want to remind you that you can check the very latest on what s going on financially with the markets, everything. good to cnnmoney.com. complete analysis right there. and let s go now to new york and check what s happening with the dow. you can see the dow there, up 1.29 at this point. still trading above 10,000. and you know what, we have been talking about what s going on with the dow for days now. obviously, really years, because it s really been just amazing to see the fluctuation. but you know what, according to what s happening down here, how is it going to affect the markets? the first relief well-being drilled to stop the oil gusher could be done in seven to ten days. these wells are the best hope for stopping the gulf oil leak. so why not require them to be drilled at the same time as oil exploratory wells? patricia woo is in new york with more on this question. people say valuable time has
reef leaf leaf well to stop the oil gusher, saying it could be finished by the end of the month, meanwhile plans are underway to install a new cap and seal on the. here s the latest update, more than 24,000 barrels were recovered yesterday, 16,000 were collected, another # thousand, burned. and more than 55 million cubic feet of natural gas were flared. phil keating is reporting live now in new orleans. phil, i understand admiral thad allen just addressed the progress of these relief wells. so what is the latest? reporter: well, the leading relief well is currently at 17,780 feet. the next stage is going to be 17,830 feet. so at this point, as we get closer and closer over the next 7-10 days to the point of interception with the gushing pipeline and the wellhead, then it s going to go a little more slowly, and that is because they go out, they drill 50 feet, they remove all the equipment out of the pipeline, the riser, then they send down a magnetic sensor to make sure
all right. it s become a familiar sight along the gulf coast. a lot of yellow in the form of booms set up to protect beaches and marsh lands, but they were no match for hurricane alex even though the storm was centered hundreds of miles away. cnn s senior correspondent allan chernoff has more. reporter: take a ride down the mississippi into the gulf of mexico and see what hurricane alex has delivered from bp s out of control oil well. we re more than 60 miles away from the oil gusher by comfort oil which is within saint bernard parish and the oil has made it over here. there is a bit of a sheen on the water and there are also what you would call tar balls. this is emulsified oil. it s been in the water for at least a week, maybe two weeks. that s the reason there is boom all around the island trying to
island which is more than 60 miles away from the macondo oil gusher, but has oil drifted here? absolutely. there is a bit of a sheen right here on the oil. if i reach over there, i ve got what they call a tar ball. this is basically a emulsified oil. it has been in the water here for quite some time. we are by comfort island which is more than 60 miles away from the macondo oil gusher, but has oil drifted here? absolutely. there is a bit of a sheen right here on the oil. and if i reach over there, i have got what they call a tar ball. this is basically emulsified oil, and it has been in the water here for at least a week, and maybe a couple of weeks. this is what happens to it, and that is the reason there is boons surrounding this island trying to prevent this type of oil from hitting the island and especially hitting those pelicans. unfortunately here, it is not quite working. the pelicans, they have oil on them.
will hang around for a while. take its time working across the area. we don t anticipate it to make the western portion of the gulf by the end of the week. we could be talking about a category 2 storm by the end of the week. good news right now, the gulf oil spill area is out of the direct impact of the storm. a whole week to go. thank you for keeping an eye on it. as the tropical storm churns, the containment effort to stop the oil gusher continues. we reach day 69 of the disaster. nbc s charld had loes hadlock i. good morning. i know the coast guard is keeping a close eye on this. but what effect could it have on the containment effort? they are watching it closely, but not stopping the containment effort, not yet anyway.