R. Allen Stanford, accused Ponzi schemer, is about to get a new home. Following a fight at Joe Corley Detention Facility just north of Houston, Tex., a judge has ordered that he be moved to a facility in downtown Houston.

The order doesn't seem to be linked to the altercation that occurred last Thursday. Rather, it's to facilitate Stanford's meetings with his court-appointed attorney, Kent Schaffer.

Accused Ponzi scheme perpetrator R. Allen Stanford was hospitalized Thursday following an altercation with another inmate. He was hospitalized in an undisclosed location, according to U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Alfredo Perez, and is expected to be released on Monday.

Stanford, who is 59 years old, sustained only superficial wounds, according to Perez. Given the limited physical damage, the reason for the extended hospitalization is unclear. Stanford's attorney, Kent Schaffer, says that a doctor was going to MRI Stanford but expected problems because of a metal stint. But, he has not linked the MRI to any specific condition.

Lincoln, Neb., is the best place in the country for job-hunters. A new survey by headhunting firm Manpower (NYSE: MAN) reports that 21% of employers there plan to add employees in the next quarter, with only 4% looking to cut. That 17% spread (which Manpower calls the "net employment outlook") is tops in the United States.

Flint, Mich., on the other hand, is at the other end of the spectrum: 26% of employers are planning to chop jobs, while only 9% are forecasting new positions.

Oil falls, yet the price of gasoline is hanging up there, in the stratosphere. What's going on here?

Well, as is often the case in the oil and gasoline markets, the reasons are many.

First, the price of oil is falling on concerns that both the global economy and the U.S, economy will slow to a crawl (if not worse) due to the current credit crisis, says economist David H. Wang.

Oil, which fell $3.96 to $91.76 per barrel Tuesday at midday, has declined more than 30% since hitting a record high of $147.27 per barrel in July.

"The financial crisis suggests that emerging market oil demand growth will slow, and that's the primary reason you're seeing the price of oil decline," Wang said. "Strong demand for oil in China and India really boosted oil's price in the last three years. You lower that China-India demand and you have a different oil market."

Now, what about gasoline prices? Here, U.S. motorists will face a wide range of prices, depending on where they live in the U.S., economist Peter Dawson told BloggingStocks Tuesday.

"The biggest factor short-term for gasoline is Hurricane Ike, which shut down a fuel pipeline and refinery capacity in Texas," Dawson said. "This will reduce the supply of gasoline in the South, so price increases of 50 cents or more in the Southwest and Southeast will not be unusual."

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."

This post is part of our Big Company, Small Town series, featuring large companies and the small towns in which they are headquartered.

Pilgrim's Pride's home roots in the small town of Pittsburg, Texas, perhaps explain why it is the largest chicken producer in the U.S., even ahead of competitor Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN) in Arkansas. In 1946, Lonnie "Bo" Pilgrim dressed like a standard Pilgrim and tucked a small chicken under his arm when completing orders for customers. He gave away free chicks when he sold chicken feed as a way to expand his market for chicken feed. As of today, Pilgrim's Pride operates chicken processing plants in 13 states and Mexico and processes 44 million chickens per week, resulting in 9 billion pounds of chickens per year and over 528 million chicken eggs per year.

Pilgrim's Pride's operations are almost exclusively located in the U.S. close to its farms, and it has become the second-largest chicken supplier to Mexico as well. It does have processing plants in Mexico and Puerto Rico. Along with such huge chicken-producing numbers come a few problems, as a huge product recall in 2002 due to Lysteria contamination killed seven people and made over 40 customers sick. In 2004, more than 24,000 hens were destroyed after a strain of avian flu was found in Hopkins County, Texas.

Pilgrim's Pride is still based in the same location where it was founded over 60 years ago, but today stands as a completely vertically-integrated company: it owns every process and facility from egg to table, as it says. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), Publix Super Markets (OTC: PUSH) and KFC, a division of Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) ,can be counted as some of Pilgrim's Pride's largest customers.

Be sure to check out more Big Company, Small Town posts.

The United States is an enormous, diverse nation, and there's perhaps no better evidence of that than the U.S.'s current economic cycle.

The finances of many states have deteriorated to such a degree that they appear to be in recession, even though the nation as a whole may not be, a survey of 50 state fiscal directors concluded.

The states: budget deficits abound

The National Conference of State Legislatures' survey says that "arguing whether the national economy is in recession is almost beside the point" because the fiscal condition of some states has declined so much that they appear to be in a recession.

