By Diane Lindquist UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER May 2, 2003

Jeffrey Davidow, former U.S. ambassador to Mexico, has been selected to lead the Institute of the Americas, an independent institution at UCSD that promotes relations among the United States, Canada and Latin America.

The selection was confirmed yesterday by institute founder and board member Theodore E. Gildred.

"He's going to take the institute to a new level," Gildred said. "He wants to bring some new programs that will broaden the scope. He's going to bring a fresh overview."

Davidow, who will become the institute's president in June, succeeds Paul H. Boeker, a former ambassador to Jordan and Bolivia who directed the institute for 14 years. Boeker had announced his retirement before his unexpected death in late March of a brain tumor.

Davidow often visited San Diego when he was ambassador to Mexico and has already met many of the cross-border region's leaders.

"He's an incredible choice," said James Clark, director of the Mexico Business Center at the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce. "I think he sees San Diego as the gateway or linchpin to all of Latin America. I can't imagine that they could have chosen anyone better qualified."

Davidow, one of only three people designated as "career ambassadors," will leave the Foreign Service after 35 years in international diplomacy.

He currently is a visiting fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard. He served as U.S. ambassador to Mexico for four years under former President Bill Clinton and 11/2 years under President George W. Bush before leaving in September 2002.

Davidow also was assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs and U.S. ambassador to Zambia and Venezuela. Over the course of his career, he was posted to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Guatemala and Chile.

"I hope to bring to the institute 35 years of experience in government, most of that dedicated to improving relations between the United States and Latin America," Davidow said yesterday by telephone from Harvard.

He said looks forward to continuing that effort as president of the Institute of the Americas and to promoting greater ties and a synergy with the University of California San Diego and its Latin American studies programs.

"Obviously, quality of life in San Diego was an important factor, too," he said.

The Chamber's Clark predicted Davidow will be a major figure on the scene, especially since his duties include fund raising.

The nonprofit institute serves as a catalyst for promoting development and cooperation, especially through the private sector, to improve the economic and social well-being of the people of the Americas.

It has a modest endowment of $7 million, Gildred said, mostly supplied by such corporate members as BP International, Grupo Inversión, McKinsey & Co. and Sempra Energy International.

Gastón Luken Sr. of GE Capital Mexico, the Institute of the Americas' board chairman, predicted that Davidow's familiarity with current events and political and business leaders in the Americas will prove invaluable to the organization.

"The situation in Latin America right now is going through a transition, and Latin America will come back on scene very soon," Luken said. "(Davidow) has a very valuable background, but more importantly, he has a vision of the future."

Diane Lindquist: (619) 293-1812; diane.lindquist@uniontrib.com

By Melissa Davis Staff Reporter 05/02/2003 11:26 AM EDT

Former underdog ChevronTexaco (CVX:NYSE - news - commentary - research - analysis) is starting to look like big oil's hottest star.

After a series of misfires -- including a disastrous shot at energy trading -- ChevronTexaco jumped past some sizzling competitors to deliver the biggest upside surprise of the quarter.

The energy giant, which became the nation's second-largest oil company through a merger in 2001, reported first-quarter profits of $1.99 per share that toppled Wall Street expectations by 18 cents. All together, the company reported first-quarter profits of $1.92 billion that more than doubled profits of $725 million one year ago.

The stock jumped $1.10 to $64.10 on the news.

"They had everything going against them last year," said Fahnestock analyst Fadel Gheit, who recommends buying the stock and owns shares in the company himself. "But now, they're firing on all cylinders. They did much better than the other majors."

West Is Best

Like its competitors, ChevronTexaco benefited from soaring energy prices pushed higher by the war in Iraq and disruption in Venezuela. But the company's success was amplified by its industry-leading leverage to both energy prices and refinery margins in the West Coast. Those same focuses, combined with a doomed foray into energy trading, hammered ChevronTexaco during the unfavorable conditions that followed the company's merger.

A year ago, Gheit said, ChevronTexaco was reeling from hurricane damage in the Gulf of Mexico, government blackmailing in foreign locations and -- most notably -- a bad $3 billion bet on energy trader Dynegy (DYN:NYSE - news - commentary - research - analysis).

"Investor confidence has been shot," he admitted. "Hopefully, they're on the right track now."

