Enron Seeks Money for Trading Unit as Customers Flee (Update1)
Bloomberg, 12/03/01

Enron Says It Has $1.5 Bln in Bankruptcy Financing (Correct)
Bloomberg, 12/03/01

Enron Acquisition Bid Announced by Standard Power (Update3)
Bloomberg, 12/03/01

Enron to Cut 4,000 Jobs at Headquarters in Houston (Update6)
Bloomberg, 12/03/01

Dynegy Sues Enron in Texas for Natural-Gas Pipeline (Update1)
Bloomberg, 12/03/01

Enron Insiders Sold More Than $1.2 Billion in Stock Since 1990
Bloomberg, 12/03/01

U.S. Banks' Enron Debt Is Overstated, Analysts Say (Update1)
Bloomberg, 12/03/01

Enron Corp. To Cut 4,000 Jobs In U.S., Bulk In Houston
Dow Jones News Service, 12/03/01
Pension Plans Estimating Millions Lost On Enron Invest
Dow Jones News Service, 12/03/01
Funds Liquidate Enron Bond Holdings, See Little Recourse
Dow Jones News Service, 12/03/01
EOTT Energy Partners Not Party To Enron Bankruptcy
Dow Jones News Service, 12/03/01
US Energy Markets Unmoved By Enron Chapter 11 Filing
Dow Jones Energy Service, 12/03/01
Dueling Enron, Dynegy Lawsuits Start Of Long Battle
Dow Jones News Service, 12/03/01
Stocks Slide on Worries about Middle East, Enron; Dow Industrials Down 1% in Late-Afternoon Trading
Dow Jones Business News, 12/03/01
Dueling Enron, Dynegy Lawsuits Start Of Long Battle
Dow Jones News Service, 12/03/01
FERC Chair Sees Enron Fall Fostering Market Transparency
Dow Jones Energy Service, 12/03/01
IN THE MONEY: Enron's Bankruptcy Filing Was A Rush Job
Dow Jones News Service, 12/03/01
USA: Enron says about 4,000 workers to be laid off.
Reuters English News Service, 12/03/01
USA: U.S. House energy panel sets meetings on Enron.
Reuters English News Service, 12/03/01
USA: Enron bankruptcy judge heard more high-profile cases.
Reuters English News Service, 12/03/01
USA: US Northwest Natural seeks to buy Portland General.
Reuters English News Service, 12/03/01
Enron Field moniker uncertain in wake of bankruptcy
Associated Press Newswires, 12/03/01
EOTT Energy Partners, L.P. Not a Party to Enron Bankruptcy
PR Newswire, 12/03/01



Enron Seeks Money for Trading Unit as Customers Flee (Update1)
2001-12-03 18:11 (New York)

Enron Seeks Money for Trading Unit as Customers Flee (Update1)

     (Adds traders' comments in 19th-23rd paragraphs and adds
details about pipelines stopping shipments in 20th paragraph.)

     Houston, Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Enron Corp. is courting
investors to revive its crippled trading business, even as it
loses customers who fear the company will be unable to make good
on its obligations.

     Energy companies such as Mirant Corp. and Aquila Inc. have
taken business elsewhere. At EnronOnline, the Web site that once
handled $2.8 billion in commodity transactions a day, trading has
plunged, raising doubts that Enron will be able to rescue the
trading business.

     Enron, once the largest energy trader, sought protection
yesterday from creditors in a bankruptcy that was the largest in
U.S. history. The company is in talks with financial institutions
to fund the wholesale trading business ``under new ownership,''
Chief Operating Officer Greg Whalley said in a statement.

     ``Until we've seen the fallout from this bankruptcy, I don't
think you're going to find a lot of entities that are prepared to
trade with'' Enron, said Daniel Gordon, head of commodities
trading at Hagerstown, Maryland-based Allegheny Energy Inc., which
owns utilities in five states. ``Anyone who thinks this will be a
quick bankruptcy is deluding themselves.''

     Houston-based Enron has lost $26 billion in market value
since mid-October, when the company restated $586 million in
earnings and disclosed that its executives may have profited from
Enron's dealings with affiliated partnerships that bought Enron
assets.

     Enron, which was the buyer or seller on every transaction on
its Web site, handles only a fraction of the trades it once did.
The company said today it will fire 4,000 workers in Houston.

                     `Difficult to Resurrect'

     The wholesale trading business of EnronOnline, which had been
a valuable property, ``has for all practical purposes ceased
operation and in a post-bankruptcy scenario, may in fact be
difficult to resurrect,'' Fitch Inc., a Chicago-based firm that
rates corporate credit, said in a report today.

     Trading has surged in markets that compete with Enron,
including the New York Mercantile Exchange and Intercontinental
Exchange Inc. Dynegy Inc. Chief Executive Officer Chuck Watson
said his company's energy-trading Web site has seen increased
traffic.

     ``EnronOnline will just disappear,'' said Peter Fusaro,
president of Global Change Associates Inc., a consulting firm in
New York. Enron's portfolio of trades ``is evaporating'' and ``is
replaceable'' with competing electronic trading platforms.

     Dynegy's Watson said on a conference call with analysts and
investors that his company would try to expand in Europe, where
Enron was the dominant energy trader. Enron said Friday it would
fire more than 1,000 workers in Europe.

                           Shutdown

     EnronOnline shut down Wednesday after Dynegy canceled its
plans to buy Enron, depriving Enron of the cash it needed to meet
its obligations and all but ensuring the company would be forced
to seek protection from its creditors.

     Later in the week, the site was offering trading in 472
commodity products, a third of its usual offerings, according to
company officials. On Thursday, the site logged 825 trades, down
from the normal amount of about 5,000.
     ``We're actively trading,'' Enron spokesman Eric Thode said
today, declining to elaborate.

     ``There may still be trading going on, but it's primarily to
unwind positions,'' Fitch credit analyst Ralph Pellecchia said.
``It's certainly not new growth or for profitability. For all
intents and purposes, Enron's horsepower, its earnings-generating
machine, has been effectively shut down.''

                           Needs Capital

     Enron declined to name the ``leading financial institutions''
it is in talks with to provide new capital for the trading
business.

     ``If these discussions are successful, they could result in
the creation of a new trading entity with a strong and
unencumbered balance sheet,'' Whalley said. ``We understand that
it may take time for counterparties to resume normal trading
levels with this entity, but we are confident that this business
can be put back on a solid footing.''

     Enron's top creditors include Citigroup Inc.'s Citibank and
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. The Blackstone Group is helping Enron with
its financial restructuring.

     A revival of Enron's trading business isn't likely anytime
soon, analysts said.

     It may take ``months to years, if ever,'' said David Chang,
manager of natural gas trading at Bank of America NA. In the
meantime, Enron has ``alienated a lot of its suppliers and
customers,'' he said. ``It would be difficult for'' Enron to come
back.

                         Stopped Shipping

     NiSource Inc., which operates 16,000 miles of gas pipelines,
stopped shipping Enron's gas on Saturday because of credit
concerns, company spokesman Kelly Merritt said. Williams Cos.,
which controls 27,000 miles of pipes, stopped shipping Enron's gas
last week.

     ``Enron has lost all credibility,'' Fusaro said.
     In the meantime, some traders that had become accustomed to
the ease and speed of online transactions are finding it difficult
to adjust.

     Kevin Cokinos, co-owner and vice president at Cokinos Energy
Corp. in Houston, said he has had to rely on his old network of
telephone brokers for price quotes rather than Enron's Web site.

     ``It's hard to do as many deals because you're spending so
much more time on each one,'' said Cokinos, whose company trades
about 500 million cubic feet of gas a day. ``We hope somebody
picks up EnronOnline so it will come back the way it operated
before. But that might be kind of tough.''

