Friday, April 20, 2012

Yahoo! News: Health News

Yahoo! News: Health News


Wall Street jumps on solid corporate earnings

Posted:

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock ExchangeNEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Friday, putting the S&P 500 on pace for its biggest gain in the past five weeks, after earnings from a slew of bellwether companies propelled what has been a solid earnings season to date. McDonald's Corp climbed 2.3 percent to $97.47 and was the top boost to the Dow after the world's No. 1 fast-food chain reported higher quarterly profit, paced by strong U.S. sales. Microsoft Corp advanced 5.5 percent, its biggest percentage gain in three months, to $32.70 after profit beat expectations late Thursday as personal computer sales held up better than expected. ...


Exclusive: Disney film studio chief Ross steps down

Posted:

Chairman of Walt Disney Studios Rich Ross is pictured beside Muppets character Animal during ceremonies honoring the Muppets with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in HollywoodLOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rich Ross, chairman of Walt Disney Co's movie studio, stepped down after a two-year stint that included the release of "John Carter," one of the biggest flops in recent Hollywood history. Ross, named to the job in October 2009, was never able to duplicate the success he enjoyed as president of the Disney Channel, where he was credited with creating monster franchises that included "High School Musical" and "Hannah Montana." "I no longer believe that the Chairman role is the right professional fit for me," Ross told his staff in an email. ...


IMF to secure at least $400 billion in crisis funds

Posted:

Leaders join hands during a group photo for the BRICS Summit in New DelhiWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Group of 20 nations on Friday were poised to commit at least $400 billion to bulk up the International Monetary Fund's war chest to fight any widening of Europe's debt crisis. The IMF has been aiming to raise at least $400 billion, which would double its lending capacity, to ensure it could come to the aid of countries facing economic and financial fallout. IMF chief Christine Lagarde said the fund had won pledges of at least $357 billion, but a final figure appeared likely to go much higher. ...


GE profit, revenue top Wall Street forecasts

Posted:

File photo of buildings seen reflected on the GE Building also known as 30 Rockefeller Plaza, in New York(Reuters) - General Electric Co topped Wall Street's profit and revenue forecasts for the first quarter, helped by strong demand for energy equipment and railroad locomotives. The largest conglomerate said industrial orders had risen 20 percent in the quarter and that selling prices had improved in most of its businesses. This should help Chief Executive Officer Jeff Immelt achieve his goal of boosting profit margins this year. "Global markets are improving, but volatility remains," Immelt told investors on a conference call. ...


Citigroup CEO, directors, sued over executive pay

Posted:

(Reuters) - Days after being rebuked by shareholders, Citigroup Inc Chief Executive Vikram Pandit and the bank's directors have been sued for allegedly awarding outsized pay to top executives. The complaint filed Thursday in Manhattan federal court accuses directors of breaching their fiduciary duties by awarding more than $54 million of compensation in 2011 to the executives, including $15 million to Pandit, though the bank's performance did not necessarily justify it. ...

Danone raises bid for Pfizer baby food unit: report

Posted:

General view outside the exhibition to mark the 90th anniversary of the French foods company Danone in ParisPARIS (Reuters) - French food group Danone has raised its offer for Pfizer's infant nutrition business to close to $11 billion in an attempt to outbid rival Nestle , according to news website WanSquare. Danone managers, advised by Lazard, were in New York at the end of this week to conclude the transaction as quickly as possible, WanSquare said. Nestle earlier this week was seen closing in on a deal to buy the Pfizer unit for up to $10 billion, according to sources familiar with the matter. ...


American Airlines unions support US Airways merger

Posted:

A worker walks underneath an American Airlines airplane at Miami International airport in Miami, Florida(Reuters) - Three unions representing workers at AMR Corp's American Airlines would support a merger with US Airways Group Inc, calling it the "best strategy and fastest option" to complete a restructuring at bankrupt AMR. The Allied Pilots Association, Association of Professional Flight Attendants and Transport Workers Union said in a joint statement on Friday that they have reached agreements on term sheets for collective bargaining pacts that would govern American workers should there be a merger with US Airways. The three unions together represent nearly 55,000 American Airlines employees. ...


