Good morning and welcome to Before The Bell

Oil prices slipped as much as $2.62 early this morning on Iran’s thrust and parry with Western nations over its uranium enrichment program. The oil markets, and by extension the stock market, were initially optimistic that Iran would respond favorably to Western incentives to curtail its nuclear program. But its first public statement on the matter over the weekend indicated that Iran would continue with the enrichment program.

The retreat in oil prices is also supporting the dollar, which reached its highest level in a week.

In other news, the Group of Eight meeting of central bankers and finance ministers are meeting this week to discuss the impact of high energy prices and the weak dollar on the global economy. There is also the steady hum of concern that the Federal Reserve will follow the European Central Bank in raising interest rates to combat inflation.