--Bradley Keoun in the New York newsroom (212) 318-2310 or at


Enron Says It Has $1.5 Bln in Bankruptcy Financing (Correct)
2001-12-03 17:55 (New York)

Enron Says It Has $1.5 Bln in Bankruptcy Financing (Correct)

     (Corrects second paragraph say $250 million is part of the
$1.5 billion in financing, not an additional loan. For more Enron
news, see {TOP NRG <GO>}.)

     New York, Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Enron Corp., which yesterday
filed the biggest bankruptcy case in U.S. history, told a judge in
New York that it has $1.5 billion in bankruptcy financing that
will be provided by a bank group led by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

     The energy trader also asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur
Gonzalez for permission to draw $250 million of the financing
immediately to keep its trading and other operations running while
it tries to reorganize.

--Jeff St. Onge and Jim Polson in New York with Andy Pratt in



Enron Acquisition Bid Announced by Standard Power (Update3)
2001-12-03 17:05 (New York)

Enron Acquisition Bid Announced by Standard Power (Update3)

     (Adds comment from Enron spokeswoman in sixth paragraph)

     Washington, Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Enron Corp., once the
seventh-largest company in the nation, has become the takeover
target of a former natural gas marketer who wants to replace
management and revitalize the bankrupt energy business.

     Richard Ryan, chief executive of an Oak Brook, Illinois,
company called Standard Power & Light Inc., announced an offer to
purchase at least a majority of Enron's common stock for less than
$1 a share. Standard Power expects to file disclosure documents
required for the bid by the end of next week, Ryan said.

     ``From a funding standpoint, everybody is asking me the same
question: `Show me the money!''' Ryan said in an interview. ``Our
goal is to complete the assembly of a management team, make sure
the cash is there to do the deal, and then we are going to start
making the filings.''

     Buying Enron is a less daunting feat than it would have been
before Enron's financial collapse, because its stock market value
has plummeted to $298 million from about $67 billion in August
2000. Still, Ryan, who lacks an established name in the energy
business, must convince Wall Street that his bid is legitimate.

     News of the pending offer caught the interest of investors
and traders, seven of whom called or e-mailed Bloomberg News for
more information on Ryan and Standard Power. Enron shares rose 14
cents, or 54 percent, to 40 cents today.

                         Unusual Offer

     Karen Denne, an Enron spokeswoman, said, to her knowledge,
Enron has yet to receive a formal offer from Standard Power.

     The takeover bid is unusual because Enron, based in Houston,
filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy
code on Sunday. When companies reorganize through a Chapter 11
filing, creditors and bondholders must be repaid before
stockholders. The result is often that creditors get new shares in
the company and existing stockholders are wiped out.

     Enron's bankruptcy proceeding is expected to be complex
because it has many off-balance-sheet liabilities and contingent
obligations. As a result, financial analysts are unsure of the
extent of Enron's liabilities.

     Ryan said he thinks Enron's total debt is $45 billion to $50
billion. Enron and 13 of its units listed assets of $49.8 billion
and debts of $31.2 billion in yesterday's bankruptcy filing.

                         Return to Stockholders

     ``If you sell off the non-energy related business assets and
companies, I think there is a good chance the company can retire
all this debt and make a minimal return to equity holders over a
20- to 25-year term,'' Ryan said.

     Ryan estimated that this return would equal 10 to 12 percent
for current stockholders on an after-tax basis. He said he is
making a number of assumptions in this estimate.

     Standard Power was incorporated about six years ago to
develop power plants and acquire generating assets, Ryan said. In
June, the company sold its assets to a sister company called
Standard Energy Ventures, and Ryan retired.

     Ryan said he has been following Enron since its inception and
formerly worked in gas marketing with a number of people who were
later employed at Enron, the seventh-largest U.S. company in terms
of revenue last year.

     Standard Power is now signing contracts with third parties to
manage Enron's pipeline and generating assets, Ryan said. This
would alleviate some of the company's overhead so that incoming
cash can be used to repay debt, he said.

     A worry for Ryan is that Enron has fired 1,100 people in the
U.K. and said today it will cut 4,000 jobs at its Houston
headquarters. Enron's workforce will be a critical factor in
reviving the company's business and repaying creditors, he said.
     ``If they don't have any assets, we can't pay (the creditors)
back,'' Ryan said.

--Miles Weiss in Washington (202) 624-1879 


Enron to Cut 4,000 Jobs at Headquarters in Houston (Update6)
2001-12-03 17:00 (New York)

Enron to Cut 4,000 Jobs at Headquarters in Houston (Update6)

     (Adds comment from Texas governor in sixth paragraph.)

     Houston, Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Enron Corp. will cut 4,000
jobs at its Houston headquarters, more than half of its staff
there, as part of the energy trader's plan to survive the biggest
bankruptcy in U.S. history.

     Enron told most of its Houston workers to go home and wait
for notification of whether they were fired, spokeswoman Karen
Denne said. Employees needed to keep the energy trading operations
running are still on the job, she said.

     ``Trading operations will continue, and pipeline operations
will continue,'' Denne said. She said she didn't know which jobs
would be cut.

     Enron has said it will try to emerge from bankruptcy as an
energy trading company backed by unnamed financial institutions.
It will provide details in U.S. bankruptcy court in New York this
afternoon on how it plans to cut back its investments in other
businesses, such as managing energy consumption for corporations
and wastewater treatment.

     The company fired about 1,100 workers in the U.K. on Friday.
Enron had about 21,000 employees as of the end of September, two-
thirds in the U.S., about fifth in the U.K. and the rest in other
parts of the world.

     Enron employed about 7,500 people in Houston. Governor Rick
Perry said he directed the Texas Workforce Commission to send
``rapid response teams'' to the city to help fired workers get
services and assistance, said Gene Acuna, a spokesman for the
Republican governor.

     Shares of Enron rose 14 cents to 39 cents. The stock traded
as high as $90.75 last year.

                           Rapid Demise

     The company, once the fastest-growing company in the energy
business, began to unravel in October as it wrote off more than $1
billion of failed investments in water companies, broadband
trading and retail electricity sales, and disclosed a $1.2 billion
loss in shareholder equity because of its dealings with affiliated
partnerships.

     Investors grew concerned that Enron was using the
partnerships to hide debt and losses. The U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission is investigating, and Enron restated earnings
for almost five years last month, wiping out $586 million in
profits.

     Enron and at least 13 units declared bankruptcy yesterday,
listing total assets of $49.8 billion and debts of $31.2 billion.
It filed after Dynegy Inc., also based in Houston, backed away on
Wednesday from a plan to buy Enron for about $23 billion in
assumed debt and stock. Enron declared bankruptcy after failing to
get financing needed to keep its daily operations running and its
debt rating was lowered to junk, forcing it to pay off $3.9
billion in debt early.

     Workers streamed out of Enron's sleek glass office tower in
downtown Houston at late morning today, carrying boxes of personal
possessions and saying goodbye to each other. Police officers on
horseback helped direct traffic on nearby streets.

     Employees said they were separated at the office this morning
into two groups. One was told to leave and check Enron voice-mail
for updates on their status. Members of the other were told they
will be kept and were ordered to stay on the job, employees said.

                       Integrity Questioned

     ``The worst thing was the ones they are going to keep were
whisked away into a room like they were having champagne and
caviar, and we were getting booted,'' said Chris Ihrig, who worked
in Enron's industrial markets group, which traded steel and forest
products. ``They always preached respect, integrity,
communications and excellence, and it never was upheld.''

     Enron Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lay said
yesterday that he will try to keep workers who are key to running
trading operations, which used to provide 97 percent of Enron's
revenue before it began to slide toward bankruptcy in October. The
company had more than $100 billion in revenue last year.