Apple announces 500 new jobs in Ireland

Posted:

The company's logo is seen on the Apple store in WashingtonDUBLIN (Reuters) - Apple is to hire 500 people in Ireland in the latest boost to the indebted euro zone country's multinational sector, one of the few bright spots in a struggling economy. The consumer electronics giant will increase the headcount at its European headquarters in the southern city of Cork over the next 18 months from 2,800 at present, a spokesman for the company said. He said the jobs would "support our growing business across Europe," but he did not say what kind of jobs would be created. ...


Chesapeake CEO sued by shareholder over loans

Posted:

CEO, Chairman, and Co-founder of Chesapeake Energy Corporation McClendon walks through the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana(Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy Corp CEO Aubrey McClendon has been sued by a shareholder over potential conflicts of interest, after a Reuters report showed he had borrowed as much as $1.1 billion against his stake in thousands of company wells. The loans, taken out over the past three years, were previously undisclosed to shareholders, analysts and academics said, raising concerns that McClendon's personal financial deals could compromise his fiduciary duty to Chesapeake. ...


Microsoft rises as better PC sales boost profit

Posted:

A worker prepares the logo on the Microsoft stand on the CeBIT computer fair in Hanover(Reuters) - Shares of Microsoft Corp rose more than 5 percent on Friday after the world's largest software maker reported a quarterly profit that beat Wall Street forecasts on better-than-expected sales of personal computers. The deluge of mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, has seen Apple Inc and Google Inc vie for top honors in consumer electronics, leaving Microsoft trying to reinvent itself to compete in a changing landscape. ...


Big manufacturers more likely to embrace "Made in USA": survey

Posted:

UAW local 588 assembly workers move automobile parts around at the Ford Motor Company's Chicago Stamping facility in Chicago HeightsNEW YORK (Reuters) - Large U.S. manufacturers are much more likely than their smaller peers to move production to the United States from China, according to a survey. Labor costs and the quality of goods are the top reasons for companies to consider so-called "re-shoring," with some companies considering the United States a de facto low-cost country because of its high unemployment, according to the survey by the Boston Consulting Group. It found that 37 percent of all U.S.-based manufacturing executives either plan to or are actively considering moving production from China. ...


Nestle sees tough 2012 after price hikes help sales

Posted:

Bottles of baby food are seen in the company supermarket at the Nestle headquarters in VeveyZURICH (Reuters) - Nestle , the world's biggest food group, warned 2012 would be a tough year due to sluggish growth in the developed world as emerging market demand and price rises helped first-quarter underlying sales growth hold up better than expected. The Vevey-based maker of Nescafe coffee, KitKat chocolate bars and Maggi soup reported a slight deceleration in quarterly organic sales growth that still beat forecasts as price hikes contributed more to growth than analysts expected. ...


German business morale up for sixth straight month

Posted:

A steel-worker is pictured at a furnace at the plant of German steel company Salzgitter AG in Salzgitter.BERLIN (Reuters) - German business sentiment unexpectedly rose for the sixth month in a row in April in a sign that Europe's largest economy continues to outpace peers and shrug off persistent worries about the euro zone debt crisis. The Munich-based Ifo think tank said on Friday its business climate index, based on a monthly survey of some 7,000 companies, inched up to 109.9 in April from 109.8 in March, taking it to its highest level since July 2011. Economists polled by Reuters had been expecting a slight fall to 109.5. ...


U.S. sales boost McDonald's 1st-quarter profit

Posted:

A U.S. flags flutters in the wind in front of a sign for a McDonald's restaurant in Los Angeles(Reuters) - McDonald's Corp reported higher quarterly profit on Friday, paced by strong sales at established restaurants in the United States and Europe. Quarterly sales at restaurants open at least 13 months were up 7.3 percent, more than the 6.7 percent increase expected by analysts polled by Consensus Metrix. Comparable sales rose 8.9 percent in the United States and 5 percent in Europe. Companywide, the restaurant chain expects the momentum to continue in April, forecasting comparable sales will be up 4 percent for the month. ...


