“(Reuters) – Merck & Co Inc said it would withdraw its cholesterol drug Tredaptive from markets worldwide after European regulators recommended that marketing of the drug be suspended.
The drug was under review in Europe after the failure of a major study raised safety concerns.
Merck recommended that physicians stop prescribing the drug and review treatment plans for patients taking it.”
Comments »“TOKYO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Boeing Co’s 787 Dreamliner jet suffered a cracked cockpit window and an oil leak on separate flights in Japan on Friday – the latest in a series of incidents testing confidence in the sophisticated new aircraft.
All Nippon Airways Co said a domestic flight from Tokyo landed safely at Matsuyama airport in western Japan after a crack developed on the cockpit windscreen, and the plane’s return to Tokyo was cancelled.
The same airline later said oil was found leaking from an engine of a 787 Dreamliner after the plane landed at Miyazaki airport in southern Japan. An airline spokeswoman said it later returned to Tokyo after some delay. No one was injured in either incident.
The world’s first carbon-composite airliner, which has a list price of $207 million, has been beset by problems this week. Some analysts say these are normal teething issues as a new plane enters service under close scrutiny. Others say the incidents could erode public confidence in the mould-breaking aircraft.
U.S. transportation officials will hold a press conference in Washington at 0930 EDT (1430 GMT) to discuss issues related to recent electrical problems on the new plane, one person familiar with the matter told Reuters. Bloomberg News said the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration would announce a review into the jet’s power system.
U.S. regulators have raised questions about the plane’s reliability on long transocean routes, the Wall Street Journal reported….”
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Comments »“Two top Federal Reserve policymakers expressed discomfort on Thursday with the U.S. central bank’s easy monetary policy, in comments suggesting Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke may face more dissent this year.
In remarks that stamped her as a hawk on the Fed’s policy-setting committee, Kansas City Federal Reserve President Esther George warned that the Fed’s near-zero interest-rate policy — aimed at boosting the economy — could spark inflation.
“A prolonged period of zero interest rates may substantially increase the risks of future financial imbalances and hamper attainment of the 2 percent inflation goal in the future,” she said in her most extensive remarks in a year on policy….”
Comments »“Earnings season started Tuesday, when Alcoa announced its quarterly results after the closing bell.
The aluminum giant had revenues that beat expectations while earnings came right in line.
How about the other 499 of the S&P 500 companies?
Bank of America’s equity strategy team, led by Savita Subramanian, identified 12 stocks that they believe will most likely miss consensus forecasts this quarter.
Among other things, these are all sell-rated stocks that missed consensus estimates for either earnings or revenue in the previous quarter.
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“(Reuters) – Best Buy Co Inc on Friday slashed its expectations for 2013 free cash flow after it had to pay for inventory earlier than expected during a critical time for the world’s largest electronics chain.
The company, which is in the midst of a restructuring and faces a looming buyout proposal by its founder, also posted flat sales at its U.S. division for the holiday season.
Shares of Best Buy fell 2.4 percent to $11.92 in premarket trading.
Revenue slipped 0.4 percent to $12.8 billion in the nine weeks ended January 5. Sales at stores open at least 14 months were flat in the United States and fell 6.4 percent internationally on declines in Canada and China.
The company now expects free cash flow of about $500 million for the year ending on February 2, down from a November forecast that called for a range of $850 million to $1.05 billion.
While comparable-store sales, gross margin, earnings and inventory levels were in line with the company’s expectations, Best Buy now expects fiscal 2013 accounts payable as a percentage of inventories to be lower than those of the previous year. It previously said they would be consistent with those of the prior year.
Best Buy said it had received inventory earlier than expected and therefore had to make payments earlier. It also saw a shift in sales mix to higher-velocity merchandise categories that carry shorter payment terms….”
Comments »“Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), the largest U.S. home lender, reported a 24 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit as the bank made more money from mortgage banking and squeezed more income out of revenue.
