Black weekend and soaring crude

LONDON (MarketWatch) — It’s been a black weekend for economic and monetary union (EMU). The first round of the French presidential elections has torpedoed German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s strategy for guiding cash-strapped EMU members out of trouble. The euro area’s No. 2 creditor country after Germany, the Netherlands, is without a functioning administration after the government fell on Saturday in another row over shoring up the single currency’s faltering framework.

Crude to Give Oil Firms a Lift

Soaring crude is lifting the oil industry's boats — and will likely buoy the earnings of Chevron and ConocoPhillips. But Exxon Mobil, which has bet heavily on North American natural-gas production, is expected to see its profit drop.