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ERPL - 0.14 +0.04 +33.33%
MAA.V - +12.12% waking up.
LAM.TO - 1.65 +0.14 +9.27%
MGA.TO - 1.75 -- 6 Mo High.
I was scanning some of my old China stocks and noticed some were moving, CAEI - 1.49 +0.48 +47.52% -- FEED 3.21 +0.80 +33.20% -- NPD - 5.44 +0.60 +12.40%. Looks like NWD has taken a beating and thought it may be due for a little pop.
THX
GL
CAEI - 1.49 +0.48 +47.52%
Yes agree, seems like many of the indicators have hit bottom and are turning north. Maybe not a home run but easy 15-20% imo. Break of 5, 10 and 50dma of .18 may get some attention.
THX
FEED, +36.93%
Mtc, NWD .16 looks interesting, found your old chart on fringe board. Whatcha think?
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=28373591
NWD - 0.17 +0.01 +4.37%
CAEI - 1.38 +0.37 +36.63% / China stimulus plan pop: feed:
FEED - 2.87 +0.46 +19.09%
DNN - 1.03 +0.08 +7.90%
I've got one of these Swiss Silver babies. Upgraded from a reg Katadyn that worked well on several Alaskan trips. Bought this one for added protection and insurance, never know when the zombies will start pissing in our water? lol
Katadyn PocketThe most rugged, longest lasting microfilter available
The classic. This robust water filter made of heavy duty materials is ideal for long lasting continuous use even under extreme circumstances. The silver impregnated ceramic element is effective against bacteria and protozoa. The Katadyn Pocket is the only water filter with a 20 year warranty. Filters up to 13,000 gallons before needing to replace the cartridge."
Includes: Prefilter, bottle clip and carry bag
http://products.katadyn.com/brands-and-products/produkte/Endurance_Series_23/Katadyn_Pocket_22.html
http://www.amazon.com/Katadyn-8013618-Pocket-Water-Microfilter/dp/B0007U00YE
Goldman Sachs Stock Sale, TARP Repayment, Might Pressure Rivals
April 10 (Bloomberg) -- A Goldman Sachs Group Inc. sale of stock to speed repayment of $10 billion in government money will pressure other banks to follow suit or risk appearing dependent on federal support, analysts said.
The New York-based bank, scheduled to report earnings April 14, is considering announcing the share sale as early as next week, the Wall Street Journal reported today, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. Lucas van Praag, a spokesman for Goldman Sachs, declined to comment.
A 47 percent gain in the company’s stock price this year and a return to profitability in the first quarter may help Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein raise new money, analysts said. That might let Goldman Sachs, the sixth-biggest bank, return the $10 billion it received in October from the U.S. Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program and shake off compensation and hiring restrictions imposed on banks that took government aid.
“It’s in Goldman’s best interest to be free from the TARP,” said Brad Hintz, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York. “But just because it’s best for Goldman Sachs, doesn’t mean their repayment is in the best interests of the broader U.S. economy.”
A repayment by Goldman Sachs may lead banks “to race each other to access a very weak equity market and to write their checks to the Treasury,” Hintz said today in an e-mail. “This could set off new credit concerns about the banks that can’t repay and could set back the recovery of the credit markets.”
Citigroup Inc., the third-largest U.S. bank, has tumbled 55 percent in New York Stock Exchange composite trading this year and is expected by analysts to report a sixth consecutive quarterly loss. Bank of America Corp., the largest U.S. bank by assets, has dropped 32 percent this year and analysts estimate it will report a first-quarter profit.
Mack Opposes Repayment
Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack, whose firm is expected by analysts to report a first-quarter loss when it reports earnings a week after Goldman, said last month he opposes any move by banks to return TARP money right now. Morgan Stanley, which has gained 58 percent in New York trading this year, was the second- biggest U.S. securities firm after Goldman before they both converted to banks in September to access Federal Reserve lending programs.
“As much as we would like to give the money back and just focus on not having government involvement, being totally a public entity, we think, and I think, that it’s the wrong time to do it now,” he told employees on a March 30 conference call.
