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Guidant accepts increased J&J offer
Jan 13 2006 10:43PM (CT)
BOSTON (AP) - Medical device maker Guidant Corp. on Friday night accepted an increased $24.2 billion buyout offer from Johnson & Johnson, turning aside a larger bid of nearly $25 billion from Boston Scientific Corp. in favor of a deal that Guidant hopes could be concluded more quickly.
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Next Vioxx cases scheduled for spring
Jan 13 2006 9:12PM (CT)
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The next two federal lawsuits claiming that the painkiller Vioxx caused heart attacks or other cardiovascular problems are scheduled for trial this spring.
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Shares slump on news of Tyco split
Jan 13 2006 7:39PM (CT)
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Tyco International Ltd., still recovering from scandals that saw its longtime former chief executive sentenced to prison, said Friday it plans to split into three public companies.
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Wal-Mart mulls legal challenge to Md. law
Jan 13 2006 7:00PM (CT)
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., faced with a new Maryland law designed to pressure the retail chain into spending more money on health insurance for its employees, is considering a challenge to the groundbreaking legislation.
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Delaware judge lifts stay in patent fight
Jan 13 2006 6:55PM (CT)
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - A federal judge Friday lifted a stay on patent litigation between Rambus Inc. and Micron Technology Inc., ending a cease-fire over rights to computer-chip designs.
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Nuclear power critics taking long view
Jan 13 2006 6:53PM (CT)
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - With guaranteed federal loans and insurance protection promised to the first power companies to build a new wave of nuclear plants, the race is on for construction of up to 10 stations between Maryland and Mississippi.
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Del Labs to close warehouses, cut 330 jobs
Jan 13 2006 6:43PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Del Laboratories Inc. disclosed Friday that it will lay off about 330 employees because it is ceasing operations at two warehouses and converting a factory to a warehouse.
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Refco ex-CEO Bennett officially quits
Jan 13 2006 6:39PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Refco Inc.'s former chief executive officially resigned Friday, along with the entire board, the collapsed company's lawyers told a U.S. bankruptcy judge in Manhattan.
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Shell to drill for natural gas in Arkansas
Jan 13 2006 6:25PM (CT)
DALLAS (AP) - Royal Dutch Shell PLC late last year signed a series of deals to begin exploring for natural gas in central Arkansas, another sign that Big Oil is increasingly interested in U.S. gas production.
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GAO finds ITT conflict of interest
Jan 13 2006 6:13PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - A $500 million U.S. defense contract awarded to ITT Industries Inc. should be reconsidered because of the contractor's conflict of interest, the Government Accountability Office said.
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Internet cos. seen posting earnings growth
Jan 13 2006 5:34PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. Internet giants are expected to report strong revenue and profit growth for the final quarter of 2005, driven by the ongoing shift in advertising and retail dollars to the Web and goosed by the holiday rush.
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Analyst lowers Medarex's investment ratings
Jan 13 2006 5:07PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - An analyst cut the investment ratings of Medarex Inc. Friday, saying the developer of antibodies to treat cancer and other diseases is not an attractive buyout target.
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Stocks end little changed ahead of 4Q
Jan 13 2006 5:03PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks were little changed Friday as a slowdown in retail sales and profit warnings from Lucent Technologies Inc. and Tyco International Ltd. kept investors from building on earlier gains. The major indexes finished the week with modest gains.
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Friday's commodities roundup
Jan 13 2006 5:00PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Gold futures broke to fresh 25-year highs on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday with the help of fund buying.
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Big Movers in the Stock Market
Jan 13 2006 4:58PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Friday on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market.
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Pfizer to get full inhaled insulin rights
Jan 13 2006 4:51PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Pfizer Inc. will pay $1.3 billion to Sanofi-Aventis Group to obtain full worldwide rights to the inhaled insulin the companies developed jointly and were planning to co-market. U.S. regulators are expected to rule upon the drug later this month.
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Treasury prices rally on soft data
Jan 13 2006 4:50PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. Treasury prices were boosted by soft economic data and a reduction of bearish positions Friday, ahead of the long holiday weekend.
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Tyson to close two older plants in Iowa
Jan 13 2006 4:50PM (CT)
SPRINGDALE, Ark. (AP) - Tyson Foods Inc. plans to close two older meat plants in Iowa with a total of 400 workers, saying it was no longer economically feasible to keep them open.
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Linn Energy IPO opens higher
Jan 13 2006 4:47PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Linn Energy LLC, the first U.S. initial public offering this year, rose as high as $26 Friday before settling at $22, a dollar above its IPO price.
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S&P downgrades Verizon debt rating
Jan 13 2006 4:39PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Standard & Poor's lowered its debt rating for Verizon Communications Inc. and placed AT&T Inc. and BellSouth Corp. on CreditWatch for possible downgrade, citing an accelerating loss of customers by the nation's three biggest telephone companies to rival services from cable TV providers.
