Yahoo! News: Health News

Wall Street gains on McDonald's and tech stocks
Judge muzzles Goldman, lawyers at Dragon speech recognition trial
Standard Chartered to pay $327 million to resolve U.S. case
Chinese group buys AIG aircraft firm for up to $4.8 billion
Britain's Pace approaches Google over Motorola Home
McDonald's November restaurant sales rebound
Supreme Court rejects taxpayer challenge to AIG bailout
JPMorgan names new regional banking heads: memo
Ingersoll-Rand to spin off security division
Opel sees no alternative to closing Bochum plant
Verizon moves pension obligations to Prudential
Government investigating makers of cellphone apps
Stocks edge higher; Dow is boosted by McDonald's
Report: Kodak gets patent bid from Apple, Google
McDonald's November sales figure rises
Italian election means new stress for eurozone
Stock market is a wild card in fiscal cliff talks
Obama heading to Michigan to push taxes on rich
AP Source: Obama to help unveil factory expansion
Google teaming with Israeli high-tech startups

Wall Street gains on McDonald's and tech stocks

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 09:28 AM PST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Monday, aided by gains in McDonald's and technology stocks, but moves remained muted as investors looked for any signs of movement on the "fiscal cliff" front. Developments in Europe also served to keep sentiment in check as Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said he would resign once the 2013 budget is approved. The move added to uncertainty about progress being made to tackle the euro zone's debt problem and drove Italy's borrowing costs higher. U.S. ...

Judge muzzles Goldman, lawyers at Dragon speech recognition trial

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 08:39 AM PST

BOSTON (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge on Monday ordered Goldman Sachs Group Inc to take down statements from its website related to its representation of Dragon Systems in a 2000 sale that blew up when acquirer Lernout & Hauspie went bankrupt after accounting regularities emerged. A two-month jury trial in the civil case is expected to begin Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Boston. Lawyers for Dragon's founders are expected to accuse the iconic Wall Street bank of negligent misrepresentation and malpractice in their opening arguments. U.S. ...

Standard Chartered to pay $327 million to resolve U.S. case

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 08:31 AM PST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Standard Chartered Plc agreed to pay $327 million to resolve allegations that it violated U.S. sanctions and other laws, essentially doubling its fine for the conduct and capping months of U.S. legal headache for the British bank. The U.S. Justice Department and the New York District Attorney's office on Monday accused the bank of moving millions of dollars through the U.S. financial system on behalf of customers in Iran, Sudan, Libya and Burma, in violation of sanctions laws. ...

Chinese group buys AIG aircraft firm for up to $4.8 billion

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 08:44 AM PST

NEW YORK/HONG KONG (Reuters) - American International Group Inc will sell nearly all of aircraft leasing business ILFC to a Chinese consortium for up to $4.8 billion, in a deal that gives the fastest growing aviation market easier and cheaper access to planes. But the sale is at a far cheaper price than AIG sought and will lead to a substantial loss, the insurer's price for getting out of its last major non-core asset following the U.S. government bailout of the company in the financial crisis. ...

Britain's Pace approaches Google over Motorola Home

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 09:26 AM PST

LONDON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - British TV decoder maker Pace Plc confirmed on Monday that it had made an early-stage proposal to internet group Google Inc to acquire its set-top TV box maker Motorola Home. "Discussions with Google are currently at a preliminary stage and there is no certainty as to whether any agreement regarding any transaction will be reached," Pace said in a statement. The offer is one of several bids for the unit, including from private equity firms, that Google received on Friday, according to a person familiar with the situation. ...

McDonald's November restaurant sales rebound

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 07:52 AM PST

(Reuters) - McDonald's Corp's sales at established restaurants rose more than expected in November as a renewed emphasis on low-priced food helped the company bounce back from a rare decline in October, it said on Monday. Still, analysts said it was too early to say that the world's biggest restaurant chain, known for its french fries and Big Macs, had regained its strong lead over rivals. "One month does not a trend make ... but it's a nice sign to see them rebound after a horrible October," ITG Investment Research analyst Steve West said. ...