      Ihrig said about 75 percent of the industrial markets group
was told to go home. He said the dismissed workers don't know what
their severance pay will be. Their vacation time will be
forfeited, he said.

     Enron workers who receive their pay by check as opposed to
direct deposit were asked to not cash those checks until tomorrow,
he said. ``Obviously, there is a cash problem,'' Ihrig said.
     Some workers blamed upper managers for the company's
downfall, saying they didn't tell investors or employees what the
company's problems were until too late.

      ``It's simple,'' said Wesley Wilder, also of the industrial
markets group. ``The people at the top weren't as honest as they
said they were.''

--Margot Habiby, Jim Kennett and Russell Hubbard in Houston


Dynegy Sues Enron in Texas for Natural-Gas Pipeline (Update1)
2001-12-03 17:02 (New York)

Dynegy Sues Enron in Texas for Natural-Gas Pipeline (Update1)

     (Updates with closing share prices in last paragraph.)

     Houston, Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Dynegy Inc., answering a
lawsuit filed as part of Enron Corp.'s Chapter 11 bankruptcy
filing yesterday, sued in a Texas court to gain control of Enron's
Northern Natural Gas Co. pipeline.

     Enron sued in federal court seeking $10 billion in damages
and asking the court to prevent Dynegy from taking over the
pipeline.

     The dispute came after Dynegy canceled its $23 billion buyout
agreement with Enron on Wednesday. Dynegy had invested $1.5
billion in Enron to help keep it running until the merger could be
completed. To back its investment, Dynegy got all the preferred
stock in the Northern Natural line.

     Enron's suit accuses Dynegy of using the takeover bid to get
the pipeline and remove, rather than rescue, a competitor. Dynegy
says Enron didn't disclose all the debt it was obligated to pay
and that it clearly has the right back out of the merger and take
over the line or get its $1.5 billion back with interest.

     Dynegy's suit in Harris County District Court in Houston
seeks a temporary injunction to force Enron to transfer the 16,500-
mile pipeline to Dynegy, citing a provision in the buyout that
allowed Dynegy ``automatic possession'' of the pipeline if the
acquisition fell through. Dynegy also asked that the court
permanently award it the pipeline.

     Shares of Dynegy fell $3.18, or 10 percent, to $27.17. Enron
rose 14 cents to 40 cents. Both companies are based in Houston.

--Jim Kennett and Margot Habiby in Houston, (713) 353-4871,

Enron Insiders Sold More Than $1.2 Billion in Stock Since 1990
2001-12-03 16:37 (New York)

Enron Insiders Sold More Than $1.2 Billion in Stock Since 1990

     Houston, Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Enron Corp. officers and
directors sold more than $1.2 billion worth of the company's stock
in the decade before the energy trader's Chapter 11 bankruptcy
filing Sunday, the largest ever.

     Enron insiders, including Chairman Kenneth Lay and former
Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Skilling, sold almost 19 million
shares between May 1990 and October 2001, according to Washington
Service, which tracks insider transactions. Lay collected $143.7
million from the sales; Skilling, who stunned investors when he
quit in August six months after becoming CEO, picked up $76.1
million.

     Employees and investors have sued Enron, accusing executives
of selling shares while touting the company. Enron stock, which
traded as high as $90 in August 2000, is all but worthless after
the company wrote off more than $1 billion of investments and
disclosed a $1.2 billion loss in shareholder equity because of its
dealings with affiliated partnerships.

     ``They caused us to lose our money, and they made money,''
said Steve Lacey, an emergency dispatcher for Portland General
Electric, Enron's Oregon-based electric utility unit.

     Lay didn't return telephones calls seeking comment and
Skilling, through a spokesman, declined to comment.

     Lacey, like many of Portland General's 2,700 employees,
bought Enron shares for his 401k investment plan. The stock, which
he planned on using for his retirement, closed today at 40 cents.
Lacey filed suit against Enron in Houston on Nov. 20, claiming the
company prohibited employees from moving shares out of the
investment plan as the stock fell in October.

                           Billions Owed

     In its bankruptcy filing, Houston-based Enron and 13 of its
units listed assets of $49.8 billion and debts of $31.2 billion.
It owes billions to creditors such as Citigroup Inc., Bank of New
York Co., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Duke Energy Corp. and Williams
Cos.

     The insider selling at Enron is high for an energy company.
Insiders at ExxonMobil Corp., the biggest publicly traded oil
company, sold $410 million of stock during the same period,
according to Washington Service, which compiles records from the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

     Those sales pale in comparison with some computer-related
technology companies. Microsoft Corp. insiders, among the most
active sellers at any U.S. company, sold 367.2 million shares
worth $31.4 billion since 1990, records show.

     In the past year, Microsoft insiders sold 3.6 million shares
for $222 million.

                          Biggest Seller

     In all, 60 officers, directors and trusts they control sold
Enron stock during the past decade.

     Lou Pai, former chairman of Enron's NewPower Holdings Inc.,
made the most from selling Enron shares during the past decade.
Pai sold 3.89 million shares for $270.3 million. Most of Pai's
sales were made last year at prices ranging from $50.52 to $78.17
a share. Pai couldn't be reached immediately for comment.

     Ken Harrison, former chairman and CEO of Portland General,
sold almost 992,000 shares for $78 million. Enron bought the
utility in 1997 for $3.1 billion in stock and debt. Harrison also
couldn't be reached immediately for comment.

     ``It would seem that insiders had some advance warning that
there were better opportunities,'' said David Coleman, editor of
Vickers Weekly Insider Report.

     The selling among Enron insiders outweighed the buying during
the past decade. In all, insiders bought almost 488,000 shares,
paying a total of $20.7 million. The last executive to buy Enron's
stock: former Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow, who bought
10,000 shares on Aug. 16 at $36.98, according to the Washington
Service.

     Fastow was ousted in late October after the SEC began an
investigation into Enron's accounting and its use of investment
partnerships. Enron restated earnings for almost five years in
October, wiping out $586 million in profits, as it accounted for
losses from the partnerships.

     Fastow couldn't be reached for comment.

--Loren Steffy in Dallas (214) 954-9453 or steffy@Bloomberg.net


U.S. Banks' Enron Debt Is Overstated, Analysts Say (Update1)
2001-12-03 16:54 (New York)

U.S. Banks' Enron Debt Is Overstated, Analysts Say (Update1)

     (Updates with closing stock prices.)

     New York, Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Enron Corp. says it owes
Citigroup Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Bank of New York Co.
$7.55 billion in the largest bankruptcy case in U.S. history.
Analysts say the amount owed the banks may be less than half that.
     Here's where they differ.

     Enron yesterday said in court papers it owed thousands of
creditors $31.2 billion in loans, unpaid bills and other debts.
Citigroup, the biggest creditor, is owed $3 billion stemming from
a loan it arranged last year, Enron said.

     Still, the banks probably hold only a fraction of the debts
Enron says they're owed. That's because banks routinely sell parts
of loans to other lenders as a way to disperse risk. Banks also
are listed as the holders of bonds and other securities that in
fact are owned by investors. The banks are listed as the creditors
in Enron's papers.

     ``It's very difficult to piece together the reality,'' said
Robert Napoli, an analyst at ABN Amro Inc. who owns Citigroup
shares. ``They've syndicated out a portion of the loan and they
could have hedged the credit risk through derivatives.''

     Citigroup, the largest U.S. financial services company, is
probably owed $1 billion at most, analysts say, and much of that
is backed by collateral such as gas pipelines, on which it should
be able to collect.

     The company's profit may be lowered by between $250 million
and $500 million before taxes, or between 3 cents and 5 cents a
share after taxes, as a result of its involvement with Enron, said
Napoli, who recommends investors buy Citigroup shares. Citigroup
earned $2.08 a share in the first nine months of the year.