CEO Dave O'Reilly insists that's the case. He pointed to ChevronTexaco's recent quarter as evidence of a turnaround.

"The first quarter's financial results were the best since our merger in late 2001," O'Reilly said. "Taken together, the first quarter financial results, our recent operational successes and the longer-term initiatives combine to underscore our company's solid foundation and the significant potential to create value for our stockholders."

Running the Table The company's performance improved almost across the board during the quarter. Overall sales surged 47% to $31 billion. Upstream profits, generated from exploration and production, jumped 73% to $1.97 billion. Meanwhile, the company's refinery unit -- where margins can be hurt by higher oil prices -- actually swung from a $61 million loss to a $315 million profit.

Only ChevronTexaco's chemical division, which generally contributes less than 5% to the company's bottom line, weathered a drop-off. There, profits tumbled from $15 million to $3 million during the quarter.

"Chemicals are universally weak right now," Gheit explained. "But they'd rather take that any time. They're happy to get the higher [energy] prices."

Meanwhile, the company continues to benefit from merger-related synergies. So far, Chevron and Texaco have saved $2 billion by combining forces.

But despite the company's progress, the stock continues to languish. The shares actually commanded 30% more during ChevronTexaco's difficult period a year ago.

Still, Gheit believes the stock could jump 20% to a fairer valuation of $75 a share. In the meantime, he points out that ChevronTexaco pays the highest-yielding dividend of the majors.

Roughly half of the analysts following ChevronTexaco recommend that clients buy the stock. On average, analysts expect the stock to go to $70 a share.

Shares of Chevron were trading at $64.71, up $1.71, or 2.71%.

Fri May 2, 2003 08:26 AM ET By Steve Slater

LONDON, May 2 (<a href=reuters.com>Reuters) - A sharp fall by Anglo-Dutch consumer products giant Unilever ULVR.L helped cut gains for Britain's leading shares on Friday, as investors continued to fret about the brittle economy.

But support was provided by strong oil stocks after record profits from Shell SHEL.L and firm drugs stocks such as Shire Pharmaceuticals SHP.L after this week's buoyant results.

By 1200 GMT the FTSE 100 index .FTSE was up 13.1 points, or 0.3 percent, at 3,893.2, back from an early peak of 3,911.1. Volume was light ahead of a three-day UK holiday weekend and doubts about near-term direction.

Unilever shares fell 6.8 percent after the company reported a slim two percent rise in first-quarter profits and said earnings and sales of its top brands fell short of forecasts -- hit by poor sales in March, especially in North America.

Analysts said the figures heightened the twin concerns that consumer spending has slowed and corporate earnings growth in the first quarter has mainly been on the back of reduced expectations and cost cutting, rather than underlying growth.

"There's still caution about earnings forecasts for this year and next. While that scepticism prevails, investors will be quite cautious about re-rating markets that are already trading above long-term averages," said Alex Scott, analyst at Seven Investment Management.

Scott said a rally by equities in April was achieved despite continued weak economic data. "Unless we see a pick up soon it will be hard for markets to pick up from here," he said.

After weaker-than-expected U.S. manufacturing and jobs numbers and signs of a cooling in the UK housing market, the release of U.S. non-farm payroll data at 1230 GMT is likely to dictate the early mood on Wall Street.

BUMPER OIL, DRUGS PROFITS

Shell was the latest oil major to report record quarterly profits, as the war in Iraq, civil unrest in Nigeria and strikes in Venezuela stoked crude oil prices.

Shell added one percent after its first quarter net profit adjusted for one-off items almost doubled to $3.9 billion, above the range of analysts' expectations. BP BP.L rose 0.9 percent.

But defence contractor BAE Systems BA.L fell 4.6 percent, which dealers came after stockbroker Cazenove cut its rating on the company to "reduce".

Among smaller companies, holiday firm MyTravel MT.L leapt 30 percent after it reported a drop in bookings but said it saw signs of recovery as war in Iraq ends, which also helped lift First Choice FCD.L shares three percent.

