Yahoo! News: Health News

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• Global growth concerns weigh on Wall Street
• Jobless claims fall to four year low
• China factory activity falters, markets take fright
• Roche seen extending its Illumina offer once again
• Analysis: U.S. job gains hint at more spending and hiring
• NYSE says will not appeal veto of D. Boerse deal
• Boeing backs rival in air row, stands firm on WTO
• March auto sales seen up 6 percent: research firms
• Volkswagen to add 800 workers at Tennessee plant
• FedEx global economic view darker, shares drop
• FedEx to pay Labor Dept $3 million over hiring
• Fannie, Freddie faulted for spending on conference
• Analysis: Research "sell" notes decline as conflicts persist
• Sears names ex-Sony executive to run home appliances
• Boeing, Airbus and Embraer team up for aviation biofuels
• Top Merrill dealmaker Orcel to leave for UBS: sources
• Toyota won't offer low-end cars for volume's sake: CEO
• From torches to arena floors, UPS delivers
• McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner to retire
• Stock index futures point to lower opening
• GM to invest $1 billion in Australia operations
• Big positive shift in Asia Q1 Business Sentiment Index
• Wall Street mostly slips, but tech keeps S&P near 4-year highs
• Exclusive: Watson close to $7 billion Actavis drug deal: sources
• Chevron, Transocean charged in Brazilian oil spill
• Allen Stanford seeks new trial, blames Twitter
• Japan posts trade surplus on U.S. exports, corp mood improves
• AMR to seek termination of union contracts: Bloomberg
• Obama defends handling of Keystone pipeline
• American Airlines aims to cancel labor contracts
• Economists: Europe stuck on bailout merry-go-round
• Stocks lower on worries over China slowdown
• US watchdog questions spending at Fannie, Freddie
• Unhappy public not sure who to blame for high gas
• Recall news
• Banks lend again, but their customers are wary
• Audit: India lost $210B on no-bid coalfield sales
• Gauge of US economy rose 0.7 percent in February

Global growth concerns weigh on Wall Street Posted: NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street fell for a third straight day on Thursday after continued contraction in manufacturing in both the euro zone and China fueled worries about the global economy. The market has shown resilience recently, able to rebound off sluggish starts to the session, but Thursday's trading could represent the first significant test for the S&P 500 to hold the 1,400 support level. ...

Jobless claims fall to four year low Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans claiming new unemployment benefits dropped to a four-year low last week, offering further evidence the jobs market recovery was gaining traction. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 348,000, the lowest level since February 2008, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims rising to 354,000 last week. A separate report showed a gauge of future U.S. economic activity rose solidly in February, pointing to strengthening growth even as China slows. ...

China factory activity falters, markets take fright Posted: BEIJING (Reuters) - China's economic momentum slowed in March as factory activity shrank for a fifth straight month, leaving investors fretting about the risks to global growth and anticipating fresh policy support from Beijing. The HSBC flash purchasing managers index, the earliest indicator of China's industrial activity, fell back to 48.1 from February's four-month high of 49.6. New orders sank to a four-month low, an expected rebound in export orders failed to emerge and new hiring slumped to a two-year low. ...

Roche seen extending its Illumina offer once again Posted: ZURICH (Reuters) - Roche Holding AG is likely to extend its $5.7 billion cash bid for U.S. gene decoder Illumina again when its offer expires at midnight on Friday, as the Swiss drugmaker stays true to an M&A strategy that has so far been successful. Roche is bidding $44.50 per share, and on Tuesday urged Illumina shareholders to take up what it believes is a "full and fair" offer. Roche has so far not been able to talk to Illumina management, which has dismissed the offer as too low. ...

Analysis: U.S. job gains hint at more spending and hiring Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It's not quite Easy Street, but more money is starting to flow along Main Street. A recent acceleration in U.S. job growth could create a virtuous cycle, lining the pockets of more Americans, leading to more spending, faster growth and further hiring. The pickup isn't enough on its own to guarantee a robust recovery, but it offers hope that the brighter economic signs in recent weeks will prove lasting. ...