The Federal Reserve is reviewing the financial condition of 19 U.S. banks in a so-called stress test to determine whether any need to raise more capital or require extra aid to help absorb losses from further deterioration of the economy.
Stress Test Silence
The 19 banks, which include Goldman Sachs as well as Citigroup, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley, have been told not to talk about the tests so the government can release the results in an orderly fashion later in the month, according to people familiar with the matter.
“The top 10 TARP-funded banks will start being differentiated as to those that can shed the TARP and those that cannot,” said Roy Smith, a finance professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business and a former Goldman Sachs partner. A share sale by Goldman “makes the gap more pronounced and more obvious.”
Even without Goldman Sachs’s share sale, any banks that don’t pass the stress test “will find it very difficult to tap private money,” said Isabel Schauerte, an analyst at Boston- based financial research and consulting firm Celent. “They are visibly marked as the bottom -- a message that doesn’t go down well with the many investors that have burnt their fingers.”
‘Easier To Do’
Goldman Sachs, the world’s biggest and most profitable securities firm before becoming a bank, was among nine financial institutions that shared $125 billion in the first payments from the Treasury’s $700 billion TARP. David Viniar, Goldman Sachs’ chief financial officer, said in February that the bank would like to repay the money because “operating our business without the government capital would be an easier thing to do.”
Earlier this week, Blankfein said that banks have “not a choice, but an obligation to taxpayers” to repay the government money as soon as they can without jeopardizing their business.
A $787 billion economic stimulus law signed by President Barack Obama in February included a provision that prohibits cash bonus payments to the top five executives and the 20 highest-paid employees at banks that receive at least $500 million of bailout funds. Bankers can still get stock bonuses, although those are restricted until their companies repay the bailout funds.
Shake Off Restrictions
“Goldman is extremely eager to shake off the restrictions and scrutiny that come along with TARP,” said Celent’s Schauerte. “A return of taxpayer funds would manifest the bank’s restored strength and set it apart from the pack -- just as in better times.”
Goldman Sachs raised $5.75 billion from a common stock offering at $123 each on Sept. 24, a day after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. bought $5 billion of preferred stock in the company.
Goldman Sachs shares jumped 8.4 percent yesterday to close at $124.33, its highest since Oct. 3, amid a rally in bank stocks. The rally was sparked by Wells Fargo & Co., in which Berkshire is also a large investor, saying that it expects to report record first-quarter earnings.
“It shouldn’t be beyond anybody’s imagination for them to be able to raise $5 billion or $6 billion through a new raise,” said NYU’s Smith. “Remember Goldman Sachs raised $5 billion in a capital raise in September -- it was a much worse time and they raised it at a price level which is not far from where the stock is now.”
If Goldman Sachs’s first-quarter earnings match or exceed expectations, “it would make a lot of strategic sense to announce share sales in concert with releasing earnings,” said Celent’s Schauerte.
To contact the reporter on this story: Christine Harper in New York at charper@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: April 10, 2009 15:53 EDT
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a276IqV3sdnc&refer=home
Fed Said to Order Banks to Stay Mum on ‘Stress Test’ Results
April 10 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Federal Reserve has told Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and other banks to keep mum on the results of “stress tests” that will gauge their ability to weather the recession, people familiar with the matter said.
The Fed wants to ensure that the report cards don’t leak during earnings conference calls scheduled for this month. Such a scenario might push stock prices lower for banks perceived as weak and interfere with the government’s plan to release the results in an orderly fashion later this month.
“If you allow banks to talk about it, people are just going to assume that the ones that don’t comment about it failed,” said Paul Miller, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets in Arlington, Virginia.
Regulators are using the tests to determine whether the 19 biggest banks have enough capital to cover loan losses during the next two years if the economy shrinks, unemployment surges and housing prices keep declining. The tests are a linchpin of the plan Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced in February to bolster confidence in the nation’s banks and restore financial-market stability.