In all, 23 states, including hard-hit housing slump states Florida, California, and Nevada, expect to report budget deficits in the next fiscal year, fiscal 2009, with the aggregate revenue shortfall reaching $26 billion. Further, more than two-thirds of the states said they are concerned or pessimistic regarding their F2009 revenue outlook.

Historically, most states experience a decline in revenue as the U.S. economy contracts, as the economic slowdown results in lower retail sales, which lowers sales tax revenue -- a major source of revenue for many states. Job layoffs also decrease state income tax revenue. Further, state social service costs typically increase, as unemployment claims increase and applications for income/food/energy assistance rise.

Florida, California hard hit

Economist Peter Dawson told BloggingStocks Friday the NCSL data is in-line with the profile of this cycle's economic slowdown. "From the research we can see that the states under most stress are those that rank very high regarding mortgage default and housing foreclosure lists, with Florida and California being the most obvious examples," Dawson said. "These states are going to be under fiscal stress for a considerable period of time due to the size of their housing correction."

Moreover, Dawson said because of California's and Florida's size, "it will be very hard for the nation to grow at capacity until these states have started to grow." Hence, a return to robust economic conditions nationally, "could be a year to 18 months off, assuming growth resumes nationally by late 2008," he said.

Tuesday's primary victories in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island gave Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, about all her campaign could hope for: solid performances and a chance to close the delegate gap in the next primary, in Pennsylvania on April 22.

Still, the delegate math remains rough for the candidate seeking to become the first woman nominated for president by a major U.S. political party. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, leads in delegates, 1477-1391, including pledged superdelegates, according to a Washington Post tally, and the Clinton campaign's strategy will now be to try to close the delegate gap to 60 or so with a win in Pennsylvania. Two caucuses, Wyoming and Mississippi, occur before the Pennsylvania primary, and Sen. Obama is expected to win each and increase his delegate lead heading into Pennsylvania.

In 187-delegate Pennsylvania, the demographics favor Sen. Clinton -- she's leading in statewide polls there - - and the Clinton campaign likes its chances. Pennsylvania has a large working class -- which, along with women voters and Latin-Americans, forms the bulk of Clinton's base. If Sen. Clinton registers a solid win in Pennsylvania, she can make the case that although Sen. Obama has the delegate lead, she has won in the major states of New York, California, Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and probably would have won in Florida, had the delegate count been included in the Democratic Party's nominating process. That big-state coalition, and the fact that she's the candidate of the working class, would be two strong philosophical points as the campaign attempts to secure pledges from the to-date 353 un-pledged superdelegates. (Note: The number of un-pledged delegates is likely to decline by the end of the primary season on June 3.)

The oil market, to put it diplomatically, has not provided a great deal of encouragement lately for policy makers attempting to stimulate U.S. economic growth.

Further, time was when an $80 or $85 price would be considered unreasonably high, or even outlandish. But given oil's breakthrough and close above key, psychological resistance of $100 per barrel this week, $80 looks almost like an acceptable price.

Moreover, oil mogul and billionaire T. Boone Pickens says we may get there. Providing a ray of light for concerned business executives, consumers and public officials, Pickens, who accurately predicted oil's rise to $100 per barrel, told CNBC Thursday oil should drop $10-15 in the second quarter of 2008.

"I think oil's going to back off," Pickens said during the interview. "The weakest quarter is the second quarter. We'll drop $10 or $15 a barrel in the second quarter. I think we'll be back above $100 in the second half of the year."

Things are bigger down in Texas. Especially controversies that blend beef with cheesecake.

Thirty-year-old B-list actress Alicia Silverstone (of Clueless fame) did a commercial for controversial animal rights group PETA recently. In it, the actress, an animal rights activist and recent convert to vegetarianism, climbs out of a pool to seductive music. She offers the camera various come hither-looks as she drips dry, and in an inane voiceover, tells the camera about how her life has changed since she's become a vegetarian.

I suppose the idea is to show us how good she looks, now that she's no longer eating meat. Too bad being a vegetarian hasn't boosted her vocabulary. "It's so amazing!" Is it now? I'm so convinced.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Apple (AAPL), large-cap semis, and CDC Corp (CHINA) were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) was initiated with a Buy rating and $160 target at Banc of America, as the firm still sees a significant amount of upside in the stock from Mac share gains, strong iPod unit growth, and the iPhone, which they believe is being underestimated.

• Caris believes investors should focus on companies with strong product cycles that are gaining market share. They resumed coverage of Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN) and National Semiconductor (NASDAQ: NSM) with Above Average ratings, and resumed Advanced Micro (NYSE: AMD) with a Sell rating; Caris started Intel with a $26 target, Texas Instruments with a $41 target, National Semi with a $29 target, and AMD with a $10 target.