NYSE says will not appeal veto of D. Boerse deal Posted: NEW YORK (Reuters) - NYSE Euronext said on Thursday it would not join Deutsche Boerse in appealing the European Commission's decision to prohibit the $7.4 billion merger between the two exchange operators. The deal would have created the world's largest exchange. European regulators argued it would have given the combined group a near monopoly in the worldwide market for European derivatives. Frustrated by the ruling and how it defined the derivatives market, Deutsche Boerse said on Monday it was appealing to Europe's General Court, the lower chamber of the European Court of Justice. ...

Boeing backs rival in air row, stands firm on WTO Posted: GENEVA (Reuters) - Boeing threw its weight behind Airbus in a row over European Union airline emissions rules on Thursday, even as it refused to negotiate a settlement in a separate dispute with its arch-rival over aircraft subsidies. The chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes joined a chorus of criticism led by Airbus of the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme that will charge airlines for emissions, something Brussels believes necessary to help defeat climate change. ...

March auto sales seen up 6 percent: research firms Posted: (Reuters) - New-vehicle sales in March are expected to rise 6 percent from last year due to strong demand in the retail market, according to J.D. Power and Associates and LMC Automotive. Total sales in March are projected to finish at 1,372,400 cars and light trucks, compared with 1,244,009 vehicles in the same month last year, research firms J.D. Power and LMC said. That estimate would translate to an annual sales rate in the month of 14.1 million vehicles, compared with 15 million in February and 13 million in March 2011, the research companies said. ...

Volkswagen to add 800 workers at Tennessee plant Posted: CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG will add 800 jobs at its only U.S. plant to increase production of the Passat sedan, the company said on Thursday. The new hires will be added to the Chattanooga plant's existing workforce of 2,200 Volkswagen workers and another 500 who work for a contract firm called Aerotek. The plant will not add another shift, but will place a third "team" of workers on the existing two shifts and add a Saturday shift to accommodate the additional production, said Hans-Herbert Jagla, head of human resources at the factory. ...

FedEx global economic view darker, shares drop Posted: (Reuters) - A strong holiday season and mild winter helped FedEx Corp beat Wall Street's profit forecast, but the world's No. 2 package delivery company warned that it had lowered its outlook for the rest of this year due to tepid economic growth. FedEx expects continued below-trend growth globally and a mild Euro-zone recession. "This is a business highly leveraged to the global economy and global economic growth has not been so great," said Matt Collins, analyst at Edward Jones in St. Louis, which still rates the company's shares a "buy" based on longer-term economic trends. ...

FedEx to pay Labor Dept $3 million over hiring Posted: (Reuters) - FedEx Corp will pay back wages and interest to more than 21,000 people rejected for jobs in a $3 million settlement of a bias case brought against two of the company's units by the U.S. Department of Labor. FedEx Ground Package System Inc and FedEx SmartPost Inc were the focus of a 7-year-long review by the Labor Department's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). This was the largest single financial settlement it had negotiated since 2004, OFCCP said in a statement. ...

Fannie, Freddie faulted for spending on conference Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal watchdog faulted Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance companies propped up with taxpayer funds, for "questionable" spending on a mortgage industry conference last year, in a report released on Thursday. Almost half of the $600,000 that the two companies spent for a conference held by the Mortgage Bankers Association in October "was of questionable value," the inspector general for the companies' federal regulator said. ...

Analysis: Research "sell" notes decline as conflicts persist Posted: HONG KONG (Reuters) - More than a decade after regulators moved to clean up the stock research industry at investment banks, analysts across the globe are as hesitant as ever to issue negative research on companies they believe are destined to struggle. While so-called "Chinese walls" were set up after regulators and legal cases shed light on the role analysts and bankers played in inflating the 1990s technology bubble, research teams still appear conflicted between their conviction and their bank's client list. ...

Sears names ex-Sony executive to run home appliances Posted: (Reuters) - Sears Holdings Corp on Thursday named former Sony Electronics executive Steve Haber to lead its home appliances business, a key unit for the struggling retailer. Sears, which sells its own Kenmore line of appliances along with products from companies such as Whirlpool Corp , has long been a leader in the industry but faces stiff competition from Home Depot Inc , Lowe's Cos Inc and other retailers. At Sony , Haber most recently served as executive vice president leading the product to consumer marketing division and the home and digital reading business, Sears said. ...