                         Hurting Earnings

     J.P. Morgan Chase -- which Enron says is owed $2.1 billion --
says its exposure totals about $900 million -- $500 million
unsecured, and $400 million backed by collateral.

     That exposure could result in a 15-cent decline in earnings
per share, said Goldman, Sachs & Co. analyst Richard Strauss. The
second-largest U.S. bank earned $1.54 a share so far this year.

     J.P. Morgan Chase acts as a representative for holders of
Enron bonds, so while the company is listed by Enron as a creditor
on $1.9 billion of bonds, it may not be owed a cent on that debt.

     Enron's $2.45 billion debt to Bank of New York may work in
much the same way, said Lehman Brothers analyst Henry Dickson. He
estimated the bank is owed about $50 million.

     Much of J.P. Morgan's exposure is tied to Citigroup's $3
billion loan to Enron, a credit Enron doesn't even mention. A
syndicate of at least five other banks -- including J.P. Morgan
Chase -- contributed to that loan, according to Bloomberg data. As
lead arranger, Citigroup likely holds about 10 percent of the
loan, meaning its exposure is about $300 million. J.P. Morgan
Chase's share of that is likely less.

     Bank of America Corp., Commerzbank AG and Barclays Bank Plc
are among other Enron lenders not listed as creditors.

     Still, concern that the banks' losses may exceed forecasts
helped send their shares and bonds lower today.

     Citigroup shares fell 99 cents to $46.91 in trading on the
New York Stock Exchange. Citigroup's 7.25 percent notes due in
2010 fell to 107 28/32 from 108 21/32, pushing the yield up 21
basis points to 6.18 percent from 5.97 percent.

     J.P. Morgan's stock lost $1.17 to $36.55. Its 7.9 percent
coupon notes due in 2010 fell $16 per $1,000 face amount to 111
3/32, pushing the yield up 23 basis points to 6.18 percent from
5.95 percent on Friday.

     Bank of New York's 7.3 percent notes maturing in 2009 fell
about $20 per $1,000 face value to 108 3/32 from 110 7/32, traders
said. Yield on the debt rose 32 basis points to 6.01 percent from
5.69 percent. Its shares dropped $1.04 to $38.20.

     ``They're big numbers, but these are big institutions,'' said
Greg Habeeb, a bond money manager at Calvert Group, which doesn't
own the banks' securities. ``I wouldn't be going running out
buying the bonds now, but I don't think (Enron losses are) big
enough to worry about.''

--Michael Nol, Terence Flanagan and George Stein in the New York


Enron Corp. To Cut 4,000 Jobs In U.S., Bulk In Houston
By Christina Cheddar
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

12/03/2001
Dow Jones News Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Enron Corp. (ENE) will be terminating about 4,000 of its U.S. employees, with the bulk of the staff reductions being made in Houston, a spokeswoman said. 
Enron employed about 21,000 workers worldwide, with two-thirds of the staff in the U.S. and one-fifth in the U.K. The energy trader once employed 7,500 workers in Houston, where it is headquartered.
The Enron spokeswoman said the company plans to ask a bankruptcy court later Monday to provide its workers with medical and other benefits, plus $4,500 each in severance. 
Enron filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code late Sunday night in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The initial hearing on the case is scheduled for 4 p.m. EST Monday. 
The spokeswoman said media reports have indicated 1,100 employees have been laid off at its U.K. operations, but she couldn't confirm these reports. 
-By Christina Cheddar, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5166; christina.cheddar@dowjones.com

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	



Pension Plans Estimating Millions Lost On Enron Invest
By Christiane Bird
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

12/03/2001
Dow Jones News Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Pension plans are estimating millions of dollars in losses on their investments in Enron Corp. (ENE). 
The once-mighty energy company filed for bankruptcy protection Sunday, following a dizzying decline in stock value, to 26 cents Friday from a 52-week high of $84.88 on Dec. 28.
As among the largest investors in Enron, pension plans are also among those hardest hit by the Houston giant's fall. 
The $112 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund estimates its Enron losses to be about $58 million, said spokesman Jeff Gordon. Up until last week, the fund held about 2.1 million Enron shares in an internally managed index fund and about 2.5 million in externally managed active funds. 
However, "we sold almost all our 4.6 million shares on the day Enron was removed from the index - we're pretty much liquidated now," Gordon said. 
The $143 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System, or Calpers, is expecting a net loss of $45 million on its 3 million Enron shares. 
"That's based on an estimated average share price - we've been buying Enron at different prices for years," spokesman Brad Pacheco said. 
The plan also still has a $156 million interest in a joint investment with Enron called Joint Energy Development Investments II (JEDI II). 
"We're still evaluating that venture. The board will discuss its future at its next meeting," said Pacheco, noting that JEDI II, which invests in third-party energy companies, has given the retirement system a 74 percent return-on-investment since its inception in 1978. 
The $54 billion Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, which held 1.6 million Enron shares on Sept. 1, estimates its losses to be about $68.8 million, according to spokeswoman Linda Lewis. The plan acquired its Enron shares at an average price of about $43 each, and owns it through funds indexed to the Russell 3000. 
Similarly, the $7.6 billion State Retirement System of Illinois expects to lose about $15 million on its Enron investments, said Robert Knox, assistant director. The fund will lose about $5 million in Enron shares and about $10 million in Enron bonds, he said. 
Other pension plans are currently in the process of determining their losses - a detailed process that could take weeks, due to the complexities of their systems, plan representatives said. 
The $96 billion Florida Retirement System, which owns 9.7 million Enron shares in both indexed and actively managed funds, is "making calculations right now - it's a difficult actuarial matter because we bought stocks at different times," said spokeswoman Lee Baldwin. 
She estimated that the plan would be reporting its loss in about a week. 
The $85 billion New York City pension funds will also "take weeks to calculate losses, it's very complicated to figure out...We've owned some Enron stocks for years, probably since the company existed," said spokesman David Neustadt. 
The five New York City pension funds hold a total of about 2.9 million Enron shares, mostly in portfolios indexed to the Russell 3000. 
A spokeswoman for the $103 billion California State Teachers Retirement System, or Calstrs, said that the plan "won't comment on losses." 
Calstrs owns about 2 million Enron shares, of which 88% are in indexed funds and 12 percent in enhanced index funds. 
-Christiane Bird, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2046; christiane.bird@dowjones.com

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	


Funds Liquidate Enron Bond Holdings, See Little Recourse
By John Shipman
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

12/03/2001
Dow Jones News Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- It looks as though mutual funds that had sizable positions in Enron Corp.'s (ENE) bonds rushed for the exits in the same fashion as those who owned the company's stock. 
Gary Schaefer, who manages the Monetta Intermediate Bond Fund, said he finished liquidating his Enron stake last week.
Schaefer said the position had amounted to about 2% of the fund's $35 million in net assets. 
"It was significant," he said. "It was not a good day by a long stretch." 
"It's amazing that the kinds of things that took place (at Enron) were not more transparent," he said. 
Schaefer said he didn't expect his firm to seek any legal recourse regarding its losses on its Enron stake, in part because of the complexity and size of the financial morass. 
"This thing is years (away) from getting resolved," he added. 
The Huntington Short-Intermediate Fixed Income Securities Fund also unloaded its Enron bond holdings, said Chief Investment Officer Randy Bateman. 
He wouldn't say exactly when the bonds were sold, except that it was before Enron's bonds were cut to junk status. 
Bateman said the firm sold its holdings "based on internal credit analysis." He also said he did not expect his firm to seek any recourse on its investment. 
According to fund tracker Morningstar Inc., the Huntington fund also had about 2% of its net assets in Enron bonds. 
A spokeswoman for Strong Capital Management said the firm still owned a small amount of Enron bonds, but declined to comment further because the firm is in the process of trading in the position, she said. 
-By John Shipman, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5171; john.shipman@dowjones.com

