It is just me, or is this a sign of the times?

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal Reserve Governor Frederic Mishkin will leave at the end of August and return to teaching at Columbia University, the central bank announced Wednesday. His departure means yet another empty seat on the Fed as it battles housing, credit and financial debacles.

Mishkin, who been on the Fed board since Sept. 5, 2006, submitted his resignation to President Bush. His exit would leave the Fed with just four of its seven board seats filled.

Some interesting developments in the futures market. This from Bloomberg:

May 21 (Bloomberg) -- Oil rose above $130 a barrel for the first time after at least five banks raised price forecasts in the past week on expectations supply constraints will persist.

Crude oil for July delivery gained as much as $1.21, or 0.9 percent, to $130.28 a barrel, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded for $130.22 at 11:13 a.m. London time.

Oil for delivery in December 2016 surged $17.08, or 14 percent, in the three trading days since Goldman Sachs Group Inc., raised its forecast to $141 a barrel for the second half of the year. Yesterday, Societe Generale SA and Credit Suisse raised their forecasts, while billionaire Boone Pickens repeated his prediction for $150 oil this year.