Microsoft beats Street profit view, shares up

Posted:

A worker prepares the logo on the Microsoft stand on the CeBIT computer fair in Hanover(Reuters) - Microsoft Corp beat Wall Street's profit forecast as personal computer sales held up better than expected, lifting its shares 2.5 percent after hours. The results buoyed optimism around the world's largest software maker, which is lining up a new tablet-friendly version of Windows for later this year and is looking to make a dent into Apple Inc and Google Inc's domination of the mobile market this holiday shopping season. "The results were a fair amount better than we were looking for," said Rick Sherlund, an analyst at Nomura Securities. ...


China to stockpile pork soon to stabilize prices

Posted:

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will soon start stockpiling pork to help stabilize prices and stem losses by pig producers, the country's top economic planning body the National Development and Reform Commission said on Friday. "The government's work of stockpiling frozen pork will begin soon, to stabilize prices in the pork market and prevent large-scale losses by pork producers," the body said in a statement on its website (www.ndrc.gov.cn), without providing details. ...

Olympus eyes fresh start, ex-CEO mulls legal threat

Posted:

Man holds a signboard which reads TOKYO (Reuters) - Shareholders of Olympus Corp approved a new board on Friday, hoping for a fresh start at the camera and medical device maker that hid $1.7 billion of investment losses in Japan's biggest corporate scandal in decades. At a sometimes rowdy extraordinary meeting in a Tokyo hotel, local institutional investors and Olympus' lenders and suppliers voted for a new management slate and approved five years' worth of restated company accounts. ...


Investors fret on emerging markets and look to U.S.

Posted:

LONDON (Reuters) - Argentina's move to seize control of its biggest oil company, YPF, from Spain's Repsol has led investors to dust off a near-forgotten accepted wisdom: that emerging markets are not for the faint-hearted. Indeed, investment managers and private bankers to the very rich are allocating more of their portfolios to developed markets, particularly the United States, as faith in its structural resilience outshines the appeal of developing countries. "If you are very thoughtful about it and don't want to get caught up in the headlines about the financial crisis dealing the U.S. ...

High-frequency trader Optiver pays $14 million in oil manipulation case

Posted:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. regulators claimed their first victory in a four-year old effort to crack down on oil market manipulation on Thursday, announcing a $14 million settlement with high-frequency trading firm Optiver. In a ruling that came just two days after U.S. President Barack Obama proposed a renewed campaign against illegal oil trading schemes, the Amsterdam-based company agreed to disgorge $1 million in profits and pay a $13 million civil penalty over allegations it used a rapid-fire tool nicknamed "The Hammer" to influence U.S. oil prices in 2007. ...

Analysis: China poised to crank up capital account opening

Posted:

A 100 yuan banknote is placed next to $100 banknotes in this picture illustration taken in BeijingBEIJING (Reuters) - China is poised to boost quotas on outbound investment schemes to $100 billion and cut barriers to moving foreign currency in and out of the country in a series of swift but small steps to crank open its tightly controlled capital account. Sources in close, direct contact with the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) say reforms are ready to be rushed out over the next 12 months to boost two-way capital flows, drive diversification of business finance and accelerate corporate currency hedging. ...


Dupont, Dow to help global automakers avoid output crunch

Posted:

United Auto Workers union member Carrie Attwood uses an ergonomic-arm to install a front seat in a Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle at General Motors Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant in HamtramckDETROIT (Reuters) - Dupont and Dow Chemical are among chemical firms working with global automakers who are bracing for a crunch in production, after a German chemical plant explosion cut a chunk of supply of a nylon resin used in brake and fuel systems. The risk of production cuts is greater for car markers in the United States and France, and less in Japan and Germany, UBS said in a research note. "We see high risk of production stoppages in the second quarter," UBS analysts said in the research note issued on Thursday. ...