Geithner has likened the stress tests to those used by doctors to evaluate a patient’s health. They’re designed to mesh with the administration’s effort to remove distressed mortgage assets from banks’ balance sheets. The Fed is overseeing the administration of the tests, people briefed on the matter say.
Progress Report
President Barack Obama is scheduled to get a progress report on the tests today during a meeting with his economic team. Geithner will attend, along with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Goldman Sachs plans to report first-quarter earnings April 14, followed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. on April 16. Citigroup reports April 17, and Morgan Stanley announces April 21. All four banks are based in New York.
Spokesman for the banks declined to comment.
“No matter what the result, the stress tests are going to move markets,” Camden Fine, president of the Independent Community Bankers of America, said in an interview yesterday. “That’s the tricky part. If they don’t give out enough information or the information is presented in the wrong way, that could cause markets to plunge.”
Silent on ‘Process’
Banks should stay silent because a focus on the tests would be “a harmful distraction” from earnings, said Scott Talbott, senior vice president for government affairs at the Financial Services Roundtable in Washington.
“It is premature for banks to talk about the stress tests,” Talbott said yesterday. “They aren’t finalized yet and there is no framework to evaluate the results.”
Wells Fargo & Co. Chief Financial Officer Howard Atkins declined to discuss the tests yesterday after his bank reported a record first-quarter profit that beat the most optimistic Wall Street estimates.
“We haven’t commented on regulatory matters and we won’t start now,” Atkins said in an interview. “We don’t comment on the process.”
In a separate interview later, Wells Fargo spokeswoman Julia Tunis Bernard declined to say whether the bank had been told by regulators to keep silent. “We don’t comment on our discussions and conversations with regulators and officials,” she said.
Under the Treasury’s plan, banks would have six months after the reviews to raise any new capital they might need. If the money isn’t obtained from private investors, the government will provide the funds from the $700 billion bank-rescue plan.
To contact the reporters on this story: Bradley Keoun in New York at bkeoun@bloomberg.net; Scott Lanman in Washington at slanman@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: April 10, 2009 00:00 EDT
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aEX9sBcofMYY&refer=home
Yep....killer volume! Yea!!! .02 Don't forget your sun-tan lotion, don't want you to get Burned! lol jk
OK...lol It's had a nice run for sure. Wonder if the Honey Moon is over and dilution hell is just around the corner? Hope not.......EZ why do you love this stock soooo much? :)
It's interesting EZ. I'll play a little devils advocate.
Things make me go Hmm......A company/platform slapped together to take advantage of stimulus money? Sell some stock on a "proprietary patent-pending technology"?
"MMR believes the system is being designed to comply with
standards necessary for physicians to receive qualifying reimbursement for installation and integration from stimulus monies."
You go Gene, Who, What, Where and cridentials anyone? Sounds very general to me, Gene. Come again??? lol
""MMR received validation of its Personal Health Record from leading hospital IT executives and the consulting community, citing MMR's Personal Health Record as 'the best full-featured PHR at the show,'" said Gene Barduson, MMR Healthcare Market Strategist. "Based on the reaction at the show we believe that MMR's PHR could be offered to as many as three million patients by the end of 2010 through EMR system suppliers."???
http://www.itnewsonline.com/showprnstory.php?storyid=40652
GCI - 3.75 +1.06 +39.41% .....
SSP - 2.09 +0.49 +30.62%
APRIL 9, 2009, 4:25 P.M. ET Gannett Jumps 39% As Ariel Investments Boosts Stake To 12.5%
Ariel Investments, a Chicago-based money-management firm with more than $4.4 billion in assets, said in a federal filing it now owns more than 28.8 million shares of Gannett, the publisher of USA Today and a variety of newspapers across the country. Ariel held a 4.9% stake, or about 11.1 million shares, as of Dec. 31. The stake is a passive investment.
GBX - 5.67 +1.02 +21.94%
ERPL, Thomas De Brock bought 1,222 shares at .11. on 4/03, living dangerously. lol He holds 67k. Wonder why more insiders arn't buying? Former ceo still holding 1.2 mil.