Boeing, Airbus and Embraer team up for aviation biofuels Posted: (Reuters) - Boeing Co , Airbus and Embraer have come together to work with governments and biofuel producers to promote and speed up the availability of jet fuels that reduce carbon emissions. The three aircraft makers signed a memorandum of understanding at the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) Aviation and Environment Summit in Geneva, Boeing said in a statement. "Two of the biggest threats to our industry are the price of oil and the impact of commercial air travel on our environment," Boeing CEO Jim Albaugh said. ...

Top Merrill dealmaker Orcel to leave for UBS: sources Posted: (Reuters) - Bank of America Merrill Lynch's top dealmaker Andrea Orcel is leaving the bank to join rival UBS , two sources with knowledge of the matter said. Orcel was appointed executive chairman of global banking and markets at BAML in September 2009, a year after Merrill Lynch was taken over by Bank of America following the credit crunch. "It's a great hire. He is a relationship man, not a manager and (UBS's chief executive Sergio) Ermotti knows him well", said a top UBS banker in London. "This would be well-received internally, he is a big name". ...

Toyota won't offer low-end cars for volume's sake: CEO Posted: TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor has no intention of offering ultra-cheap cars to boost sales in emerging markets and will keep its focus on customers who expect a certain level of reliability, the company's president, Akio Toyoda, said on Thursday. Toyoda's comments come days after rival Nissan Motor announced the revival of the Datsun brand to target buyers in the lowest and sizeable end of developing markets, while a German magazine reported Volkswagen was also planning a similar move. "We are a full-line car maker," Toyoda told a small group of reporters in Tokyo. ...

From torches to arena floors, UPS delivers Posted: NEW YORK (Reuters) - Four days before the Olympic Opening Ceremony, in London's historic Horse Guards Parade courtyard where throngs will have just celebrated Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, United Parcel Service will ship in to set up scoreboards, umpire chairs, sand rakes, nets and other fixtures for beach volleyball. The world's largest parcel delivery company, known to build brand awareness with relief services after disasters in Japan and Haiti and by flying an orphaned polar bear from Alaska to a Kentucky zoo, is sole logistics provider for the 2012 Games. ...

McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner to retire Posted: (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp Chief Executive Jim Skinner, who took the top post at the world's biggest hamburger chain following the abrupt departures of two CEOs, is retiring after more than seven years as a stabilizing force at the helm. In what analysts expected to be a smooth transition, Chief Operating Officer Don Thompson, 48, will succeed Skinner, effective July 1, becoming one of the most prominent African-American CEOs in the United States. ...

Stock index futures point to lower opening Posted: Stock index futures pointed to a lower opening on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.6 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.57 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.58 percent at 1000 GMT. Germany's manufacturing sector shrank for the first time this year in March on the back of falling new orders, raising concern over its resilience to the euro zone crisis, and sending European share prices down more than 1 percent in morning trade. ...

GM to invest $1 billion in Australia operations Posted: CANBERRA (Reuters) - U.S. car maker General Motors on Thursday committed to invest A$1 billion (US$1.04 billion) in its Australian operations over the next decade after securing Australian government support to help it keep its car plant open until at least 2022. Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the national and two state governments would inject A$275 million into GM Holden in the latest hand out to the country's struggling auto makers to protect manufacturing jobs. ...

Big positive shift in Asia Q1 Business Sentiment Index Posted: MUMBAI/WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Business sentiment among Asia's top companies improved dramatically in the first quarter following three straight quarterly declines, buoyed by signs of recovery in the United States and some steadying of Europe's debt crisis. But concerns persist over rising costs and the state of the global economy. The quarterly Thomson Reuters-INSEAD Asia Business Sentiment Index jumped to 74 from 57 in the fourth quarter of 2011. The index was the highest since the first quarter of last year. A reading above 50 indicates an overall positive outlook. ...

Wall Street mostly slips, but tech keeps S&P near 4-year highs Posted: NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks mostly fell on Wednesday, weighed by the energy services sector, but gains in technology shares buoyed the Nasdaq and helped keep the S&P 500 near four-year highs. The benchmark S&P 500 index, up 11.6 percent so far this quarter, found buyers at the 1,400 level, which has been held for five straight days. Support at that level suggests more gains in coming weeks. The technology sector rose again, with the Nasdaq 100 technology index up 0.4 percent for the day and up close to 18 percent this year. It helped the broader Nasdaq Composite edge up for the day. ...