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Maytag defends proposed Whirlpool merger
Jan 13 2006 4:34PM (CT)
NEWTON, Iowa (AP) - Maytag Corp. on Friday defended its proposed merger with Whirlpool Corp. after two top Iowa Democrats said the deal would result in job losses and could harm consumers if the appliance industry becomes too consolidated.
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HCA: 4Q profit may exceed Street target
Jan 13 2006 4:31PM (CT)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Hospital operator HCA Inc. said Friday its fourth-quarter profit may exceed Wall Street's average forecast and reaffirmed its own forecast for this year.
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Lucent lowers revenue outlook on sales
Jan 13 2006 4:30PM (CT)
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (AP) - Telecommunications equipment maker Lucent Technologies Inc. said Friday it expects slower revenue growth this year than previously forecast because of lower sales in the United States and China.
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Target boosts CEO pay by $100,000 to $1.6M
Jan 13 2006 4:29PM (CT)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Target Corp. gave a $100,000 raise to Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Ulrich, bringing his yearly salary to $1.6 million, the discount store chain disclosed on Friday.
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GM expecting to save $4 billion in 2006
Jan 13 2006 4:28PM (CT)
DETROIT (AP) - General Motors Corp. expects to save about $4 billion this year as it implements its North American turnaround plan, Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner said Friday. But he declined to give earnings guidance, saying there are too many outstanding issues facing the struggling automaker.
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Hawaii serves as world's biotech lab
Jan 13 2006 4:19PM (CT)
LAIE, Hawaii (AP) - Genetic engineering saved Ken Kamiya's papaya farm on Oahu's north shore, and it may yet rescue the orchid from the grips of a nasty flower-killing virus.
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South Korea lifts ban on U.S. beef imports
Jan 13 2006 4:02PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Senior U.S. officials pressed South Korea on Friday to go further in lifting a ban on importing American beef imposed because of mad cow disease.
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World's Finest Chocolate buys Queen Anne
Jan 13 2006 3:41PM (CT)
CHICAGO (AP) - World's Finest Chocolate Inc. has purchased the Queen Anne candy brand from Gray and Co. and is moving production of its chocolate-covered cherries to Chicago from Hammond, Ind., the chocolate maker said Friday.
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Dow's runup may prompt return to stocks
Jan 13 2006 2:30PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Bruce McMeiken has had a good run investing in real estate near his Orange County, Calif., home. Now, however, he thinks there's a better place for his money: the stock market.
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Sovereign shareholder wants deals blocked
Jan 13 2006 2:02PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Opening a new front in a bid to block a pair of unpopular bank transactions, Sovereign Bancorp Inc.'s second-largest shareholder filed protests with federal and state banking regulators, asking them to reject the deals.
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U.S. weekly oil and gas rig count up 3
Jan 13 2006 1:44PM (CT)
HOUSTON (AP) - The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the United States increased by three this week to 1,467.
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2 hearings in Delta case postponed
Jan 13 2006 1:34PM (CT)
ATLANTA (AP) - Two Delta Air Lines Inc. bankruptcy hearings were postponed Friday, a day after a new judge was permanently assigned to replace the previous judge who stepped down for health reasons.
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South Korea, U.S. partially end beef ban
Jan 13 2006 12:41PM (CT)
GWACHEON, South Korea (AP) - South Korea and the United States agreed Friday on partially ending a two-year import ban on American beef triggered by mad cow disease, the South Korean government said.
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Atlas Pipeline Holdings plans its IPO
Jan 13 2006 12:20PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Atlas Pipeline Holdings LP, a unit of Atlas America Inc., will go public in an initial public offering expected to generate proceeds of as much as $103 million, the company said.
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RadioShack stock up on analyst upgrade
Jan 13 2006 12:20PM (CT)
CHICAGO (AP) - RadioShack Corp. stock rose Friday after Prudential analyst Mark Rowen upgraded his rating on the stock to "overweight" from "neutral," saying that 2006 could be the year when the consumer electronics retailer "gets its groove back."
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Riata Energy plans IPO worth up to $200M
Jan 13 2006 12:18PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Riata Energy Inc., an oil and natural gas company, said it plans to go public in an initial public offering of stock worth as much as $200 million.
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Gov't files suit vs. American Airlines
Jan 13 2006 11:45AM (CT)
DALLAS (AP) - The Department of Justice has filed a class-action lawsuit against American Airlines, claiming the carrier illegally denied benefits to pilots while they were serving in National Guard and reserve units.