What makes you so sure they will not file BK?
" they are warning their senior note holders if they don't comply they will file for bankruptcy protection...we have seen that before on the Q plays. "
THX...brain freeze regarding the short week.
HZO -- +9.34%
PAL - 1.78 +0.17 +10.56%
Yep..broader market larger caps flying. I got left in the dust with my small cap list today. lol.. exception PKD, LNC, GBX,
MMR moving. low v though.
Hmm..Low volume on all my watch /trade stocks today.?
Yes: if they are just reporting? Sounds like they are Promoting which is something entirely different. I don't know because I canned cable and basically the TV years ago. It's all basically mind rot with the exception of a few educational programs and the weather. Even the weather is dramatised to hook viewers.
"Fair and balanced" Fox News aggressively promotes "tea party" protests
Summary: Despite its repeated insistence that its coverage is "fair and balanced" and its invitation to viewers to "say 'no' to biased media," Fox News has frequently aired segments encouraging viewers to get involved with "tea party" protests across the country, which the channel has described as primarily a response to President Obama's fiscal policies. Media Matters has compiled an analysis of Fox News' promotion of these events.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200904080025?f=h_popular
"Fair and balanced" Fox News aggressively promotes "tea party" protests
Summary: Despite its repeated insistence that its coverage is "fair and balanced" and its invitation to viewers to "say 'no' to biased media," Fox News has frequently aired segments encouraging viewers to get involved with "tea party" protests across the country, which the channel has described as primarily a response to President Obama's fiscal policies. Media Matters has compiled an analysis of Fox News' promotion of these events.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200904080025?f=h_popular
BEE, 3ed time a charm?
HZO -- several eod paint jobs.
Hope?...kind of OT: Outlook brighter for SemGroup Energy Partners
By ROD WALTON World Staff Writer
Published: 4/8/2009 6:54 PM
Last Modified: 4/8/2009 6:54 PM
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=298&articleid=20090408_298_0_SemGro582214
SemGroup Energy Partners LP, which was reeling for eight months under the impact of the parent company’s bankruptcy and its own credit default, is headed in the right direction from this week on, CEO Kevin Foxx said Wednesday.
The publicly traded, independent subsidiary of bankrupt SemGroup LP has been granted a long-term waiver on its banking agreement. The new deal allows SemGroup Energy Partners, also known as SGLP, to borrow additional funds under its revolving credit facility.
The Tulsa-based oil and asphalt storage and transportation company was prevented from borrowing under a series of three-month forbearance agreements with senior lenders beginning last year. SGLP went into credit default last summer as its parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The new deal with SGLP’s bank group and a transfer of assets with SemGroup LP has given Foxx a more optimistic outlook.
“The completion of these transactions allows us to refocus our efforts in our crude oil and liquid asphalt cement terminaling, storage and transportation businesses independent of the private company,” Foxx said in a statement announcing the new credit extension through June 2011. “We want to express our thanks and gratitude to all of our employees who have worked tirelessly and endured these past months of uncertainty.
“We are now prepared to move forward in a positive manner as we continue to stabilize and strengthen our business.”
The public SemGroup still owes $433 million on loans, according to reports. Currently, SGLP has $29 million in cash on hand
and unused credit.
In exchange for the two-year extension, SGLP is required to make minimum quarterly amortization payments and mandatory prepayments whenever cash on hand exceeds $15 million, according to the release. The banking group also would receive 100 percent of any assets sales and annual prepayments with half of any excess cash flow.
SemGroup LP previously accounted for more than 80 percent of SGLP’s annual revenue through a fee-based storage and terminaling throughput agreement. The onetime partners began battling in court last year after the bankrupt parent company failed to meet its end of the throughput, and SGLP was forced to find other third-party contracts for storing and moving oil and asphalt.
SemGroup’s collapse sent SGLP into its own downward financial spiral, although the public company so far has avoided bankruptcy itself. SGLP did not release an earnings report for 10 months, but a report made public in March indicated that the public company had generated an additional $16 million in third-party revenue by the fourth quarter of 2008.
