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Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown analyst Ed Tirello initiated coverageof Caminus Corp. with a Strong Buy rating, predicting that theenergy industry’s spending on information technology and softwarewould grow significantly in the next few years.

Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown analyst Ed Tirello initiated coverageof Caminus Corp. with a Strong Buy rating, predicting that theenergy industry’s spending on information technology and softwarewould grow significantly in the next few years.

Wall Street was awash in reports Monday that Akron, OH-basedFirstEnergy Corp. was negotiating to acquire GPU Inc. ofMorristown, NJ, for more than $10 billion in a transaction thatwould create one of the top energy utility companies in the nation.

Houston’s Apache Corp. remains in an acquiring mood, agreeing yesterday to buy Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s offshore oil and gas interests in the Gulf of Mexico for $385 million. The deal calls for Apache to pay Occidental $341 million for the properties this year, then pay $11 million a year for the next four years. Closing is expected by mid-August.

The latest buzz in the oil-patch and on Wall Street is thatindependent producer and marketer Noble Affiliates Inc. of Ardmore,OK, may acquire competitor Ocean Energy Inc. in a transaction thatwould catapult the combined company into the ranks of one of thetop natural gas producers in the United States.

The latest buzz in the oil-patch and on Wall Street is thatindependent producer and marketer Noble Affiliates Inc. of Ardmore,OK, may acquire competitor Ocean Energy Inc. in a transaction thatwould catapult the combined company into the ranks of one of thetop gas producers in the United States.

The gas futures market toppled its Berlin Wall last week, atechnical downtrend that has confined trading since December 1996.A number of fundamental factors, including tightening supply,peaking cooling demand and some very significant technicalindicators, conspired to boost the near month contract up 34.1cents to $2.528/MMBtu and the 12 month strip up 19 cents to $2.61from the previous Friday.

The gas futures market toppled its Berlin Wall last week, atechnical downtrend that has confined trading since December 1996.A number of fundamental factors, including tightening supply andpeaking cooling demand, and some very significant technicalindicators conspired to boost the near month contract up 34.1 centsto $2.528/MMBtu and the 12 month strip up 19 cents to $2.60 fromthe previous Friday.

Enron Corp. last week turned in second quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations, provided evidence the money-losing Enron Energy Services (EES) likely will turn a profit in the fourth quarter, and announced an increased focus on its communications business, which will be classified as a core business.