Judge narrows Lehman $8.6 billion lawsuit vs. JPMorgan

Posted:

File photo of Lehman Brothers booth on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange(Reuters) - A federal judge has narrowed Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc's $8.6 billion lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase & Co , potentially reducing how much creditors of what was once the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank may ultimately recover. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Peck in Manhattan said Lehman may not recover various sums transferred to JPMorgan, once its main "clearing" bank handling third-party dealings, in August and September 2008. Peck cited "safe harbor" rules designed to protect healthier banks such as JPMorgan in their dealings with weaker banks. ...


Investors seek safety as euro zone debt worries grow

Posted:

A man takes a photo of displays showing market prices at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in TokyoLONDON (Reuters) - German 10-year bond yields hit record lows on Friday and riskier assets came under pressure on growing fears about the euro zone debt crisis and uncertainty over global growth. A weekend featuring a potentially rocky meeting of the International Monetary Fund, which is seeking to boost its funds to help contain Europe's problems, and the first round of a French presidential election have heightened the nervousness. Weak U.S. ...


Analysis: Bank of Japan running out of arguments against long bond buys

Posted:

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan has gone a long way in granting the government's wishes in the past months with its firm pledge to end deflation and by loosening policy at a time when the economy has started picking up. One step it has long refused to take is to buy government bonds with longer maturities under its two-year-old asset buying scheme, but it may now find itself forced to take that very step as soon as next week. ...

Insight: U.S. barnyards help China super-size food production

Posted:

To match INSIGHT USA-CHINA/FOODALBION, Indiana/BEIJING (Reuters) - Inside a dimly lit barn in northeast Indiana, where the air smells faintly of corn and earth, the future of China's food supply is squealing for attention. A farmhand shuffles through the crowd of pigs inside pen 7E3, patting their fleshy pink backs and checking their water trough. ...


More Chinese developers file for bankruptcy: report

Posted:

HONG KONG (Reuters) - More Chinese property developers have filed for bankruptcy, the South China Morning Post reported on Friday, as some small real-estate companies struggle after more than two years of measures by Beijing to curb home prices in China. Guangdeye Property Development, based in Shunde in the southern province of Guangdong, has declared bankruptcy, unable to pay back debt, the newspaper stated, citing the Shunde People's Court. ...

JFE full-year profit falls 68 percent, no forecast

Posted:

TOKYO (Reuters) - JFE Holdings Inc , the world's fifth-largest steelmaker, reported a 68 percent drop in full-year profit as a stronger yen squeezed export margins and product prices sagged. Recurring profit, or earnings before tax and special items, was 52.98 billion yen ($650 million) in the year ended March 31, compared with 165.81 billion yen a year earlier, the Japanese company said in a statement on Friday. The earnings beat a consensus estimate of 41.52 billion yen in a poll of 13 analysts in Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. JFE didn't give a profit forecast for the year ending March 2013. ...

Exclusive: CVC nears a deal to buy AlixPartners: sources

Posted:

Crawford, Chief Executive Officer of AlixPartners, speaks at the Reuters Private Equity and Hedge Funds Summit in New YorkNEW YORK (Reuters) - Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners is nearing a deal to buy restructuring and consulting firm AlixPartners for more than $1 billion, according to several people familiar with the matter. CVC has recently beaten out other buyout firms, including Madison Dearborn Partners and Providence Equity Partners, in the race to buy AlixPartners from private equity owner Hellman & Friedman, the sources said. A deal for AlixPartners could be announced as early as Monday, one of the sources said. ...


Bankruptcies ripple through Chinese developers: report

Posted:

HONG KONG (Reuters) - More Chinese property developers have filed for bankruptcy, the South China Morning Post reported on Friday, as failures ripple through small real-estate companies after more than two years of measures aimed at curbing home prices in China. Guangdeye Property Development, based in Shunde in the southern province of Guangdong, has declared bankruptcy, unable to pay back debt, the newspaper stated, citing the Shunde People's Court. ...