“We are also grateful to our loyal customers who have continued to trust us and utilize our services, helping us earn our independence from the private company,” Foxx said.
SemGroup LP and SGLP have completed their own swap of assets in a settlement reached last month, officials said. Some Kansas crude oil storage was transferred to the SemCrude unit’s possession, while SGLP gained ownership of 355,000 barrels of crude oil tank bottoms and line fill.
The two SemGroups also have entered into a new terminaling agreement, according to the release. SGLP will provide asphalt terminaling and storage services for SemGroup’s remaining asphalt inventory until Oct. 31.
SemGroup is winding down or selling the remainder of its SemMaterials asphalt unit that was not transferred to SGLP. Last week the parent company began laying off SemMaterials employees nationwide, including 20 in Tulsa, according to reports.
SGLP is moving toward full independence from the private parent company but currently still shares some services. Hedge funds Manchester Securities and Alerian Capital Management gained board control last summer after a loan default.
SemGroup and SGLP officials are still awaiting a U.S. examiner’s report by former FBI Director Louis Freeh. His Freeh Group International was appointed by a Delaware bankruptcy judge to investigate the possible reasons for the parent SemGroup’s financial collapse, from trading strategies to insider transactions to alleged misuse of funds.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also has been looking into SGLP’s disclosures regarding the financial health of its parent company. Shareholders have filed class-action petitions alleging that SGLP did not inform them of SemGroup LP’s liquidity crisis prior to public stock offerings.
SemGroup Energy Partners was delisted from the Nasdaq stock market in February after missing three deadlines to file quarterly financial reports. The public SGLP is now traded on the “pink sheets” electronic market and was selling for $3.80 per unit as of Tuesday.
GBX - 4.65 +0.43 +10.19% -- sector moving
ARII - 7.05 +0.22 +3.22%
Treasury may aid some life insurers, shares rise
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hJB8F_pc3QCTmW11PVyhHSGm6cRgD97EGM681
THPW...Radar
Electricity Grid in U.S. Penetrated By Spies
TECHNOLOGY APRIL 8, 2009
Murdoch's WSJ... lol...monsters spies and scary air is everywhere! old news with a new spin, cause RM must win!. Freaking Schmuck
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123914805204099085.html
WASHINGTON -- Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, according to current and former national-security officials.
The spies came from China, Russia and other countries, these officials said, and were believed to be on a mission to navigate the U.S. electrical system and its controls. The intruders haven't sought to damage the power grid or other key infrastructure, but officials warned they could try during a crisis or war.
"The Chinese have attempted to map our infrastructure, such as the electrical grid," said a senior intelligence official. "So have the Russians."
The espionage appeared pervasive across the U.S. and doesn't target a particular company or region, said a former Department of Homeland Security official. "There are intrusions, and they are growing," the former official said, referring to electrical systems. "There were a lot last year."
Many of the intrusions were detected not by the companies in charge of the infrastructure but by U.S. intelligence agencies, officials said. Intelligence officials worry about cyber attackers taking control of electrical facilities, a nuclear power plant or financial networks via the Internet.
Authorities investigating the intrusions have found software tools left behind that could be used to destroy infrastructure components, the senior intelligence official said. He added, "If we go to war with them, they will try to turn them on."
Officials said water, sewage and other infrastructure systems also were at risk.
"Over the past several years, we have seen cyberattacks against critical infrastructures abroad, and many of our own infrastructures are as vulnerable as their foreign counterparts," Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair recently told lawmakers. "A number of nations, including Russia and China, can disrupt elements of the U.S. information infrastructure."
Officials cautioned that the motivation of the cyberspies wasn't well understood, and they don't see an immediate danger. China, for example, has little incentive to disrupt the U.S. economy because it relies on American consumers and holds U.S. government debt.
