Not wishing to pay shipping and storage charges on potentially slow-selling consumer goods, retailers have cut back, awaiting better economic news.

BBC: Trucking industry faces world of woes

One of the largest energy transactions in recent years, the deal is yet another expansion of an empire that the 66-year-old Kinder has built by cobbling together slow-growing, unsexy pipeline and storage assets dumped by the likes of Enron, Dynegy, Shell and ConocoPhillips, and focusing relentlessly on cutting costs.

FORBES: Kinder Morgan To Buy El Paso In $21B Wager On Natural Gas