Supreme Court rejects taxpayer challenge to AIG bailout

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 07:09 AM PST

(Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear an appeal by a taxpayer who claimed the government's 2008 bailout of the insurer American International Group Inc violated the constitutional separation of church and state. Without comment, the court let stand a June 1 ruling by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati that Kevin Murray lacked standing to challenge the $182.3 billion bailout, including its use of taxpayer funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program ("TARP"). ...

JPMorgan names new regional banking heads: memo

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 09:41 AM PST

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. bank JPMorgan has appointed Viswas Raghavan as head of banking in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), according to a memo seen by Reuters. The appointment comes as JPMorgan recasts responsibilities for some of its top investment and corporate banking executives after a move in July to combine two key business segments. Raghavan, who joined the bank in 2000, was most recently global head of equity capital markets (ECM), responsible for share sales including initial public offerings and rights issues. ...

Ingersoll-Rand to spin off security division

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 06:58 AM PST

(Reuters) - Diversified manufacturer Ingersoll-Rand Plc said it will spin off its security business and buy back $2 billion of shares, yielding to pressure from activist investor Nelson Peltz to unlock more shareholder value. The industrial conglomerate, which has a market value of about $15 billion and is best known for its heating and cooling systems, also raised its quarterly dividend by 31 percent to 21 cents per share. ...

Opel sees no alternative to closing Bochum plant

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 05:03 AM PST

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - General Motors Co's Opel unit came a major step nearer to closing its Bochum plant in Germany, telling the roughly 3,000 workers it had not changed its mind about ending vehicle production in 2016. Opel said it had made rigorous efforts to rescue car manufacturing at the plant but these had come to nothing. "The main reasons are the dramatic declines in the European car market and the enormous overcapacity in the entire European auto industry," it said in a statement. ...

Verizon moves pension obligations to Prudential

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 09:35 AM PST

Phone company Verizon has transferred $7.5 billion in pension obligations to Prudential Insurance after a retiree association failed to convince a court to stop the move.

Government investigating makers of cellphone apps

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 08:47 AM PST

Software companies that make cellphone apps are being investigated to determine whether they have violated the privacy rights of children by quietly collecting personal information from phones and sharing it with advertisers and data brokers, the Federal Trade Commission said Monday. Such apps can capture a child's physical location, phone numbers of their friends and more.

Stocks edge higher; Dow is boosted by McDonald's

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 09:03 AM PST

Stocks inched higher on Wall Street Monday after a strong sales report from McDonald's helped offset concerns about the surprise resignation of Italy's prime minister, Mario Monti.

Report: Kodak gets patent bid from Apple, Google

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 08:55 AM PST

Apple and Google, bitter rivals in smartphone technology, have joined up to make a combined bid for a bundle of patents offered by photography pioneer Kodak, according to a published report.

McDonald's November sales figure rises

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 05:59 AM PST

McDonald's Corp. said Monday that a key sales figure rose in November, as U.S. customers snapped up the world's biggest hamburger chain's breakfast offerings and limited-time Cheddar Bacon Onion sandwiches.

Italian election means new stress for eurozone

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 09:19 AM PST

Until last weekend, Europe seemed headed for a quiet Christmas and New Year's. Then Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti unexpectedly announced he would resign, pulling the plug on a government that had boosted confidence in the country's ability to manage its debts.

Stock market is a wild card in fiscal cliff talks

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 07:13 AM PST

Congress and the White House can significantly soften the initial impact of the "fiscal cliff" even if they fail to reach a compromise by Dec. 31. One thing they cannot control, however, is the financial markets' reaction, which possibly could be a panicky sell-off that triggers economic reversals worldwide.

Obama heading to Michigan to push taxes on rich

Posted: 10 Dec 2012 09:31 AM PST

President Barack Obama is pressing for public support Monday to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, a day after he and House Speaker John Boehner met one-on-one for the first time to discuss ways to avert the "fiscal cliff."