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

EOTT Energy Partners Not Party To Enron Bankruptcy

12/03/2001
Dow Jones News Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

HOUSTON -(Dow Jones)- EOTT Energy Partners L.P. (EOT) said its general partner wasn't among the companies included in Enron Corp.'s (ENE) voluntary petition for bankruptcy. 
As reported, Houston energy trader Enron filed for protection from its creditors in the biggest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history after its debt was downgraded to junk status and Dynegy Inc. (DYN) backed out of a deal to acquire the company.
In a press release Monday, EOTT added that its subsidiary partnerships haven't filed for bankruptcy either. 
EOTT's general partner, EOTT Energy Corp., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Enron, and EOTT Energy Partners' doesn't have officers or directors of its own. Instead, the company's officers and directors are those of the general partner. In addition, EOTT's current working capital facility was obtained with Enron. 
On Friday, EOTT said it had signed an interim credit facility with its primary lender, Standard Chartered, to replace its existing facility with Enron. 
EOTT's New York Stock Exchange-listed shares recently traded at $12.30, up $3.30, or 36.7%, on composite volume of 2.25 millions shares, well above average daily volume of 119,810 shares. 
Trading in EOTT was extremely volatile Monday with shares hitting a low of $7.40 as investors assessed the company's link to Enron. The shares fell 38.6% on Friday to close at $9. 
Company Web site: http://www.eott.com 
-Cressida Connolly; Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5400

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	



US Energy Markets Unmoved By Enron Chapter 11 Filing
By Kristen McNamara and Jon Kamp
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

12/03/2001
Dow Jones Energy Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- U.S. energy markets were largely unmoved Monday by Enron Corp.'s (ENE) filing for Chapter 11 over the weekend. 
Energy companies generally maintained their suspensions on trading with Enron and were casting a sharper eye on Dynegy Inc. (DYN), which is being sued by Enron for wrongfully terminating its offer to acquire the one-time market leader.
No company was known to have altered its business with Dynegy, and many traders showed little concern about Enron's suit, but companies did say they were monitoring the situation. 
Major energy trader Aquila Corp. (ILA) was trading normally with Dynegy but monitoring the situation. 
"That situation could change depending on how people evaluate it," spokesman Al Butkus said. "It's a very fluid situation." 
FirstEnergy Corp. (FE) said it was also monitoring Dynegy's compliance with its credit requirements. 
"This is a situation that we're following closely," spokesman Ralph DiNicola said. 
Companies continued to do business normally with Dynegy, an energy broker said. 
Prices for North American power and gas weren't moved by Enron's filing, which was widely expected. Factors such as weather and longer-term supply fundamentals continued to dominate the power and gas markets. 
January gas futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed down 7.1 cents Monday at $2.640 per million British thermal units. Power prices in the U.S. Northeast were also weaker with mild weather forecasts, adequate generation and weak clearing prices. Power prices were also lower in the west.

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

Dueling Enron, Dynegy Lawsuits Start Of Long Battle
By Janet Whitman
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

12/03/2001
Dow Jones News Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Dueling lawsuits filed by former merger partners Enron Corp. (ENE) and Dynegy Inc. (DYN) are only the beginning of what is sure to a long legal battle, merger and acquisition lawyers predict. At this stage, it's far from certain who would win, they add. 
"Remember the 100 years war that we all studied in history?," asks George M. Knapp, a partner at law firm Squire Sanders & Dempsey LLP. "This will make that look brief."
Concurrent with its bankruptcy filing on Sunday, Enron filed a lawsuit against Dynegy, charging its former suitor had no grounds to terminate their $9 billion merger and actually contributed to Enron's collapse. The suit, which was filed in New York in the same court as the bankruptcy petition, also contends that Dynegy has no right to acquire Enron's valuable pipeline company, Northern Natural Gas Co. of Omaha, Neb. 
In a counter suit filed Monday in Harris County, Texas, Dynegy seeks immediate control of the Northern National pipeline company. 
Under the terms of the cross-town rivals' original merger agreement, Dynegy received an option to buy the coveted property - even if the merger fell apart - after it injected $1.5 billion into Enron. 
Now, however, that's a matter for the courts to decide. 
"This is a kind of lawyers' paradise," said Tom Burnett, president of Merger Insight, an affiliate of Wall Street Access. "The risk to Dynegy is that that contract won't hold up to buy the Northern Natural Gas assets. A bankruptcy judge may decide to hold an auction." 
In that event, Dynegy would be left with an equity stake in Enron. 
Sensing that the companies are in for long legal battle and that Dynegy may not wind up with the pipeline assets, some investors unloaded their Dynegy shares, sending the stock price sliding more than 8% Monday to a low of $26.26.

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	



Stocks Slide on Worries about Middle East, Enron; Dow Industrials Down 1% in Late-Afternoon Trading
By Peter Edmonston

12/03/2001
Dow Jones Business News
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

