quarter earnings, corporate America will blame oil, like retailers blame bad weather," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Asset Management in New York. "To an extent, it's justified because every time it goes up, it squeezes out other consumer purchases and adds costs to manufacturers." Industrial conglomerate 3M Co. and aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co. both fell. 3M slipped 0.8 percent to $75.52 and Boeing fell 0.8 percent to $64.46, both on the NYSE. U.S. crude oil futures for August delivery rose $1.08 to $60 a barrel on worries about the possible impact of a new Atlantic storm. Just a day earlier oil fell on relief that Hurricane Dennis had passed without major disruption to oil infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico. Shares of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. dropped 2.5 percent to $6.93 on the Nasdaq. UBS lowered its investment rating on the subscription radio company to "neutral" from "buy," citing valuation, MarketWatch reported on its Web site.