Exclusive: Watson close to $7 billion Actavis drug deal: sources Posted: LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc is close to buying Swiss-based Actavis for around $7 billion, marking the latest deal between generics companies racing to achieve economies of scale, three sources familiar with the matter said. The deal would involve U.S.-based Watson, already among the world's five largest generic drugmakers, paying between 5.0 billion and 5.5 billion euros ($6.6-7.3 billion) for Actavis, a business not much smaller than its own, the sources said. ...

Chevron, Transocean charged in Brazilian oil spill Posted: RIO DE JANEIRO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Brazilian federal prosecutor filed criminal charges on Wednesday against Chevron and drill-rig operator Transocean for a November oil spill, raising the stakes in a legal saga that has added to Chevron's woes in Latin America and could slow Brazil's offshore oil boom. Prosecutor Eduardo Santos de Oliveira also filed criminal charges against 17 local executives and employees at Chevron and Transocean, owner of the world's largest oil rig fleet. Among the defendants is George Buck, 46, a U.S. ...

Allen Stanford seeks new trial, blames Twitter Posted: (Reuters) - Allen Stanford, the financier convicted of running an estimated $7 billion Ponzi scheme, has asked for a new trial, citing the media's use of Twitter in the courtroom and a lack of time to prepare his defense. Stanford, who turns 62 on Saturday, was convicted on March 6 by a Houston federal jury on 13 of 14 counts related to what prosecutors said was the sale of bogus certificates of deposit from his Antigua-based Stanford International Bank Ltd. In a 71-page filing with the U.S. ...

Japan posts trade surplus on U.S. exports, corp mood improves Posted: TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's first trade surplus in five months and a revival of confidence among manufacturers has added to evidence the economy was growing again as the yen weakens and external demand picks up, reducing the need for further monetary policy easing. Exports to the United States in February rose at their fastest annual pace in more than a year, with auto exports jumping by more than a quarter, supporting the government's view the economy is picking up after contracting in late 2011. ...

AMR to seek termination of union contracts: Bloomberg Posted: NEW YORK (Reuters) - AMR Corp , the bankrupt parent of American Airlines, will ask a U.S. bankruptcy court to reject nine collective bargaining agreements with unions, after failing to secure cost-cutting concessions from its labor groups, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday. Barring any last-minute agreement during ongoing negotiations with its unions, AMR will seek court approval to terminate the union contracts within a week in the Manhattan bankruptcy court, Bloomberg said, citing two sources it did not name. ...

Obama defends handling of Keystone pipeline Posted: President Barack Obama firmly defended his record on oil drilling Thursday, ordering the government to fast-track an Oklahoma pipeline while rebuking Congress for playing politics with a larger Canada-to-Gulf Coast pipeline project.

American Airlines aims to cancel labor contracts Posted: American Airlines plans to ask a federal bankruptcy judge next week to throw out its union contracts, if it can't reach cost-cutting deals with labor unions, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Economists: Europe stuck on bailout merry-go-round Posted: Throughout the deepening debt crisis, European Union leaders sought to portray Greece as a unique case in special need of aid. They were proved wrong when Ireland and Portugal required bailouts in 2011.

Stocks lower on worries over China slowdown Posted: Stocks are lower on more signs that China's economy is weakening and Europe is slowing.

US watchdog questions spending at Fannie, Freddie Posted: A U.S. government watchdog is questioning $600,000 that taxpayer-funded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac spent on an October convention, according to a report released Thursday.

Unhappy public not sure who to blame for high gas Posted: Families canceling vacations. Fishermen watching their profits burn up along with their boats' gasoline. Drivers buying only a few gallons of gas at a time because they can't afford to fill the tank.

Recall news Posted: The following recalls have been announced:

Banks lend again, but their customers are wary Posted: Since the credit crisis of 2008, everyone has been waiting for the banks to start lending money again. It's finally happening, but there's a catch: Businesses are afraid to spend it.

Audit: India lost $210B on no-bid coalfield sales Posted: India's scandal-plagued government lost hundreds of billions of dollars by selling coalfields to companies without competitive bidding, according to a leaked audit report that the auditor itself called misleading.

Gauge of US economy rose 0.7 percent in February Posted: A measure of future U.S. economic activity rose in February for the fifth straight month, fresh evidence that the economy is gaining momentum.

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