Market Update Sat 10:03am ET: Weekly Recap - It was a mixed week for the stock market. Downward momentum from late last week carried into early this week, but the market then stabilized and went into a holding pattern.
Two themes from the past week were good economic data and continued mergers and acquisitions.
On Monday, the S&P 500 lost 7 points. There was no major news to account for the loss, but the tone had worsened late in the prior week. Tuesday, the S&P was down a miniscule 0.30 for its fourth straight loss. That changed on Wednesday, as the S&P gained 3 points and...
Expect the Best A positive attitude about aging can help you embrace health in the years to come.
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General Health Tip
Multivitamins: Don't Be an Iron Man. Most multivitamin formulas have too much iron for men. That's why "senior" formulas, which have little or no iron, are much more appropriate for adult men of any age. Look for a brand with 8mg or less.
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JESSICA'S DIVA DEMANDS
Jessica Simpson, 25, likes to act clueless, but she can swing her celebrity weight like a pro. According to a studio source, weeks before the press tour for The Dukes of Hazzard began, "we were bombarded with a six-page pamphlet of demands for Jessica from the office of her dad, Joe Simpson." Among Jessica's requests: paid accommodations for her hairstylist and assistant in the same hotel as Jessica; a wardrobe budget estimated in the thousands of dollars; cases of Evian water; and paid private... JEN FREAKS OVER ANGELINA'S NEW BABY JULIA STILES, GWYNETH PALTROW AND MORE!
Sharon Sent Back Into Operating Room Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon smiles as he attends the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem in this June 5, 2005 file photo. Sharon suffered a cerebral hemorrhage Wednesday Jan. 4, 2006 and was receiving breathing assistance while under general anesthetic, a hospital official said. Power was transferred to his deputy. Sharon, 77, suffered a "significant" stroke and was brought to Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital from his ranch in the Negev desert, an official said. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer, Pool, File)
1:40 pm PT Worldspace announces FCC authorizes WRSP subsidiary to launch AfriStar-2 satellite (WRSP) : "The FCC's authorization is great news for us. It removes any uncertainty about having a license to operate AfriStar-2 and allows us to implement our European launch plan. This will give us expanded capacity to provide a focused satellite radio service to European markets in line with the company's execution plans."
1:36 pm PT Vascular Solutions reports prelim Q4 revs of $8.85 mln, vs $9.3 mln consensus (VASC) 7.66 +0.09 : Co sees Q4 sales of $8.85 mln, vs $9.3 mln consensus. "While we see substantial annual growth in our sales across nearly all of our product lines, net sales during the end of the fourth quarter were less than the sales estimates prepared at the beginning of December by our sales management. Part of this shortfall was the result of several bulk orders for our D-Stat Dry being deferred by customers into 2006. In addition, our German sales subsidiary underperformed in the fourth quarter in relation to their previous sales estimates, an issue that we are currently addressing. Finally, while we are very encouraged by the clinical successes we've seen with our new Pronto V3 catheter, our manufacturing team was not able to ramp up production as quickly as forecasted in the fourth quarter, resulting in backorders for the Pronto V3 throughout December... While forecasting specific sales numbers with our rapidly growing product portfolio has always been difficult, we continue to believe that strong growth of between 25% to 40% in annual sales in 2006 will occur."
1:32 pm PT Jamdat announces early termination of antitrust waiting period (JMDT) 26.69 +0.09 : JMDT�says the�waiting period imposed by the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act in connection with its proposed acquisition by Electronic Arts (ERTS)�was terminated effective as of Jan 3.�Deal is expected to close in the quarter ending March 31, 2006.