The Wall Street Journal Online 
Stocks retreated Monday as conflict in the Middle East and a bankruptcy filing by energy giant Enron outweighed better-than-expected economic data.
In late-afternoon trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 101 points, or 1%, to 9751 after trading nearly 150 points lower earlier in the day. The Dow industrials fell 22.14 points Friday. 
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 22 points, or 1.1%, to 1908.60 after closing 2.68 points lower in the previous session. 
Other major indexes also declined Monday. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index dropped 9.60 to 1129.90, the Russell 2000 Index fell 2.80 to 458, and the New York Stock Exchange Composite Index shed four to 575.20. 
Bonds turned higher in choppy trading. The dollar strengthened against the yen and the euro. 
Concerns over the fallout from the weekend's suicide bombings in Israel damped any beneficial effects from economic reports that exceeded Wall Street's expectations. 
"The events in Israel have created a lot of uncertainty," said Peter Coolidge, senior equity trader at Brean Murray & Co. "That more than counteracts any positive news on the economic front." 
At least 25 people were killed over the weekend in attacks by Palestinian suicide bombers in Jerusalem and the northern Israeli port city of Haifa. On Monday, Israel fired nine missiles near Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters in Gaza City in an apparent retaliation. 
The violence overseas detracted from some fairly upbeat readings on the U.S. economy, including a report from the Commerce Department that consumer spending rose by a record 2.9% in October. Robust spending on cars and other big-ticket items contributed to the reading's largest jump since 1959, when the data series began. The previous record had been a 2.6% increase in September 1987. 
Personal income was virtually unchanged for the second month in a row, roughly in line with economists' forecasts. 
The Commerce Department also surprised economists by reporting a 1.9% increase in total construction spending for October. Forecasts had that figure falling by 0.5%. September construction spending was revised to show a 0.7% drop from the 0.4% decline previously reported. 
Meanwhile, a closely watched index of manufacturing activity rose more than expected in November. The National Association of Purchasing Management reported Monday that its purchasing managers index rose to 44.5 last month from 39.8 in October. Economists have been forecasting the PMI would rise to 42. 
A PMI reading of 42.7 is considered the threshold between expansion and contraction in the wider economy. So November's PMI of 44.5 suggests that the economy is growing, albeit slowly. 
Last week, the National Bureau of Economic Research formally declared that the country had entered a recession back in March, ending the longest period of economic expansion in U.S. history. The government reported that total economic activity fell at an annual rate of 1.1% in the July-September quarter. 
Against this backdrop, analysts called the latest NAPM data encouraging. "After absorbing last month's aftershock of the terrorist attacks, the manufacturing sector showed surprising resilience in November," Norbert Ore, director of the survey, said in a statement. "The trend is definitely in the right direction, but it is too soon to claim an imminent recovery. Based on this report, the sector regained a significant portion of the output lost in October," Mr. Ore said. 
Matthew Freedman, an economist at Economy.com, said the NAPM report "shows that the deterioration in manufacturing appears to be slowing quite dramatically." 
But the stronger-than-expected numbers did little to comfort investors, who have been scrutinizing economic readings in recent weeks for signs that the business cycle has hit bottom. The markets are especially interested to see if rising levels of unemployment will put a dent in consumer spending, which is considered a key to keeping the current economic recession a mild one. 
Most major international markets traded lower Monday, but the U.S. economic data helped narrow the losses late in the day in Europe. Frankfurt's Xetra DAX closed essentially flat and London's Financial Times Stock Exchange 100-share finished 0.8% lower. In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed with a loss of 3.1%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 1.1%. 
Meanwhile, the turmoil surrounding energy-trading giant Enron continued over the weekend, as the company filed for bankruptcy protection on Sunday. The Houston firm simultaneously sued its would-be merger partner Dynegy for "not less than $10 billion," accusing it of wrongful termination of their merger pact. News of the impending collapse of Enron had weighed heavily on the market last week. 
Some market participants suggested Enron's bankruptcy filing -- the largest in U.S. history -- continued to pull stocks lower on Monday. But others said it was largely expected and was having little effect on share prices. "It could hurt the markets somewhere down the road, but I haven't heard a lot of people talking about it [Monday]," said Mr. Coolidge of Brean Murray. 
Enron shares rose 11 cents to 37 cents. Dynegy was down nearly 8%. 
Financial-services stocks took a hit Monday, dragged lower by some negative comments from analysts and fears about exposure to the Enron debacle. 
Shares of brokerage firm Morgan Stanley sank 6% after Goldman Sachs analyst Richard Strauss pulled it from his recommended list and cut his rating on the stock to "market perform" from "market outperform." Mr. Strauss said that the 60% surge in Morgan Stanley's shares since Sept. 20 has made it expensive compared to its peers. 
Citigroup, a component of the Dow Jones industrials, declined nearly 2.7% and J.P. Morgan fell 3.8%. The two companies advised on the failed merger between Enron and Dynegy and now find themselves among Enron's largest unsecured creditors. 
Automotive stocks were also trading lower Monday as the big auto makers offered up monthly sales results for November. Shares of Ford Motor were down 6.1% on news that it is expected to warn this week that quarterly results will miss forecasts. Separately, the company reported a 4.4% increase in total U.S. vehicle sales, helped by 0% financing offers. 
Ford rival General Motors, which has also been offering generous financing plans to lure buyers, reported a 13.3% jump in car and truck sales from a year ago. Shares of GM fell 1.4%. 
In major U.S. market action: 
Stocks fell. On the Big Board, where 923.7 million shares traded, 1,804 stocks fell and 1,291 rose. On the Nasdaq, 1.17 billion shares changed hands. 
Bonds rose. The 10-year Treasury note rose more than 1/4 point, or $2.50 for each $1,000 invested. The yield, which moves inversely to price, fell to 4.71%. The 30-year bond added more than 3/8 point to yield 5.26%. 
The dollar strengthened. It bought 123.93 yen and traded at 89.14 cents to the euro, compared with 123.44 yen and 89.65 cents late Friday in New York. 
Copyright (c) 2001 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. 
All Rights Reserved.

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

Dueling Enron, Dynegy Lawsuits Start Of Long Battle
By Janet Whitman
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

12/03/2001
Dow Jones News Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Dueling lawsuits filed by former merger partners Enron Corp. (ENE) and Dynegy Inc. (DYN) are only the beginning of what is sure to a long legal battle, merger and acquisition lawyers predict. At this stage, it's far from certain who would win, they add. 
"Remember the 100 years war that we all studied in history?," asks George M. Knapp, a partner at law firm Squire Sanders & Dempsey LLP. "This will make that look brief."
Concurrent with its bankruptcy filing on Sunday, Enron filed a lawsuit against Dynegy, charging its former suitor had no grounds to terminate their $9 billion merger and actually contributed to Enron's collapse. The suit, which was filed in New York in the same court as the bankruptcy petition, also contends that Dynegy has no right to acquire Enron's valuable pipeline company, Northern Natural Gas Co. of Omaha, Neb. 
In a counter suit filed Monday in Harris County, Texas, Dynegy seeks immediate control of the Northern National pipeline company. 
Under the terms of the cross-town rivals' original merger agreement, Dynegy received an option to buy the coveted property - even if the merger fell apart - after it injected $1.5 billion into Enron. 
Now, however, that's a matter for the courts to decide. 
"This is a kind of lawyers' paradise," said Tom Burnett, president of Merger Insight, an affiliate of Wall Street Access. "The risk to Dynegy is that that contract won't hold up to buy the Northern Natural Gas assets. A bankruptcy judge may decide to hold an auction." 
In that event, Dynegy would be left with an equity stake in Enron. 
Sensing that the companies are in for long legal battle and that Dynegy may not wind up with the pipeline assets, some investors unloaded their Dynegy shares, sending the stock price sliding more than 8% Monday to a low of $26.26.

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

FERC Chair Sees Enron Fall Fostering Market Transparency
By Mark Golden
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

12/03/2001
Dow Jones Energy Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- The collapse of Enron Corp. (ENE), although a human tragedy, could give a major boost to transparency in energy markets and the energy industry, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Patrick Wood III said Monday. 
"The market doesn't like clouded players and has a relentless way of moving them to the sidelines," Wood said in a speech at an energy investors conference in New York.
Unanswered questions about how the one-time market leader was making its money, and how much it was making, contributed to the unraveling of confidence in the company that brought about its swift collapse. 
Enron's Chapter 11 filing Sunday is "emphatically not" an impediment to the development of transparent, competitive power markets, Wood said. 
The chairman said he hadn't planned to discuss Enron's situation, but departed from his planned remarks due to the high level of interest following the company's filing for bankruptcy-court protection. 
Enron's employees will likely find work at a "new breed of energy companies" with more open cultures that, Wood hoped, would be the only kind of energy companies around in five years. 
Wood characterized Enron's collapse as "a hiccup - or, more graphically, a belch - heard 'round the world." 
Separately, the nation's top energy regulator said price controls will remain a feature of the country wholesale electricity markets for the foreseeable future. 
By this spring, Wood expects FERC to lay out rules for dividing control over the country's high-voltage transmission lines - across which wholesale power is moved - among a handful of independent operators. Those rules will include measures to adjust prices when markets get out of control, Wood said. 
The details haven't been hammered out yet, but the controls would likely resemble those in effect in the Mid-Atlantic electricity market run by PJM Interconnection LLC, Wood said. Specifically, the $1,000 price cap in place in PJM will likely be needed in other markets until consumers are able to quickly reduce their usage when prices spike, he said. 
The chairman clearly wasn't satisfied with the current cost-based price controls in place in the western U.S. power markets. 
"I never want to rely again on such a blunt tool," Wood said. "In California, we did what we had to do." 
Such caps discourage investments in power plants used only when demand peaks, Wood agreed. Price limits make it difficult for those plants to recover their costs, he said. 
FERC won't be looking at retail electricity competition any time soon, Wood said. 
"My mandate at this time is standardization of wholesale markets," he said. "When you put down the rules and tell people how they're going to get their money back, the money comes in, and not at such a high-risk premium for the financing." 
Wood expects heavy investment in merchant transmission, just as there has been heavy investment in merchant generation over the past few years. 
FERC expects soon to write a standard national contract for hooking up new power plants to the country's transmission system. 
-By Mark Golden, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-4604; mark.golden@dowjones.com

