NEW YORK, June 8, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- This week's Wall Street Journal Weekend Edition centerpiece will focus on communities across the world that have been hammered by the new century's energy-price boom, including rising fuel prices. The week's Weekend Edition will be available via home delivery and newsstands on June 9-10.
The Journal journeys the Alaskan village of Shungnak -- a small town consisting of 75 homes, a store, a school, a community health clinic and a city office building. Despite being home to the largest U.S. oilfield discovered in the past half century, Shungnak is at the very end of the petroleum-distribution system and therefore pays more than twice the current U.S. average for gasoline.
"Today, the price of oil and all the products made from it has surged and seem likely to remain high for some time," writes Russell Gold, a Journal reporter in this week's Weekend Edition. "This has raised the unsettling question: What happens to a community accustomed to cheap energy when the energy is no longer cheap? Remote villages like Shungnak have long been fragile economies with little to offer residents by way of jobs and opportunity. High fuel prices have made a bad situation worse -- threatening the survival of Shungnak as well as over a hundred other remote villages that have existed for centuries first as camps for nomadic tribes and then as permanent settlements."
Additional stories appearing in this week's Weekend Edition of the Wall Street Journal include the following:
Money & Investing:
-- Income Investments: A look at what investors should do with their
income investments -- bonds, CDs, money markets, etc -- in light
of the recent shifts in short-term rates.
-- Funds: The number of exchange-traded funds has ballooned in recent
years. Now, a handful of new tools can help investors separate
winners from losers, and even show how they stack up against
comparable mutual funds.
Pursuits:
-- Secrets of a Million-Mile Traveler: After clocking more than a
million miles in the air, the Journal's veteran travel writer Stan
Sesser shows how breaking out of the cozy tourist bubble can be
the key to a more rewarding trip overseas. From apartments in the
back streets to quirky guided tours, this week's Pursuits cover
story offers tips on how to find the real heart of your
destination -- and have more fun doing it.
-- Pulling Off the Obama Look: With the suit-and-no-tie look gaining
prominence lately -- presidential hopeful Barack Obama has drawn
attention for sporting a version of the approach, and Microsoft's
Steve Ballmer and Boeing CEO Jim McNerney have done it, too --
more men are trying it out themselves. In the process, they're
discovering that this seemingly effortless style takes work to get
right. The Journal tells you how.
-- Golf Addiction: There are lots of jokes about golf being an
addiction. People talk in jest about joining Golfers Anonymous,
and one guy went so far as to actually adapt the AA 12-step
program into the golfer's "12 tee" program. But sometimes it's
really more than a joke. It's not chemical, so not as potent, but
it can and does lead to serious problems and harmful behavior for
some people.
About The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal, the flagship publication of Dow Jones & Company (NYSE:DJ; www.dowjones.com), is the world's leading business publication. Founded in 1889, The Wall Street Journal has a print and online circulation of nearly 2.1 million, reaching the nation's top business and political leaders, as well as investors across the country. Holding 31 Pulitzer Prizes for outstanding journalism, The Wall Street Journal provides readers with trusted information and knowledge to make better decisions. The Wall Street Journal print franchise has more than 600 journalists world-wide, part of the Dow Jones network of nearly 1,800 business and financial news staff. Other publications that are part of The Wall Street Journal franchise, with total circulation of2.6 million, include The Wall Street Journal Asia, The Wall Street Journal Europe and The Wall Street Journal Online at WSJ.com, the largest paid subscription news site on the Web. In 2006, the Journal was ranked No. 1 in BtoB's Media Power 50 for the seventh consecutive year.
The WSJ Weekend Edition logo is available at http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=3504
Editor's Note: WSJ reporters are available to discuss these topics.