(Additional reporting by Keiron Henderson)

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Friday, May 02, 2003 By: David Coleman

Irresponsible accusations are flying through the air after the death of 46-year-old Richard Herrera in a shooting incident at Plaza O'Leary in Caracas during an opposition Confederation of Venezuelan Trade Unions (CTV) May 1 demonstration.  Paramedics who were quickly on the scene say several others were injured but that Herrera had been killed from several bullets to the chest.  Felix Lungar (32), also wounded in the shooting, was rushed to the University Hospital Clinic as CICPC detectives began a thorough investigation.

Chacao Mayor Leopoldo Lopez says the demo was progressing peacefully when a verbal altercation broke out and he heard five distinct gunshots.  "Everything happened very quickly, I was about 15 meters from where it happened ... then there were people running away ... unfortunately, there were no policemen close at hand ... the killer got away but there were witnesses who saw him and they described him as wearing a white shirt and camouflage trousers."

National Assembly (AN) deputy, Gerardo Blyde told reporters in the El Silencio district of Caracas that the suspect has been identified as a local criminal aliased "The Chicken" whose last known residence was in Block 1G and that he escaped capture through the parking area.  Other versions of what happened claim two people shooting from a motorcycle.

Proyecto Venezuela deputy Maria Gabriela Mataudon says she saw the alleged killer fire off the shots and then being taken away in a police car ... a witness adds that it was a State Political & Security (DISIP) police patrol car and that the arresting officer was identified by badge number 21.534.

More than 2,000 officers from the Metropolitan Police (PM), National Guard (GN), PoliCaracas and Fire Emergency crews had covered the demonstration but PM deputy director Lazaro Forero says it was impossible to foresee the tragedy.  "We did not expect it ... it was a surprise to everyone and we are trying to get to the bottom of what really happened."

Opposition Globovision TV News channel did not delay much in bringing live pictures from the scene, highlighting unsubstantiated accusations that the shooting had taken place on direct orders from the Chavez Frias government.  Official Ombudsman German Mundarain says, however, that the shooting resulted from a one-on-one verbal dispute between two people in Plaza O'Leary, and that one of the two pulled out a gun and fired.  "We can not at this stage attach any political motive to the shooting ... the gunman escaped into one of the buildings close by but we have clear signals as to his identity and he will be captured sooner or later."

Mundarain says he regrets that there have been so much irresponsible public speculation as to who, what or why lies behind the Plaza O'Leary shooting ... "we have no evidence that this crime has any political motive and there is no evidence to substantiate any such claim ... it appears to me to be highly irresponsible to make such statements as have been attributed to elements of the opposition since it doesn't contribute anything to the maintenance of peace and general order."

In update news, Metropolitan Caracas Mayor Alfredo Pena says five were injured and 9 have been detained following Thursday's, Mat 1 demonstrations across the capital.  The injured have been named as Alfonso Ochoa, Jorge Espinosa, Luis Tovar and Junior Contreras who were treated at hospital emergency rooms while Jaime Leon is in intensive care at the Military Hospital although expected to be off the danger list shortly.

Metropolitan Police (PM) officers have reportedly detained Rafael Urbina (19), Jackson Aborrea (22), Felix Moreno (19), Carlos Borrero (35), Franklin Ortiz (19), Carlos Alberto Montero (33), Alberto Fernandez (44), Erika Contreras (22) and Jose Pulido on an assortment of weapons-related charges.

Pena says he regrets the latest acts of political violence and adds "it will not be possible to return peace to the streets unless we can disarm these violent groups and if proper elections are not supervised by international inspection organizations."

news24.com 02/05/2003 12:56  - (SA)  

London - Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch/Shell Group saw its profits nearly double in the first three months of the year when it benefited from rising oil prices before the war in Iraq, the company said on Friday.

Net earnings, based on the current cost of supplies and excluding special items, rose to $3.914bn, an increase of 96% from the equivalent figure last year, Shell said.

"The earnings reflected significantly higher hydrocarbon prices," among other factors, the company said in a statement.

According to Shell's own statistics, the price of Brent crude oil averaged $31.50 a barrel over the quarter as against $21.15 in the same period last year.

World oil prices rocketed at the start of the year as tensions in the Middle East mounted ahead of the US-led war to unseat Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Prices were also forced up by strike action in Venezuela and unrest in Nigeria which saw around a third of the country's crude exports halted.

On Tuesday, British oil giant BP reported a record first-quarter profit of $3.73bn, up 136%, which it also put down to strong oil prices.