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	



IN THE MONEY: Enron's Bankruptcy Filing Was A Rush Job
By Michael Rapoport

12/03/2001
Dow Jones News Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

A Dow Jones Newswires Column 

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Apparently Enron Corp. (ENE) still hasn't quite gotten the hang of this little concept of full disclosure - even now that it's paid a heavy price for not providing it.
The day after Enron filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, an assortment of peculiarities and unanswered questions still surrounds the company - from information missing from the company's bankruptcy filing to the question of why Enron filed over the weekend in a court far from its home. 
Let's give the fallen energy giant the benefit of the doubt and assume that the lingering questions and missing pieces stem from an enormous rush to file for Chapter 11 as quickly as possible, rather than from any more-nefarious motive. Certainly the past several weeks, in which Enron collapsed as ever-worse information dribbled slowly out of the company, have given investors reason enough to be suspicious of what Enron says. 
But whatever the reason behind it, the effect of all this uncertainty is the same: It means that nagging questions about just how well Enron can get a handle on its own chaotic situation, and whether it can continue as a viable business in the wake of its problems, just won't go away. 
Let's start with Sunday's filing, which notes that Enron has $13.15 billion in debt - but acknowledges that that amount "does not reflect off-balance-sheet and contingent obligations." 
Hmmm. Wasn't the revelation that Enron had moved so much of its debt off its balance sheet - to entities controlled by its own executives, yet - a big part of what got it in trouble to begin with? Seems the level of that debt is certainly something anyone concerned about an Enron bankruptcy would want to know, but it seems Enron either can't or won't provide it. Either way, it's not an encouraging sign. 
There are other holes in Enron's filings. The list of the creditors holding Enron's five largest secured claims, for instance, consists of Citibank, Chase Manhattan Bank and three entries that all read like this: "Not available at this time. To be provided at a later date." 
Location of the substantial assets held by the Enron subsidiaries that filed for bankruptcy along with the parent company? "Information regarding the location of the other debtors' substantial assets is not available at this time and will be provided at a later date," Enron said. 
Enron's estimated weekly payroll and cash disbursements and receipts for the next several weeks, matters that are now under the bankruptcy court's jurisdiction? Not available. 
The situation is so convoluted and hurried that even some of the information Enron HAS filed appears to be a little fluid. As Christina Cheddar of Dow Jones Newswires has reported, CMS Energy Corp. (CMS), which Enron lists as one of the creditors of its marketing and trading unit, says it actually owes Enron money when all its trading positions are netted out. 
Two more curious factors, both of which speak to the haste in which Enron filed its bankruptcy petition: the fact that it filed on a Sunday - which even in hurly-burly New York, where the filing was made, is mostly a day for rest, football and the Sunday paper - and filed before it had nailed down the debtor-in-possession financing it needs to keep operating. 
What was so urgent about Enron's need to file that it couldn't wait for Monday morning, or till it had financing in place? An Enron spokesman declined to comment. 
Was it because Enron felt it had to file quickly to throw a monkey wrench into efforts by its savior-turned-nemesis Dynegy Inc. (DYN) to take over Enron's Northern Natural Gas Co. unit? Was it to stabilize a situation in which Dynegy claims Enron has been having trouble delivering natural gas to its customers to meet its obligations? At this point, no one besides Enron and its lawyers really knows. 
All this ambiguity only lends credence to the idea that even Enron is having trouble getting its arms around the tangled financial structure that made the company nearly impossible for even Wall Street's savviest minds to understand. And the missing information about the off-balance-sheet debts and the creditors' claims, in particular, suggests that Enron's search for unencumbered assets to back its new financing may be more difficult and chaotic than the company had hoped. 
In a weird way, the very chaos of the process may actually speak well of Enron's honesty: If Enron was trying to mislead anyone and had a real reason to believe its rescue deal with Dynegy might fall apart, wouldn't it have had a bankruptcy filing at the ready, with all i's dotted and t's crossed, instead of going through this? 
Maybe. Right now, though, all indications are that this bankruptcy filing is a serious rush job, with some significant information uncertain or missing. And that's not a situation that any investor or potential investor in Enron should be happy about. 
-By Michael Rapoport, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5976; michael.rapoport@dowjones.com

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

USA: Enron says about 4,000 workers to be laid off.

12/03/2001
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

HOUSTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Shattered energy trader Enron Corp. will lay off about 4,000 employees as part of a cost-cutting move in the wake of its bankruptcy filing, a spokesman said on Monday. 
"We're planning about 4,000 job cuts, most from Houston," spokesman Mark Palmer said. Some 7,500 people are employed in the company's Houston head office.
Enron capped a dramatic fall from the heights of the energy world on Sunday, filing the biggest bankruptcy case in U.S. history. The assets involved total $49.8 billion, easily dwarfing the $35.9 billion held by Texaco at the time of its 1987 bankruptcy. 
Sources said Enron's massive computer network was being shut off, floor by floor, and leaders of business units informed their employees that they were to go home for the day and await notice of their future with the company.

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	



USA: U.S. House energy panel sets meetings on Enron.

12/03/2001
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional panel said on Monday it had scheduled meetings with representatives of the Securities Exchange Commission, auditing firm Arthur Andersen and Enron Corp. to explore the energy giant's rapid disintegration. 
Rep. Billy Tauzin, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has directed his staff to meet with the SEC, Enron financial auditor Arthur Andersen and top Enron executives, a panel spokesman told Reuters.
"The committee will be moving aggressively to pin down what went wrong and what, if anything, Congress can do to prevent this type of thing from happening again," a spokesman for the Louisiana Republican said. 
Committee staff will meet with SEC's head of enforcement and general counsel on Tuesday and with top representatives from Arthur Andersen on Wednesday, the spokesman said. 
On Thursday, three House energy committee staffers will travel to Houston to meet with top Enron officials "to begin laying the groundwork for a hearing," the staffer said.

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

USA: Enron bankruptcy judge heard more high-profile cases.

12/03/2001
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

NEW YORK, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Judge Arthur Gonzalez, who will hear the bankruptcy protection case of Enron Corp. , is a veteran of several high-profile cases, including this year's Chapter 11 filing by appliance maker Sunbeam Corp. 
"They're lucky to have him," said one lawyer who has represented a company that appeared before Gonzalez in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
The lawyer, who requested anonymity, said Gonzalez was viewed as "a very fair judge. 
"He is extremely deliberate, very hard-working and very thorough," he told Reuters. 
"I don't think there was a single hearing at which he had not read all the pleadings. Other judges are more laissez faire and some don't read all the pleadings, preferring to just ask questions," the lawyer said. "Judge Gonzalez makes careful decisions." 
Asked if that meant Gonzalez was inclined to favor a company petitioning for bankruptcy protection, he said: "Well, there are certain judges you would prefer not to have." 
Gonzalez, who was appointed to the federal bankruptcy court in New York in 1995, has recently been hearing the case of Sunbeam, which filed for Chapter 11 protection this year after questions about its accounting. 
In May, federal securities regulators accused former top executives at the appliance maker - including former Chief Executive Albert "Chainsaw Al" Dunlap - of financial fraud that cost investors billions of dollars. 
Last week, Gonzalez postponed a hearing on Sunbeam's second amended plan of reorganization - which was to be heard on Tuesday - to next March 19. 
Coincidentally in both cases, in which the company's accounting is central, the accounting firm Arthur Andersen was auditor for Sunbeam and also Enron. 
Gonzalez also oversaw the 1998 bankruptcy filing of Livent Inc., the Canadian theater-production company that collapsed amid major accounting irregularities. 
Last year, Gonzalez was on the bench for the case of Iridium LLC, a satellite telephone service, which entered the history books as one of the costliest corporate fiascoes of all time. 
The Washington-based company cut off telephone service to its 55,000 customers as a prelude to court-ordered liquidation. Iridium's last act was to "de-orbit" or ultimately burn up its constellation of 66 satellites. The network has been reported to have cost $5 billion to $7 billion. 
Gonzalez cleared Iridium to spend $8.3 million to start winding up its business while selling remaining Earth-bound assets, including ground stations. 
Last year, he was also in charge of the case involving U.S. Media Holdings Inc. and its Golden Turtle Press Inc. unit which filed Chapter 11 petitions. 
This year, Gonzalez has been hearing the Chapter 11 case of insurance company Reliance Group Holdings Inc. and also Australia's collapsed HIH Insurance Ltd. 
Gonzalez received a degree in accounting from New York's Fordham University in 1969 and a master's degree in education from Brooklyn College in 1974. 
He got his law degree at Fordham University's law school in 1982 and LLM in taxation in 1990 from New York University Law School. After a spell in private practice, he was appointed Assistant U.S. Trustee in the Southern District of New York in 1991 and U.S. Trustee for the Second Circuit in 1993.