But protecting the electrical grid and other infrastructure is a key part of the Obama administration's cybersecurity review, which is to be completed next week. Under the Bush administration, Congress approved $17 billion in secret funds to protect government networks, according to people familiar with the budget. The Obama administration is weighing whether to expand the program to address vulnerabilities in private computer networks, which would cost billions of dollars more. A senior Pentagon official said Tuesday the Pentagon has spent $100 million in the past six months repairing cyber damage.
The sophistication of the U.S. intrusions -- which extend beyond electric to other key infrastructure systems -- suggests that China and Russia are mainly responsible, according to intelligence officials and cybersecurity specialists. While terrorist groups could develop the ability to penetrate U.S. infrastructure, they don't appear to have yet mounted attacks, these officials say.
It is nearly impossible to know whether or not an attack is government-sponsored because of the difficulty in tracking true identities in cyberspace. U.S. officials said investigators have followed electronic trails of stolen data to China and Russia.
Russian and Chinese officials have denied any wrongdoing. "These are pure speculations," said Yevgeniy Khorishko, a spokesman at the Russian Embassy. "Russia has nothing to do with the cyberattacks on the U.S. infrastructure, or on any infrastructure in any other country in the world."
A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Wang Baodong, said the Chinese government "resolutely oppose[s] any crime, including hacking, that destroys the Internet or computer network" and has laws barring the practice. China was ready to cooperate with other countries to counter such attacks, he said, and added that "some people overseas with Cold War mentality are indulged in fabricating the sheer lies of the so-called cyberspies in China."
Utilities are reluctant to speak about the dangers. "Much of what we've done, we can't talk about," said Ray Dotter, a spokesman at PJM Interconnection LLC, which coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in 13 states and the District of Columbia. He said the organization has beefed up its security, in conformance with federal standards.
In January 2008, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved new protection measures that required improvements in the security of computer servers and better plans for handling attacks.
Last week, Senate Democrats introduced a proposal that would require all critical infrastructure companies to meet new cybersecurity standards and grant the president emergency powers over control of the grid systems and other infrastructure.
Specialists at the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, a nonprofit research institute, said attack programs search for openings in a network, much as a thief tests locks on doors. Once inside, these programs and their human controllers can acquire the same access and powers as a systems administrator.
NERC Letter
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation on Tuesday warned its members that not all of them appear to be adhering to cybersecuirty requirements. Read the letter.
The White House review of cybersecurity programs is studying ways to shield the electrical grid from such attacks, said James Lewis, who directed a study for the Center for Strategic and International Studies and has met with White House reviewers.
The reliability of the grid is ultimately the responsibility of the North American Electric Reliability Corp., an independent standards-setting organization overseen by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The NERC set standards last year requiring companies to designate "critical cyber assets." Companies, for example, must check the backgrounds of employees and install firewalls to separate administrative networks from those that control electricity flow. The group will begin auditing compliance in July.
—Rebecca Smith contributed to this article.
Write to Siobhan Gorman at siobhan.gorman@wsj.com
Corrections & Amplifications
Central Inteligence Agency official Tom Donahue's last name was misspelled in a previous version of this article.
Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A1
Electricity Grid in U.S. Penetrated By Spies
TECHNOLOGY APRIL 8, 2009
Murdoch's WSJ... lol...monsters spies and scary air is everywhere! old news with a new spin, cause RM must win!. Freaking Schmuck
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123914805204099085.html
WASHINGTON -- Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, according to current and former national-security officials.
The spies came from China, Russia and other countries, these officials said, and were believed to be on a mission to navigate the U.S. electrical system and its controls. The intruders haven't sought to damage the power grid or other key infrastructure, but officials warned they could try during a crisis or war.
"The Chinese have attempted to map our infrastructure, such as the electrical grid," said a senior intelligence official. "So have the Russians."
The espionage appeared pervasive across the U.S. and doesn't target a particular company or region, said a former Department of Homeland Security official. "There are intrusions, and they are growing," the former official said, referring to electrical systems. "There were a lot last year."
