SkyIG

SKY News Summary 11-29-07

Lexington Insurance Company, a member of American International Group announced that it has increased its coverage for property damage losses arising from terrorist attacks using biological and chemical weapons from $10 to $25 million.
http://www.aig.com/Home-Page_20_17084.html

A cruise through the CBS and CBS Mobile web site is informative in that it shows where one company thinks the media industry is headed. Sumner Redstone, Executive Chairman of CBS has been promoting and expanding the company’s new media properties and the result is that one can watch most shows on CBS.com without the cost and ad interruptions of cable TV. CBS Mobile offers ring tones and video feed to cell phones for a monthly subscription fee.

http://www.cbs.com/

http://web.cbsmobile.com/content/web2/dyn/home?affiliate=cbsmobile

Amdocs unveiled the industry’s first comprehensive blueprint to help service providers as they help their customers. Amdocs also announced the formation of a new business unit to deliver advertising, commerce and entertainment products.

http://www.amdocs.com/Site/News/News+Articles/2007/Press+Releases/cesblueprint.htm

The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a rule that will make it more difficult for shareholders to nominate board members. Companies were worried that special interests, such as union pension funds, would supersede investors’ interests. The shareholders wanted to increase their rights and accessibility to company information. USAToday

http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/regulation/2007-11-28-proxy-access_N.htm

Ted Turner is now the largest private landowner in the country with 2 million acres in nine states, mostly in New Mexico, Nebraska, Montana, and South Dakota. HC
http://hartfordcourant.ct.newsmemory.com/

Wall Street brokerage houses, including Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, and Morgan Stanley, close their books for the year this week. They need cash, as will other financial institutions, to meet dividend, tax and interest payments, and bonuses. They will borrow from other banks at a rate called LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate). But LIBOR is rising (from 4.822% yesterday to 5.225% today) as banks are nervous about lending to each other for more than one week. This could pressure the Fed to lower rates when it meets in December.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/64c1e5d2-9e1d-11dc-9f68-0000779fd2ac.html

The U.S. economy grew at its fastest rate in four years during the third quarter as rising exports (up 19%) due to the weak dollar and growing foreign economies, more than offset the ill-effects of the housing slump. Gross Domestic Product grew 4.9% in the third quarter, but much (almost 1 percentage point) came from a rise in inventories. FT

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/86516d38-9e92-11dc-b4e4-0000779fd2ac.html

Sources: Wall Street Journal, Hartford Courant, CBS, Amdocs, and AIG web sites, USAToday, and Financial Times.

SKY News Summary 11-27-07

AT&T announced its purchase of Ingenio, a leading provider of Pay-Per-Call technology. This technology tracks phone calls coming into businesses as the result of an ad, allowing the business to pay for ads based on the ad’s performance. AT&T also announced it has acquired Dobson Communications Corp., a suburban wireless communications service, from Cellular One.

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=24753
http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=24739

Dow Chemical made three major announcements in the past few weeks. First, it is exiting the hydroxyalkyl acrylates market by the end of the year. This product is used in automotive topcoats, but faces market pressure from low-acid products and high raw-material costs. Second, Equipolymers, a 50/50 joint venture between Dow and Petrochemical Industries Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, completed construction of a new production facility in its Ottana, Italy plant. The new facility is a polycondensation line for the production of PET, a high quality plastic used in packaging beverage and food. Equipolymers also produces purified terephthalic acid (PTA) which is the key raw material for the production of PET. Last, Dow Polyurethanes announced that Dow will acquire the remaining shares (51%) of Pacific Plastics (Thailand), a polyols and polyurethane systems facility, from Siam Cement Group, for an undisclosed amount.
http://news.dow.com/dow_news/prodbus/2007/20071112a.htm

http://news.dow.com/dow_news/prodbus/2007/20071113a.htm

http://news.dow.com/dow_news/prodbus/2007/20071115a.htm

Middle Eastern investors are aggressively looking for investments overseas. Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, bought a stake in Sony, yesterday. Details were not disclosed. The same day, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), which has almost $1 trillion under management, and which bought a small stake in Apollo Management last summer, became one of Citigroup’s largest stakeholders. ADIA will hold 4.9% of Citigroup stock, exceeding that of Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a long-time shareholder. ADIA will provide Citigroup with a $7.5 billion capital infusion to cope with its credit-market turmoil.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119613039399104832.html?mod=hps_us_whats_news

Opting for transparency, HSBC Holding, the United Kingdom’s mega-bank, announced it will put $45 billion in mortgage-backed securities and other assets owned by SIV funds onto its own balance sheet. The two funds, Cullinan Finance and Asscher Finance are owned by other big investors, such as Janus Capital Group ($606 million) and Federated Investors ($350 million). WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119607380689703811.html