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

USA: US Northwest Natural seeks to buy Portland General.
By Chris Baltimore

12/03/2001
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Northwest Natural Gas Co said Monday it asked approval from federal energy regulators to buy Portland General Electric Co. from Enron Corp for $1.8 billion. 
Northwest expects to soon file a similar request with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a company spokesman said.
The purchase is unrelated to the status of Enron's Northern Natural Gas Pipeline, to which Dynegy Inc. is claiming rights after canceling a bid to purchase Enron last week. 
Portland, Ore.-based Northwest Natural Gas is a local natural gas distribution company that serves about 530,000 customers in Oregon and Washington. 
It is Oregon's largest natural gas utility, while Portland General is the state's biggest electric utility. 
Northwest filed for approval with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Friday, after a similar application with the Oregon Public Utilities Commission on Nov. 28, with a response requested by May 15, 2002. 
The Oregon commission's "watershed approval" would allow Northwest to take operational control of Portland General by the end of 2002, said Northwest spokesman Jim Boehlke. 
Northwest said it wants FERC to act on its request by Feb. 20, 2002. 
Enron's declaration of bankruptcy over the weekend "could complicate things" for Northwest's plans for Portland General, Boehlke said. But Northwest is "going forward (with the purchase) without regard for what it going on in the Enron bankruptcy proceedings," he said. 
A bankruptcy court is likely to look favorably on Northwest's purchase, Boehlke said, because it will give Enron cash to pay debts. "We're about to give (Enron) $1.55 billion dollars in cash. Hopefully a bankruptcy court would want that to go forward," he said. 
The deal also includes $50 million in common stock and $200 million in special preferred stock, he said. 
Portland General serves 733,000 Oregon customers, owns 26,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines and 2,015 megawatts of generation. One megawatt is enough to power roughly 1,000 homes. 
After purchasing Portland General in 1997, Enron agreed to sell it to Sierra Pacific Resources Corp. for $2.1 billion in 1999. 
But that deal was abandoned in April after regulators in California and Nevada barred Sierra Pacific from divesting generation assets in those states, which it needed to finance its purchase. 
State regulators took action after a power shortage in the wester United States sent prices skyrocketing and made states rethink plans to deregulate their electricity markets, including asset divestitures. That allowed Northwest to move ahead with its own purchase plans. 
FERC will rule on whether the combination has an adverse impact on competition, and Northwest does not expect FERC or other regulators to raise substantive issues, Boehlke said.

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	



Enron Field moniker uncertain in wake of bankruptcy
By MARK BABINECK
Associated Press Writer

12/03/2001
Associated Press Newswires
Copyright 2001. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

HOUSTON (AP) - While Enron Corp. is current on its payments to keep the beleaguered company's name on Houston's ballpark, it's unclear whether 2-year-old Enron Field might have an identity crisis soon. 
Club officials, who did not immediately return calls Monday, have said that as long as Enron continues to exist and maintains regular payments on its 30-year, $100 million commitment, the downtown stadium will stay Enron Field.
"We were saddened by the recent events," Astros president Pam Gardner said last week after Enron's emergency buyout suitor, rival Dynegy Inc., backed out of the deal when Enron's credit rating was lowered to junk status. 
"It's a sad situation for the Enron employees and the city of Houston. But we have a contract with Enron that is current and as long as that is the case, the ballpark will continue to be called Enron Field." 
Enron has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a Manhattan court, meaning it wants to remain in business and reorganize to settle $31.1 billion in debts. In the meantime, the court will oversee Enron's business operations and expenditures, including the stadium deal. 
Enron's fall, one of the largest bankruptcies in history, is the latest instance of a stadium name holder hitting the skids. The TWA Dome in St. Louis became the Dome at America's Center when the storied airline went belly up and was bought by American Airlines this year. 
PSINet Stadium in Baltimore has kept its moniker even as its namesake company wades through bankruptcy. Some others that have named stadiums, like 3Com Corp. and CMGI Inc., are wading in red ink. 
Dean Bonham, whose Bonham Group negotiates such deals both for venues and sponsoring companies, said Enron's downfall will affect the market. 
"The most notable and obvious effect is that our clients, as well as other clients in the industry, are going to be extremely cautious when they enter naming rights discussions," Bonham said Monday. 
However, even due diligence might not be enough. Bonham said Enron, which ranked seventh in the Fortune 500 last year with $101 billion in revenue, must have appeared rock solid when they signed with the Astros. 
Bonham even noted that just a few weeks ago, right before a stunning string of negative announcements drove Enron's stock price well below that of a bag of peanuts, he was involved in talks with Enron to name a major league soccer stadium. 
Teams and companies must both make sure their contracts guard against all eventualities, including bankruptcies, mergers and "image-association" issues that might make arrangements unattractive. 
"Our clients have the absolute right at their option to cancel the agreement," Bonham said. 
--- 
On the Net: 
Houston Astros: http://www.astros.com 
Enron: http://www.enron.com 
Bonham Group: http://www.bonham.com

Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	


EOTT Energy Partners, L.P. Not a Party to Enron Bankruptcy

12/03/2001
PR Newswire
(Copyright (c) 2001, PR Newswire)

HOUSTON, Dec. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- EOTT Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: EOT) confirmed today that its general partner was not among the companies included in Enron Corp.'s voluntary petition for bankruptcy protection filed yesterday. Additionally, EOTT Energy Partners, L.P., which is a publicly traded limited partnership, and its subsidiary partnerships have not filed for bankruptcy protection. 
In Friday's press release, EOTT disclosed among other things that it has entered into an interim credit facility with its primary lender, Standard Chartered, to replace its existing facility with Enron Corp. The interim facility provides for the immediate issuance through March 2002 of up to $150 million of letters of credit. Reference is made to Friday's press release and to EOTT's most recent Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for further information.
EOTT Energy Partners, L.P. is a major independent marketer and transporter of crude oil in North America. EOTT transports most of the lease crude oil it purchases via pipeline, which includes 8,200 miles of active intrastate and interstate pipeline and gathering systems. In addition, EOTT owns and operates a hydrocarbon processing plant and a natural gas liquids storage and pipeline grid system. EOTT Energy Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Enron Corp., is the general partner of EOTT with headquarters in Houston. EOTT's Internet address is www.eott.com . The Partnership's Common Units are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "EOT". 
MAKE YOUR OPINION COUNT - Click Here 
http://tbutton.prnewswire.com/prn/11690X41267535


/CONTACT: media relations, Wade Gates of Burson Marsteller, +1-214-224-8408, for EOTT Energy Partners, L.P./ 14:14 EST 
Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.