Many of the intrusions were detected not by the companies in charge of the infrastructure but by U.S. intelligence agencies, officials said. Intelligence officials worry about cyber attackers taking control of electrical facilities, a nuclear power plant or financial networks via the Internet.
Authorities investigating the intrusions have found software tools left behind that could be used to destroy infrastructure components, the senior intelligence official said. He added, "If we go to war with them, they will try to turn them on."
Officials said water, sewage and other infrastructure systems also were at risk.
"Over the past several years, we have seen cyberattacks against critical infrastructures abroad, and many of our own infrastructures are as vulnerable as their foreign counterparts," Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair recently told lawmakers. "A number of nations, including Russia and China, can disrupt elements of the U.S. information infrastructure."
Officials cautioned that the motivation of the cyberspies wasn't well understood, and they don't see an immediate danger. China, for example, has little incentive to disrupt the U.S. economy because it relies on American consumers and holds U.S. government debt.
But protecting the electrical grid and other infrastructure is a key part of the Obama administration's cybersecurity review, which is to be completed next week. Under the Bush administration, Congress approved $17 billion in secret funds to protect government networks, according to people familiar with the budget. The Obama administration is weighing whether to expand the program to address vulnerabilities in private computer networks, which would cost billions of dollars more. A senior Pentagon official said Tuesday the Pentagon has spent $100 million in the past six months repairing cyber damage.
The sophistication of the U.S. intrusions -- which extend beyond electric to other key infrastructure systems -- suggests that China and Russia are mainly responsible, according to intelligence officials and cybersecurity specialists. While terrorist groups could develop the ability to penetrate U.S. infrastructure, they don't appear to have yet mounted attacks, these officials say.
It is nearly impossible to know whether or not an attack is government-sponsored because of the difficulty in tracking true identities in cyberspace. U.S. officials said investigators have followed electronic trails of stolen data to China and Russia.
Russian and Chinese officials have denied any wrongdoing. "These are pure speculations," said Yevgeniy Khorishko, a spokesman at the Russian Embassy. "Russia has nothing to do with the cyberattacks on the U.S. infrastructure, or on any infrastructure in any other country in the world."
A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Wang Baodong, said the Chinese government "resolutely oppose[s] any crime, including hacking, that destroys the Internet or computer network" and has laws barring the practice. China was ready to cooperate with other countries to counter such attacks, he said, and added that "some people overseas with Cold War mentality are indulged in fabricating the sheer lies of the so-called cyberspies in China."
Utilities are reluctant to speak about the dangers. "Much of what we've done, we can't talk about," said Ray Dotter, a spokesman at PJM Interconnection LLC, which coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in 13 states and the District of Columbia. He said the organization has beefed up its security, in conformance with federal standards.
In January 2008, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved new protection measures that required improvements in the security of computer servers and better plans for handling attacks.
Last week, Senate Democrats introduced a proposal that would require all critical infrastructure companies to meet new cybersecurity standards and grant the president emergency powers over control of the grid systems and other infrastructure.
Specialists at the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, a nonprofit research institute, said attack programs search for openings in a network, much as a thief tests locks on doors. Once inside, these programs and their human controllers can acquire the same access and powers as a systems administrator.
NERC Letter
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation on Tuesday warned its members that not all of them appear to be adhering to cybersecuirty requirements. Read the letter.
The White House review of cybersecurity programs is studying ways to shield the electrical grid from such attacks, said James Lewis, who directed a study for the Center for Strategic and International Studies and has met with White House reviewers.
The reliability of the grid is ultimately the responsibility of the North American Electric Reliability Corp., an independent standards-setting organization overseen by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The NERC set standards last year requiring companies to designate "critical cyber assets." Companies, for example, must check the backgrounds of employees and install firewalls to separate administrative networks from those that control electricity flow. The group will begin auditing compliance in July.
—Rebecca Smith contributed to this article.
Write to Siobhan Gorman at siobhan.gorman@wsj.com
Corrections & Amplifications
Central Inteligence Agency official Tom Donahue's last name was misspelled in a previous version of this article.
Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A1