1) Google takes aim at Microsoft with new Web browser
Google is releasing its own Web browser in a long-anticipated move aimed at countering the dominance of Microsoft’s IE and ensuring easy access to its market-leading search engine. Taking an unusual step of announcing its latest product on the Labor Day holiday, Google prematurely sent out a comic book drawn up to herald the new browser's arrival, expected at a week after Microsoft's unveiling of a test version of its latest browser update, Internet Explorer 8.
Although Google is using a cartoonish approach to promote Chrome, the new browser underscores the gravity of Google's rivalry with Microsoft, whose IE is used by about 75% of Web surfers. For the past few years, Google has been trying to take advantage of its search engine's popularity to loosen Microsoft's grip on how most people interact with personal computers.
In a blog post Monday, Google touted Chrome as a more sophisticated Web browser better suited for displaying the dynamic and interactive content blossoming on the Web as people migrate from television, radio and newspapers.

2) Asia stock markets tumble on worries about slump
Stocks fell around the world Monday, led by Asian exchanges as concerns about a slowing global economy weighed heavily on the markets. Global investors were uneasy after the US on Friday released figures showing decreasing personal incomes and weak consumer spending -- suggesting softer demand for foreign goods. Across Asia, companies that depend on the U.S. and other export markets took a beating, with cautious comments from computer maker Dell Inc. weighing on the technology sector.
Oil prices also topped concerns as Hurricane Gustav churned along the Gulf Coast, where oil companies had shut down drilling and refining operations. However, signs that Gustav was weakening eased some of investors' uneasiness as the day wore on. While crude had risen $2.79 to $118.25 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile exchange early in the day, it later retreated dramatically to trade at $111.12 a barrel, down $4.34 from Friday's settlement.

News on Gustav
3) Oil down sharply as Gustav seen weakening
Oil prices tumbled to $111/barrel Monday as Hurricane Gustav weakened along the Gulf Coast and posed less of a threat to oil drilling and refining operations. A stronger dollar also helped send oil lower after crude gained nearly $3 to trade above $118 a barrel in anticipation of Gustav's hitting Louisiana. Light, sweet crude for October delivery was down $4.34 at $111.12 in late afternoon electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Friday, the contract fell 13 cents to settle at $115.46 a barrel.
Before Gustav reached the Gulf Coast, investors were concerned about heavy damage that would disrupt oil operations. Some analysts, however, said the market's response to Gustav was not as strong as some predicted. U.S. energy risk management firm Cameron Hanover described reaction as "extremely subdued."

4) Gustav depletes airlines' Labor Day business
By disrupting travel to and from the Gulf Coast, Gustav denied the airline industry some critical revenue over the Labor Day holiday weekend. Gustav was also expected to nick tourism, insurers and utilities. Although quantifying losses in these sectors and the region's energy infrastructure will be difficult until the storm that made US landfall Monday blows over, early indications suggest the impact wasn't nearly as bad as after Hurricane Katrina three years ago. Some Gulf Coast companies are even likely to see a moderate boost in business.
Some observers were breathing a sigh of relief that the storm weakened as it came ashore in south Louisiana, avoiding a direct hit on flood-prone New Orleans and boosting hope that the city would avoid catastrophic flooding. But the weather was severe enough to force the cancellation Monday of more than 135 flights to and from airports in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

5) Gustav loses stranglehold on energy prices
The punch of Hurricane Gustav appeared to fall softly Monday on the vast energy complex along the US Gulf Coast, allowing oil market traders to focus not on storm damage, but on their growing anxiety over the state of the global economy.
Even as 110 mph winds raked refineries that line the coast and rushed over the deep-water rigs off the shores of Texas and Louisiana, the price for a barrel of oil plummeted by more than $4 a barrel to just above $111 because Gustav was weaker than expected.
Still, the storm's impact on production platforms, drilling rigs and other equipment likely won't be fully known for another day or so. Assuming no damage, it typically takes two to four days to restart a refinery, depending on its size. It can take a day or two to get offshore oil and natural-gas production going again. In 2005, hurricanes Katrina and Rita knocked out the region's offshore energy infrastructure for several weeks