A psychology reversal may be occurring in the oil market - a shift in sentiment that may be good news for U.S. consumers. That was how one trader characterized oil's $3.41 fall to $118.00 per barrel Tuesday in premarket trading.

Tuesday's early morning negative catalyst was a report that Tropical Storm Edouard will leave U.S oil rigs and refineries without significant damage, but energy trader Jim Dietz said bearish sentiment has been on the rise for about 10 days.

Beginning of psychology reversal?

"Tropical storm or not, a psychology reversal is starting to occur in the oil market. There's a real concern now that a global economic slowdown is occurring and it will be reflected in oil demand figures for August and September," Dietz said. "We've had two days of a storm in the Gulf of Mexico and negative rhetoric from Iran and oil rallies couldn't hold. That's a sign of a bearish market."

Dietz said he is presently flat, or has no open energy trading positions, but added "that may change later today if the bearish trend persists."

Nearly two years ago - August 29, 2005, to be precise - Hurricane Katrina made landfall in southeast Louisiana. The subsequent breach of the New Orleans levees left about 80% of the Crescent City flooded and caused tragic loss of life.

100 weeks later, New Orleans and the surrounding areas are slowly but surely rebuilding. The site of Zapp's potato chips in specialty grocery stores across the country is certainly a good sign for me personally. Tourism remains a critical element to the venerable city's recovery so please remember to spend money if you happen to be in the region ... and buy locally.

Time Inc. - the magazine publishing arm of Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) - is paying tribute to New Orleans this month, with 10 of its magazines featuring articles about New Orleans. A Time cover story argues that the same bureaucratic mistakes are being made to shield the city against future storms. Essence follows up with 3 New Orleans families interviewed in 2005. Fortune looks at the economic state of the city and the impact of two years' worth of relief funds. Even Entertainment Weekly features a look at the Big Easy, featuring personal photos from R.E.M. lead singer MIchael Stipe, whose band recently released the song "New Orleans Instrumental No. 1."

Visiting Blogging New Orleans earlier today (the Crescent City is home to much of my extended family ... specifically, 25 aunts/uncles/cousins), I came across a rant about Starbucks' (NASDAQ: SBUX) rumored plan to open a shop on storied Jackson Square, home to the St. Louis Cathedral and a famous equestrian statue of our seventh president.

Author Jennifer Jordan calls the mere thought of the corporate descent upon the French Quarter's centerpoint as "totally UNACCEPTABLE" and vows to "get signatures or signs or whatever it takes to keep Starbucks out of the French Quarter." She goes on to say that while SBUX is a fine organization in principle, there is a place for chains, and the 289-year-old French Quarter is not such a place.

Another issue, other than the dichotomy of seeing the ubiquitous green logo sprout up among the old-worldliness of the Vieux Carré, is the inevitable competition that will arise with Café du Monde, a French-Quarter based landmark for café au lait and beignets (French-style doughnuts). Always a stop for me on my frequent visits to my Southern family, Café du Monde is an absolute institution, founded in 1862 and open 24 hours a day.

It will be interesting to see how the plucky folk of New Orleans respond to the threatened encroachment from the Seattle superpower. Petitions are being attached to clipboards as I write this, I am sure, and locals are reportedly beseeching local restaurateurs to snap up the real estate SBUX may currently be eying.

Ms. Jordan closes her plea with the notion that SBUX must be stopped if "we're going to preserve what makes the French Quarter, and the rest of New Orleans, as individual as it is."

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Last week, I linked to an article on the 12 most dangerous (and safest) states, based on various violent-crime statistics. Many New England territories were among those judged as "safest," and for the sixth time in seven years, Vermont has now topped the charts as America's healthiest state (I guess the locally made Ben & Jerry's ice cream is enjoyed sparingly!). The rulings, published by Morgan Quitno Press for the past 15 years, are based on 21 factors, including teenage birth rate, health coverage, and rate of certain diseases.

Next on the list is Minnesota, hitting number one in terms of the percentage of residents who exercise regularly and those carrying health insurance. The New England region rounds out the top five, with Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire taking the three-through-five spots.

The remainder of the top 12:

"I think eBay is great!" one Louisiana state senator told the New York Times. Another smiled broadly while voting for Louisiana Senate Bill 642, which exempted eBay and other internet businesses from law requiring licenses for auctioneers. It's just one indication of eBay's powerful lobbyists, working hard from California to Baton Rouge to make sure its sellers don't have to follow rules meant for pawn brokers, ticket scalpers and auction houses (despite its description of its services as "auctions").

The company, protecting its $500 million in quarterly listing fees, is acting in what the Times calls a "savvy, resourceful," "remarkably successful," "grass roots" and "not shy" manner to stop adverse legislation. Interestingly, the company uses email missives much like the one Meg Whitman sent on Friday, but on a more localized level, to engage its users in the fight against restrictive legislation.

Still more intriguing is the company's stance on legislation meant to reduce fraud on its site; according to the Times, eBay opposes anti-fraud regulations as the company "sees its online community as self-regulating."