Shell Verwaltungsgesellschaft fuer Erdgasbeteiligungen mbH (Shell) and ExxonMobil Central Europe Holding have agreed to sell the transport business of their German joint venture, BEB Erdgas und Erdoel GmbH to NV Nederlandse Gasunie next year. The move divests Shell of its interests in German pipelines. Exxon will continue to provide BEB with exploration and production expertise.
http://www.shell.com/home/content/investor-en/news_and_library/press_releases/2007/divestment_pipeline_assets_23112007.html

Sources: Wall Street Journal, Hartford Courant, Shell, AT&T and Dow web sites, USAToday

SKY News Summary 11-26-07

France’s government-controlled nuclear energy company, Areva, signed a deal worth $11.87 billion with China’s Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co. Areva will supply the Chinese electricity company with two advanced nuclear reactors and fuel to power them for 15 years. Areva owns uranium mining operations in Niger and Canada, and enrichment plants to make nuclear fuel. The company, in a “one-stop-shopping approach”, also designs and builds nuclear reactors and high-voltage electrical equipment, and reprocesses nuclear fuel, a delicate operation since it involves handling of radioactive plutonium. The French government has been considering breaking apart the company and selling some parts to finance future growth. About 4% of Areva shares are currently outstanding. WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119602387528903273.html?mod=todays_us_page_one

Sony has finally seen the effect of price cuts on PlayStation 3, announced in October. In mid-November, the company outsold Wii for the first time. (Nintendo’s Wii and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 are significantly less expensive, but do not offer the 80-gigbyte hard drive and blue-ray DVD of PS3). Sony had sold only about two million units since April 1, less than one-third of Nintendo’s Wii sales. Meanwhile, Microsoft has shipped more than 13 million Xbox 360 units since its launch two years ago. Sony not only cut the price of the 80-gig PS3, it also introduced a 40-gigabyte model for $399 — or $100 cheaper than its previous entry-level model. WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119578261437701685.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace

The Journal of Consumer Research tested two different groups of people to determine what motivates their purchases. About 55 shoppers were asked to think about what was in their wallets. Another 55 were asked to think about their financial portfolios. Then both groups went shopping. The shoppers that thought about financial portfolios perceived that they had more money to spend, and spent 36% more than the group who had thought about their wallets. NYT

Black Friday is over and the results are in: Over 147 million people shopped over the weekend, up 4.8%. But they spent 3.5% less per person. Hot items were Kodak digital photo frames, costing between $100 and $250, and a KitchenAid mixer for $130. Last year, the hot item was the HDTV for around $1,000. Purchases made Thanksgiving weekend account for up to 8%, or $40 billion, of all holiday sales, which are expected to be around $475 billion this year. NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/26/business/26retail.html?ref=business

Sources: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Hartford Courant

SKY News Summary 11-20-07

The Federal Reserve’s recent decision to curb interest rates will help prop up the U.S. economy, but has the reverse effect in Persian Gulf countries where currencies are pegged to the dollar and economies are growing. These nations originally tied their currencies to the dollar because oil traded in dollars. As oil prices rise, Gulf currencies tied to the dollar have fallen relative to other currencies, making imports expensive, and driving inflation. This has, in turn, driven worker unrest. These currency issues will be addressed by the Gulf Cooperation Council in Doha, Qatar in early December. WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119552599363898773.html

Hewlett-Packard’s fourth quarter profit rose 28%, well-exceeding analysts’ expectations. Surging laptop sales, the weak dollar fueling purchases from overseas, and printer ink were largely responsible for the increase. H-P also said its board had authorized an additional $8 billion in share repurchases, perhaps to offset stock dilution due to employee-stock-benefit plans. WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119550084737898224.html

A record 17 candidates will be on Connecticut’s February 5th presidential primary ballot thanks to the expansive views of our Secretary of State. Connecticut’s state law mandates that candidates are qualified for the ballot if, “in the secretary’s opinion, the person’s candidacy for the party’s presidential nomination is generally seriously advocated or recognized in the national or state news media.” Democrats on the ballot are: Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson. Republicans on the ballot are: Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Alan Keyes, John McCain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Tom Tancredo, and Fred Thompson. HC
http://hartfordcourant.ct.newsmemory.com/

Marsh and McLennan’s subsidiary, Mercer, published the results of a survey showing that national health care benefits per employee, were, on average, $7, 983 this year. The cost has been increasing by 6.1% in each of the past three years. In Connecticut, the average was $8,661 per employee, making our state one of the ten most expensive states in terms of health benefits in the nation. However, next year, the health plan costs nationally are expected to increase at a slower rate (5.7%) as a larger share of medical bills shift to the employees in the form of higher deductibles, co-pays, and co-insurance. HC
http://hartfordcourant.ct.newsmemory.com/

