Merck buying Schering-Plough in a $41.1B deal
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Merck & Co. is buying Schering-Plough
Corp. for $41.1 billion in a deal that gives Merck key new businesses, access
to a promising pipeline of new products and the chance to further cut costs,
including eliminating about 16,000 jobs.
Merck hopes the cash-and-stock deal, which would vault it to the
world's No. 2 drugmaker, helps it better compete in a
drug industry facing slumping sales, tough generic competition and intense
pricing pressures.
The deal announced Monday would unite the maker of asthma drug Singulair with the maker of allergy medicine Nasonex and form the world's second-largest prescription drugmaker.
Stocks falter as investors battle
uncertainty
Wall Street fell more than 1 percent Monday as uneasiness about
the economy eclipsed a bounce in troubled financial stocks and news of a big
drug company merger. Stocks rose in the early going but turned lower in a now
familiar pattern where short-lived bursts of optimism give way to concerns
about the country's economic woes.
Financial stocks rose on a news report that Bank of America Corp.
could raise capital in the private sector. Shares of major banks have been
pummeled to multiyear lows amid growing concern that they don't have enough
cash to cover future losses despite multiple government rescues. The Dow fell
79.89, or 1.2 percent, to 6,547.05.
Ford workers approve UAW contract changes
DETROIT (AP) -- Unionized workers at Ford Motor Co. have approved
contract changes that include freezing wages and cutting benefits in a move
aimed at helping the automaker remain competitive.
The United Auto Workers said Monday a majority of hourly workers
voted in favor of modifications to the 2007 contract with Ford, eliminating
cost-of-living increases and cash bonuses.
The agreement is expected to be a model for Chrysler LLC and
General Motors Corp., which need to bring their labor costs in line with those
of foreign auto companies' plants in the
Newspaper publisher McClatchy cutting 1,600 jobs
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- McClatchy Co. is shearing another 1,600
jobs in a cost-cutting spree that has clipped nearly one-third of the newspaper
publisher's work force in less than a year.
The latest reduction in payroll announced Monday follows through
on the Sacramento-based company's previously disclosed plans to lower its
expenses by as much as $110 million over the next year as its revenue
evaporates amid a devastating recession.
The layoffs will start before April. Several of McClatchy's 30
daily newspapers, including The
Settlement reached between Dow and Rohm & Haas
Rohm & Haas shareholders will still get $78 per share but not
all of it in cash, a concession that allows Dow to take on billions less in
debt than if the deal were to close under the original terms.
The two major shareholders in Rohm & Haas, the Haas family
trust and Paulson & Co., will take a $2.5 billion stake in preferred shares
issued. In addition, the Haas family will make an additional investment of $500
million at Dow's option, Dow said.
Cuomo, Frank pressure BofA to disclose
bonus info
Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of
The letter from Cuomo and Frank, D-Mass., comes as Cuomo's office
and Bank of
McDonald's warns on dollar; comparable sales rise
NEW YORK (AP) -- McDonald's Corp., the nation's No. 1 hamburger
chain, posted higher comparable sales Monday but warned that the stronger
dollar and higher commodity costs may take some of the meat out of its
first-quarter sales and profit.
Monday's warning wasn't much of a surprise to investors -- the
company had indicated in January when it reported fourth-quarter results that
the dollar would hurt its profit and sales in the first three months of the
year.
But the Oak Brook, Ill.-based fast-food chain was more specific
Monday, saying quarterly sales will likely be off by at least $600 million and
earnings could be hurt by 7 cents to 9 cents per share if foreign-currency
rates stay at current levels.
P&G's
CINCINNATI (AP) -- The Procter & Gamble Co. said Susan E.
Arnold stepped down Monday as president, which leaves Chief Operating Officer
Robert A. McDonald as the current front-runner to be the next CEO of the
world's largest consumer products maker.
Arnold, who has been P&G's
highest-ranking female executive, and McDonald were both promoted in 2007 in a
move some analysts perceived as setting up a succession for Chairman and CEO
A.G. Lafley. Both McDonald and Arnold are 55 and have
been with the company since 1980.
But Lafley, P&G's
CEO since 2000 and now 61, has dismissed suggestions that he is ready to retire
anytime soon.
Oil prices near new highs for the year
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Oil prices rose to the highest level in
two months as investors geared up for the potential of more OPEC production
cuts.
Benchmark crude for April delivery gained $1.55 to settle at
$47.07 a barrel on the
Oil has been ready for a recovery, and historically it's hard to
find a 30-day window kinder to the market than about March 15 through April 15,
said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at
Oil Price Information Service.
Autos task force sees Chrysler, GM electric cars
WARREN, Mich. (AP) -- Four members of President Barack Obama's
autos task force spent much of their Monday driving General Motors Corp.
electric vehicles and touring a Chrysler LLC pickup truck factory.
The members, led by Wall Street financier Steven Rattner and Steelworkers union official Ron Bloom, traveled
first to GM's tech center in the
GM and Chrysler are living on a total of $17.4 billion in
government loans, and the task force is trying to determine if they will get
more money. The companies have requested a total of $39 billion as they try to
survive the worst
By The Associated Press
The Dow fell 79.89, or 1.2 percent, to 6,547.05.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 6.85, or 1 percent, to
676.53, while the Nasdaq
composite index fell 25.21, or 2 percent, to 1,268.64.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 7.79, or 2.2
percent, to 343.26.
Benchmark crude for April delivery gained $1.55 to settle at
$47.07 a barrel on the
In
In other Nymex trading, gasoline for
April delivery rose less than a penny to $1.3351 a
gallon, while heating oil fell 1.4 cents to $1.2294 a gallon. Natural gas for
April delivery lost 8 cents to $3.865 per 1,000 cubic feet.