a weak ago, talking about potentially poised for another push toward 1,000 that is off the table now. i want to point out, similar to equities, rig

i'm brian shackman, the nynex in lower manhattan.de continues to the upside, 6% plus last week. the second largest refiner coming out and saying they are going to spend 35 billion in the next two years in capital expenditures that is significant. routers saying chinese royal demand year over year up 3.5%. the iraqi oil minister saying today opec should not boost production at its meeting. prices where they need to be. nat gas. dollar is stronger, gold down, silver and copper are to the upside. melissa, back to you. >> brian, i just want to point this out, oil is a big story today, trading right at the top this range oil trapped in for a while, everybody familiar with the top of the 50s up to mid 70s trying to get to the high 70s, this is a pretty essential trade today. what are the people on the floor telling you whether they can break free? they are feeling resistance? >> volume is still relatively light. if they do breakthrough 7 to 5, they think the past to 802085 is relatively clear. so, does seem to be a battleground. we got as

sharply at the start, drifting ever since, down about five bucks in two trading sessions here with nynex. last week, crude that $65 level seems to get a lot of support, bounce, every time we get close to 65, bounce back up. really quick, people asking about the storms. the bottom line is that claudette has weaken and bill, hurricane bill, the first hurricane of the season, isn't trending toward any trouble spots for oil and gas. that's why i want to look at nat gas, seven in a row down days, looks like it is going to be eight. gas very sensitive to whap what happens in the refinery region. i want to quickly point out before guy to chicago, metals are all down, all know a very tight ring since the open, back to you in chicago, mr. san tele. >> thanks, brian. let's look at the good, the bad and the interesting. the good is definitely the pound today. if you look at the pound versus the dollar for the day, you can see the pound getting hit hard. in futures terms it is down close to 180 points, but if you look at a one-month chart, really see august has not been kind to the pound from 170 do

nest toe over at the nasdaq, stackman at the nynex and mr. san teleon bonds. sellout could actually be considered a good thing. >>> also, can care lines overcome this recession? we will take a look at that one and how you play it. >>> in "call of the wild," should the government rescind a $100 million apackage for andrew paul. lots at the top of the hour. but first, back to mark and erin. >> thanks very much, trish. [ inaudible ]. >> happens to everybody.y. >> are investors living confident or come too far, too fast. get to the market psychology task force. here is a consulting firm for traders, traders psyche, and a chief market strategist as well as a market analyst for us. okay. thanks to both of you. mark was upset. he likes denise. he does feel a little sad about what you have to say which is we may not be in such a good place. >> may not be in such a good place. there was this key level, s & p 106, 108, talking futures, only a point or so from the cash, november highs. we tried the last few weeks to get through them on the upside and we clearly didn't ma