We joke here at the Fool about the real cause of rising gas prices. Is it the money-guzzling oil companies, the tax-guzzling government, or the gas-guzzling SUVs?

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham apparently doesn't see the humor. Today, Abraham made it known that the Energy Department would investigate a recent "unusually large" spike in gasoline prices, and it hasn't ruled out the possibility of manipulation of the fuel market.

The target of the investigation is a 12-cent, one-week jump heading into the Labor Day weekend. If all this escaped you, don't despair. According to Reuters, "On the way home drivers found some relief as the national price for regular unleaded gas fell a slight 0.1 cent..."

So, that's where that darn penny came from!

In today's Motley Fool Take:

Qwest Still Looking

Qwest Communications' (NYSE: Q) announcement of a $91 million quarterly loss today, or $.05 per share, appears to have beaten the consensus estimate of a loss of $.07, but who can be sure these days.

The humbled telecom titan, which has been conducting a review of its accounting practices in the midst of an SEC and Justice Department investigation, announced an additional $284 million in accounting fiction today.

That brings the total dollar amount of accounting misclassifications to about $1.8 billion and actual reductions in revenue or EBITDA to just over $1 billion. That's not exactly chump change, though that term may describe what shareholders are feeling like.

The phone company claims that its restatement of year 2000 and 2001 earnings are "essentially complete" -- whatever that means -- but, of course, it went on to say that the "company can give no assurance that the adjustments are final," or that "all adjustments necessary to present its financial statements [accurately] have been identified." In other words, just like the one announced this past May, this restatement may not be the last.

Qwest is seeing some strength in its long-distance business, signing up over 1 million new lines so far this year, but it's losing local access lines like they're going out of style -- and in some ways, they just might be. That's particularly bad news, as many of the best opportunities for growth lie in bundling services for local customers.

The company did make some progress shoring up its balance sheet in the quarter, managing to increase its cash and equivalents by $200 million to $2.8 billion.

Still, the bottom line is that the folks who purchase this company in the short term are taking a real leap of faith. If the firm has demonstrated anything in the past 18 months, it's that one should have little confidence in 2003 earnings and revenue estimates. And that makes it a bit of a challenge to assign an appropriate value to its shares.

If you're looking for more terra firma in your telecom company, avoid this one and consider BellSouth(NYSE: BLS), SBC Communications(NYSE: SBC), or Verizon(NYSE: VZ) instead. All are better-managed companies with brighter futures that pay substantial dividends to boot.

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Heinz Squeezes Out Growth

Every time Heinz(NYSE: HNZ) reports earnings, it's worth taking a peek to see if it's making any progress toward reversing 15 years of disappointing performance. It seems this ketchup company just can't cut the mustard despite having one of the best brands in America.

Today's first-quarter results were much better than what we saw three months ago, when higher costs and lower sales led to sharply lower earnings. Instead, Heinz poured out a profit of $0.51 per share from continuing operations -- 9% higher than the same period last year -- on a 3% rise in sales.

The company spun off some of its non-core businesses to Del Monte(NYSE: DLM) last December in an effort to focus on what it does best. By concentrating on condiments and sauces and jettisoning less-profitable products, it was able to increase its gross margin by nearly a full percentage point to 37.5%. Some credit can go to its innovative ways of serving up the same sauce: Ketchup saw a strong volume increase thanks to "easy squeeze" upside-down bottles; new garlic, mesquite, and Tabasco flavored Kick'rs; and colored ketchup for kids.

What's in store for the future? Look for Heinz to sell off even more of its low-margin businesses, and continue to try to pay down some of its $4.7 billion in debt.

Today's news was at least not a step backward. Still, in a year when the S&P 500 is up about 12%, the company's stock is barely above breakeven. We can't blame investors for not giving the ketchup king a fair squeeze.

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Netflix Doomed?

Forrester Research (Nasdaq: FORR) recently released a new study about the future of compact discs and DVDs, and the outlook wasn't pretty.

Forrester predicts a dramatic slide in the usage of both media, with music and movie downloading supplanting the purchase of CDs and DVDs. According to the study's main author, Josh Bernoff, "On-demand services are the future of entertainment delivery. CDs, DVDs, and any other forms of physical media will become obsolete."

For a company likeNetflix(Nasdaq: NFLX) whose whole business model is seemingly built around the future popularity of DVDs, Forrester's findings initially appear deadly. After all, how can Netflix prosper -- indeed, survive -- in a world where DVDs no longer have consumer preference? As if the threat of Wal-Mart(NYSE: WMT) creeping into its territory weren't enough, now DVDs themselves are being called into question.

In fact, however, Netflix is prepared for this possibility, and is unfazed by it. One thing that should be remembered here is that Netflix isn't producing DVDs itself -- it's merely a conduit between movie watchers and the flicks they crave. And as that conduit, it will deliver movies however customers want them.

In an interview several months ago for The Motley Fool Radio Show, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings addressed concerns about customers one day choosing to download movies instead of renting DVDs:

TMF: What about the development of new technologies that are allowing people to download movies at home? A casual observer might wonder if that isn't a replacement technology for your business.

Reed Hastings: It's an alternate delivery technology. Right now, we deliver by the U.S. mail. The way it would work is that our movie pages right now have a "Mail it to Me" button and we would add to it a "Download it to Me" button. But for us, we're agnostic about the delivery method. For some people, like those without broadband, mail will be better for them. Other people who have broadband that connects to their TV will want to get it downloaded. We're delivery-mechanism independent.

Netflix shareholders should be proud that their company is actively planning ahead and scouting out potential hazards. It's just another quality among many that makes Netflix a solid business. David Gardner, who recommended Netflix for the June issue of Motley Fool Stock Advisor, undoubtedly agrees that Netflix has lots of future growth and potential.

Quote of Note

"Drama is life with the dull bits cut out." -- Alfred Hitchcock

And Finally...

Today on Fool.com:

Contributors:
Bob Bobala, Robert Brokamp, Paul Elliott, Mathew Emmert, Jeff Fischer, Tom Jacobs, Jeff Hwang, LouAnn Lofton, Alyce Lomax, Bill Mann, Selena Maranjian, Rex Moore, Rick Munarriz, Matt Richey, Reggie Santiago, Dayana Yochim