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Lukoil 3Q profit surges on oil prices
Jan 13 2006 11:28AM (CT)
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's biggest oil producer Lukoil said Friday that its 2005 third-quarter net profit rose 59 percent on strong oil prices.
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Lotte Shopping to go public in February
Jan 13 2006 11:26AM (CT)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korean chain Lotte Shopping Co. filed on Friday its initial public offering plan, under which it will sell shares worth as much as $3.75 billion in Seoul and London early February in the largest IPO ever by a South Korean company.
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GMAC sees charge for goodwill impairment
Jan 13 2006 11:23AM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - General Motors Acceptance Corp., the finance arm of Detroit-based General Motors Corp., Friday said it will take a noncash impairment charge of roughly $450 million in the quarter ended Dec. 31.
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EU expects economy to grow strongly in 2Q
Jan 13 2006 11:14AM (CT)
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The euro area economy could pick up slightly in the second quarter of this year, growing between 0.4 and 0.9 percent, according to a forecast published Friday by the European Commission.
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Gazprom shares heavily traded in debut
Jan 13 2006 11:01AM (CT)
MOSCOW (AP) - Shares in OAO Gazprom, the world's largest gas producer, were heavily traded Friday as the state-controlled company made its debut as a directly listed stock on Russia's main, dollar-denominated exchange.
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China, India to cooperate in oil hunt
Jan 13 2006 10:22AM (CT)
BEIJING (AP) - China and India have agreed to share information on what they're paying for foreign oil and gas to fuel their energy-hungry economies as they try to tone down a rivalry that was driving up asset prices abroad, the Chinese government announced.
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Md. Wal-Mart told to boost health care
Jan 13 2006 10:20AM (CT)
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Maryland has become the first state in the nation to require Wal-Mart to spend more on employee health care or pay the difference into the state's Medicaid fund. Similar laws may be coming elsewhere.
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Tata Motors to sell Fiats in alliance
Jan 13 2006 9:25AM (CT)
NEW DELHI (AP) - India's largest automobile manufacturer, Tata Motors Ltd., has agreed to sell Fiat cars as part of an alliance that is intended to allow the Indian and Italian automakers to share technologies and designs, the companies said Friday.
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EU authorizes three types of biotech corn
Jan 13 2006 8:56AM (CT)
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The European Commission on Friday cleared three types of genetically modified corn made by the U.S. biotech products maker Monsanto Co. for use in the European Union.
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USDA using satellites to monitor farmers
Jan 13 2006 7:44AM (CT)
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - Satellites have monitored crop conditions around the world for decades, helping traders predict futures prices in commodities markets and governments anticipate crop shortages.
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Japan's main stock index hits 5-year high
Jan 13 2006 7:35AM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Japan's benchmark stock index finished at a new five-year high Friday as retail investors pushed up construction shares and other issues considered closely tied to the local economy. The dollar rose against the yen.
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Proton shares plunge on VW pullout
Jan 13 2006 6:28AM (CT)
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Shares of national carmaker Proton plunged as much as 20 percent Friday after Germany's Volkswagen AG scrapped a strategic tie-up that could have helped turn around the Malaysian company.
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Elpida Memomry slashes earnings forcast
Jan 13 2006 4:41AM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Japanese computer chip maker Elpida Memory slashed its earnings forecasts for the October-December quarter Friday, blaming the faster-than-expected slide in memory-chip prices.
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Daiwa faces big losses from botched trade
Jan 13 2006 4:29AM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Japanese brokerage Daiwa Securities SMBC lost almost 500 million yen, or $4.4 million, after placing an erroneous sell order on the Tokyo Stock Exchange early Friday, officials said.
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Samsung 4th quarter profit surges 40 pct.
Jan 13 2006 4:22AM (CT)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday its fourth quarter net profit surged a stunning 40 percent, thanks to strong demand for flat panel TVs and semiconductors.
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Fujitsu's stock jumps more than 5 percent
Jan 13 2006 3:41AM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Fujitsu's stock jumped more than 5 percent Friday on news that the struggling company plans to expand its hard disk drive business and that the Tokyo Stock Exchange _ which uses Fujitsu software _ plans to boost trading capacity.
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Musicland files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Jan 13 2006 1:10AM (CT)
MINNETONKA, Minn. (AP) - Musicland Holding Corp., the parent company of Sam Goody music and Suncoast video stores, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late Thursday.
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Federated to sell Lord & Taylor by year-end
Jan 13 2006 12:44AM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Lord & Taylor is for sale, fueling speculation about the fate of a venerable department store chain that offered American classic design but lost its highbrow appeal amid fierce competition.
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Eddie Bauer announces departure of CFO
Jan 13 2006 12:40AM (CT)
REDMOND, Wash. (AP) - Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc. on Thursday announced the departure of its chief financial officer and said it was restating a financial filing to correct errors.
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