• CDC Corp (NASDAQ: CHINA) was initiated at Piper Jaffray with an Outperform rating and $11.50 target.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Banc of America started shares of Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: SUNW) and Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) with Buy ratings and a $56 target, $6.25 target and $35 target, and shares of IBM Corp (NYSE: IBM) with a Neutral rating and $125 target.

• BMO Capital started shares of NuVasive (NASDAQ: NUVA) with an Outperform rating and $33 target.

• Raymond James initiated shares of Petro-Canada (NYSE: PCZ) with an Outperform rating.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Limited Brands, Inc (LTD), Applied Materials, Inc (AMAT), Williams-Sonoma, Inc (WSM) and Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) were some of today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Limited Brands Inc (NYSE: LTD) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Banc of America, to Neutral from Accumulate at Buckingham, to Hold from Buy at Citigroup and to Market Perform from Outperform at Wachovia following the news of selling a majority interest in its Express brand and announcing the intent to explore strategic options for the company.

• Elsewhere, Cowen downgraded shares of Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) to Neutral from Outperform due to Q3 order guidance and limited visibility. American Technology removed Applied Materials from its Focus List.

• Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) was cut to Market Perform from Outperform at Piper Jaffray on concerns about mall traffic trends at the end of Q1 for both Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma brands.

• Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) was cut to Sector Performer from Outperformer at CIBC on valuation...

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Merriman downgraded Lam Research Corp (NASDAQ: LRCX) to Neutral from Buy.

• UBS cut Air France-KLM (NYSE: AKH) to Neutral from Buy.

• ThinkEquity downgraded Jazz Technologies, Inc (AMEX: JAZ) to Source of Funds from Buy.

• Nordstrom, Inc (NYSE: JWN) was taken down to Market Weight from Overweight at Thomas Wiesel.

• Longbow downgraded Ingersoll-Rand Co Ltd (NYSE: IR) to Neutral from Buy on valuation.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

No, not that spare tire. This isn't going to be a just another blog post about diet and fitness -- you're not that lucky. This is about actual nasty, filthy old junk tires and what we're doing about them. Of course, I'll intersperse some investment ideas for your consideration, but basically I'm just talking trash. A few of our readers would say that for me, that's just par for the course.

An article at Phillyburbs.com revealed that last year, of the approximately 300 million tires discarded, 261 million were recycled in some manner. Most of the remaining slugs were properly processed for landfill or are sitting in piles over at my neighbor's place waiting for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to say something about it (again). Suffice it to say that in the area of tire recycling, for the most part, we have taken up the challenge and we are doing something about it.

Well, it's here again. Next Wednesday, the South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival kicks off in Austin, Texas. I won't be attending, so don't look for a sequel post to this one about how much fun I had or what acts I saw perform. Needless to say though, many music listeners and fans will be attending the festival, now in its 21st year. If there is a larger festival in terms of sheer number of venues, I am not aware of it. But, the fact that more than 1400 acts perform in 65 venues makes the amount of music just immense, in the simplest of terms.

These numbers follow a previous blog by me about how concerts and music festivals are only positive forces for the music industry. The only problem is that there is no "real" way to translate the experience of attending the shows outside the actual festival. Of course, that does not stop Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iTunes store from including music and videos from various performances, but these always seem to be the largest acts and the venues they play. I'm reminded of the Coldplay videos that were showcased on iTunes last year.

In any case, if any readers are attending the festival next week, I implore you to enjoy the music for what it's worth because you won't experience music that way anywhere else (especially on a CD or from a download). Of course, the advantage of live musical performances is always that the experience is better than listening to an album in your home, or at least that is this blogger's opinion and past experience. At the same time, opening a new CD for the first time and listening to an album has its perks as well, but that is another story and opinion for another time.

The TXU (NYSE: TXU) deal looks more like a political campaign, not a buyout.

That is, according to the Dallas Morning News, the private equity buyers – KKR and the Texas Pacific Group (TPG) – had some important meetings yesterday. For example, there was a get-together with the mayor of Dallas, Laura Miller. There was also a meeting with members of the Texas Business for Clean Air.

How did it go? Like any political situation, it's a bit complex.

Basically, it looks like the politicians are still skeptical – but they are still not saying "no."

Keep in mind that TXU has had a myriad of fights with political groups over the past couple years. Thus, it will definitely take some time to build trust.

Apparently, KKR and TPG are exploring the idea of bringing a Texas company into the deal. This could help ameliorate some of the concerns.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.