The Dow rallied 212 points 11,715.  The S&P 500 gained 19 points to
1300. The Nasdaq jumped 29 points to 2,411. 

Crude oil closed at $115.59 a barrel.

SPEAKER: Mark Zandi, chief economist, Moody'sEconomy.com 

Oil prices fell for the first time in four days after the government
pledged to release oil from its emergency stockpile - if necessary. Gustav is
expected to hit Gulf operation with hurricane speed winds by Sunday. Energy
companies are already evacuating staff and curtailing operations as a
precaution.  Crude oil fell over $2-1/2 to more than $115 a barrel.

Meantime, the U.S. economy is no where as anemic as thought.  Second
quarter growth figures were upwardly  revised to 3.3 percent from 1.7 percent.
 Stronger-than-expected exports and a resilient consumer more than kept the
economy afloat......  

But few expect that strength to extend into the current quarter. Mark Zandi
is chief economist with Moody'sEconomy.com.

 Mark Zandi, chief economist, Moody'sEconomy.com:
"Q3 is lining up to be a tougher quarter. I think it will be
positive, but just barely. The rebate checks are gone and consumers are
struggling. We are not going to get the same boost from trade. So maybe 1
percent growth in GDP -  with a bit of luck."

The labor market is also a soft spot. Unemployment lines were down last
week, but remain at high levels.

Computer buying is slowing according to Dell. The PC maker said
conservative spending habits are spreading from the U.S. to countries in
Western Europe and Asia. Dell missed sales and profit forecasts for the
quarter.

On Wall Street.....positive developments in the financial sector and
encouraging economic data pushed
stocks to their best gains in nearly 3 weeks.

In Europe........Volkswagen says it has overtaken Ford as the world's No. 3
car company by sales.  The victory lap was based on sales figures for the
first half of the year.  That helped rev-up the bourses: stocks in Paris were
out in front with a 2 percent gain.

Conway Gittens, Reuters