Net income advanced to a record $5.09 billion, or 91 cents a share, from $4.11 billion, or 73 cents, a year earlier, the San Francisco-based bank said today in a statement. That beat the 89-cent average estimate of 27 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, some of whom were excluding one-time costs tied to a regulatory settlement…..”
Comments »“Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) — American Express Co. will eliminate 5,400 jobs this year, mostly in travel services, as consumers and businesses rely more on digital technology for bookings.
The lender posted a 47 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit and recorded after-tax charges totaling $594 million, including costs tied to severance and changes in how the firm estimates future redemptions of credit-card rewards, New York- based AmEx said yesterday in a statement….”
Comments »“European policy makers are shifting focus from a financial crisis to an economic-growth crisis.
“We are now back in a normal situation from a financial viewpoint, but we are not at all seeing an early and strong recovery,” European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said yesterday. Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who leads euro-area finance ministers, echoed that by saying, “the worst is over, but what we still have to do is difficult.”
As the Euro Stoxx 50 (SX5P) posts its best start to a year since 2003 and bond yields fromGreece to Spain recede from euro-era highs, markets are endorsing last year’s ECB-led rescue efforts and rebutting warnings of an imminent euro breakup. The next test for authorities will come if the economic slump reignites investor doubts about cash-strapped governments.
The ECB “may be unhappy with the current economic situation of the euro zone, but optimism about the future is growing,” said Christian Schulz, a former ECB official and now an economist at Berenberg Bank in London.
The central bank yesterday held off doling out more recession-fighting medicine, keeping its benchmark interest rate at 0.75 percent in a unanimous decision a month after calls for a cut from some of its Governing Council. It maintained its so- far untapped offer to buy the bonds of sovereigns acquiescing to reform demands and will hand banks further cheap long-term funding….”
Comments »“SAP AG (SAP) unveiled the biggest overhaul to its mainstay enterprise software in two decades, in a move to cement its dominance in that market while springing an attack on Oracle Corp. (ORCL)’s database business.
At an event in Palo Alto, California, the German company showed a much faster version of its Business Suite software running on top of its Hana database. By speeding up business tasks from pricing airline tickets to predicting weather, SAP is pushing to replace database softwarefrom Oracle, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) that customers use to process and analyze information, SAP executives said….”
Comments »“As part of an effort to restore trust in the scandal-hit Euribor interest rate, regulators said the number of maturities that make up the benchmark for trillions of euros of lending should be cut from 15 to seven.
Europe’s top banking and markets regulators told the European Banking Federation, which oversees Euribor, to strengthen governance procedures to ensure no banks try to manipulate the rate. Cutting the number of tenors would “have the benefit of simplifying” submissions….”
Comments »“European stocks pared their decline as Italy’s borrowing costs dropped at a debt sale, offsetting concern that China has less room for monetary easing after a reported showed inflation increased more than estimated. U.S. index futures and Asian shares were little changed.
BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) slid 2.7 percent, for the biggest drag on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index.Tullow Oil Plc (TLW) slumped 5.4 percent after saying it will write off $299 million in 2012. SAP AG (SAP) gained 1.3 percent after unveiling the most significant overhaul of its enterprise software in two decades.
The Stoxx 600 lost less than 0.1 percent to 287.33 at 12:20 p.m. in London, paring a slide of as much as 0.4 percent. The equity benchmark is headed for a decline of 0.2 percent this week. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in March decreased less than 0.1 percent today, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped 0.1 percent.
“The Chinese inflation report is what is weighing on equities today as it has some investors worried that it could limit the degree of further stimulus in China,” Mark Andersen, co-head of asset allocation at UBS AG in Zurich, said in a telephone interview. “We still think the positive growth momentum is supportive of markets.”
European (SXXP) stocks declined from a 22-month high yesterday as European Central Bank policy makers left their benchmark interest rate at a record low. The volume of shares changing hands on the Stoxx 600 shares was 37 percent greater than the 30-day average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg….”
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