Goldman Sachs facing a new insider trading probe

Posted:

A Goldman Sachs sign is seen on the floor of the New York Stock ExchangeNEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors in California are investigating a Goldman Sachs employee for insider trading, according to prosecutors and defense lawyers who attended a hearing in U.S. federal court in New York on Thursday. The employee is suspected of giving inside information on two public companies to former Galleon Group co-founder Raj Rajaratnam, who was convicted last year in one of the largest insider trading cases in Wall Street history. ...


Disney studio chief Rich Ross steps down

Posted:

Disney movie studio boss Rich Ross is stepping down, a month after the family entertainment giant booked a huge loss on the movie "John Carter."

Rare baseball card sells for $1.2M at auction

Posted:

FILE - In this March 26, 2012, file photo, Bill Goodwin, a Missouri collectibles dealer, holds up a rare 1909 Honus Wagner baseball card in Sunset Hills, Mo. A New Jersey man, whose name has not been released, was the winning bidder for the rare baseball card _ at $1.2 million _ in an online auction that ended Friday, April 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)A New Jersey man paid $1.2 million for a rare 1909 Honus Wagner baseball card in an online auction that brought interest from many potential buyers who had never owned a card before, the sale organizer said.


US Airways makes deals with 3 AMR unions

Posted:

FILE - In this Nov. 29, 2011, file photo, an American Airlines employee helps passengers check-in at a ticketing counter at Dallas Fort Worth Airport in Dallas. US Airways has struck deals with labor unions at American Airlines to win their support for a possible merger that could save about 6,200 jobs at American, or nearly half the jobs that American wants to eliminate. The three unions at American said in a statement that a merger with US Airways is the best way to fix American and its parent, AMR Corp., which filed for bankruptcy protection in November. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez, File)US Airways has struck deals with unions at American Airlines to win their support for a possible merger of the two airlines.


Summary Box: Schlumberger profit up 37.8 percent

Posted:

HERE'S THE DRILL: Oil services giant Schlumberger Ltd. said profit jumped almost 38 percent in the first quarter thanks to strong drilling activity in the Gulf of Mexico, North Africa and the Middle East.

Summary Box: GE 1Q profit down but tops estimates

Posted:

STREET BEAT: General Electric's first-quarter net income beat Wall Street expectations on a strong performance from the conglomerate's industrial businesses. Earnings fell 12 percent to $3.03 billion, or 29 cents per share. But excluding charges, GE earned 34 cents in the quarter, a penny better than analysts' estimates.

Optimism in Germany, US earnings boost markets

Posted:

Strong U.S. company earnings, an optimistic survey on the German economy and new crisis firepower for the International Monetary Fund lifted stocks Friday at the end of a week that was overshadowed by worries over Spain.

State unemployment rates in March, at a glance

Posted:

The number of states reporting job gains dropped in March, compared to the previous month, as hiring slowed nationwide. Twenty-nine states reported job gains last month, down from 42 in February and the fewest in three months.

Spain approves more cuts to education, health

Posted:

Spain's conservative government targeted its austerity program on the education and health care systems Friday with €10 billion ($13 billion) in spending cuts and increased fees as part of a drive to reduce its deficit.

Strong corporate earnings push stocks higher

Posted:

Specialist Christopher Carella, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, Feb. 27, 2012. U.S. stocks pulled back Monday from some of their highest levels in three and a half years. World stock markets fell Friday April 20, 2012 as strong U.S. company earnings failed to calm worries the world's No. 1 economy is struggling to maintain its recovery. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)Stronger profits from Microsoft, McDonald's and other major U.S. corporations pushed stocks higher Friday. Optimism from Europe helped brighten the mood.


Midstates Petroleum shares rise 7.2 pct in debut

Posted:

Shares of Midstates Petroleum are jumping 7.2 percent on the first day of trading as a public company.

No comments:

Post a Comment