Sources: Wall Street Journal, Hartford Courant

SKY News Summary 11-19-07

Another acquisition is in the works for Pfizer. The company agreed to buy Coley Pharmaceutical Group Inc. for about $164 million or $8 a share. Coley will give Pfizer vaccine research and new drugs for Alzheimer’s and infectious diseases. WSJ In brief

Cisco announced an additional $10 billion stock repurchase program, bringing the total stock repurchase authorized to $62 billion. So far the company has retired 2.3 billion shares and has another 6.1 billion outstanding. WSJ

There has been a shift in taste preferences among beer drinkers lately. The trend is towards small-batch, “craft” beers. This means we will be hearing a lot more from Anheuser-Busch as the company ramps up its marketing campaign amidst sluggish sales (Sales grew less than 1% for the first nine months of this year, and that came from new European imports). Although Bud Light is America’s favorite beer, growth was slow this year, prompting Anheuser-Busch to spend $70 million more on ads for Bud Light and Budweiser next year. The company will spend another $30 million on a new Michelob campaign. WSJ

The Euro-Zone trade surplus with the rest of the world grew 4% in September, while the trade deficit with China grew 25% from the same time last year. WSJ

The Senate passed a seven-year extension of the federal terrorism-insurance program which was to expire Dec. 31. The program, backed by insurers, especially Hartford Financial Services Group, obligates the government to help defray claims arising from terrorist attacks. WSJ

Chinese officials ordered commercial banks to freeze lending through the end of the year in order to curb overheated investment. This move is unusual in China, where the authorities have tried raising rates four times this year to stem investment in sectors such as property development which is deemed excessive. WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119542008187297217.html?mod=hps_us_whats_news

Source: Wall Street Journal

SKY News Summary – 11-16-07

Amazing… More than a third of all purchases on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, are made by 10:00 a.m. Last year, however, this was not the busiest shopping day of the year. That honor went to December 22. USAToday

The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed a change in mutual fund prospectuses adding plain English summary of the fund’s objectives, strategies, risks, costs, managers, top ten holdings, purchase and sale procedures, tax consequences, and financial intermediary compensation. USAToday

In another move, the SEC dropped a requirement that foreign companies with U.S. listings reconcile their results to U.S. rules. It is hoped that this ruling will lead to the formation of global standards of accounting which would make company financial reports more reliable and understandable. However, some worry that international standards could lean more to the needs of governments, or to the companies themselves, rather than to investors. The SEC also finalized rules that make it easier for small businesses to raise money. WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119515473521294535.html

Johnson & Johnson is facing significant challenges as patents on key drugs such as Risperdal and Topamax are expiring next year, Procrit, used to treat anemia, is under fire for safety concerns, and its newly-acquired business, Conor Medsystems found its main product used to open arteries failed in a trial in May. In an effort to meet these challenges, the company announced a shake-up that breaks its medical-device unit into two groups, surgery and comprehensive care. The comprehensive care unit will look at diseases in a more integrated way, beginning with J&J’s diagnostic tests to catch disease earlier, and including the monitoring unit to help stabilize those with the disease. WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119513588098094178.html

Sources: The Wall Street Journal, USAToday

SKY News Summary 11-15-07

Applied Materials Inc. told analysts to expect the current quarter’s revenue to drop 13% to 18% as new orders have fallen 5% to 15%. The company, which makes the equipment used to manufacture semiconductors, says it sees companies that make chips for computers scaling back on new equipment. However, Applied Materials reported strong earnings of $9.73 billion (up 6% from last year) for the year ended October 28, 2007. WSJ
http://www.appliedmaterials.com/investors/

Merrill Lynch surprised its community by appointing a former mortgage-bond trader from Goldman Sachs turned head of NYSE Euronext as its new chief executive. John Thain is a graduate of MIT and has his MBA from Harvard. He was at Goldman for 24 years before becoming its president in 1999. He became head of the NYSE at a time when the institution had to make technological changes. As the Wall Street Journal reports, Mr. Thain “…appeased regulators and big investors like Fidelity Investments by embracing electronics, while placating threatened floor traders by doing an initial public offering that made their ownership stakes more than triple in value.” WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119506114729192943.html

The Commerce Department reported that retail sales rose 0.2% in October, the smallest rise since August. The gain came mainly from increased prices for gas and food. However, sales at car dealers and building- and garden-supply stores showed gains. Furniture retailers, department stores and online retailers, especially those dealing in sporting goods, books and music, saw declines. USAToday
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2007-11-14-ppi_N.htm?csp=34

Citigroup amended its share-swap agreement with Nikko Cordial in light of its $11 billion sub prime loan write-off and the resulting decline in Citigroup’s stock price. (Citigroup’s share price has dropped 23% since the original deal was announced on October 2). The new deal will be based on an average of Citigroup’s share price between Jan. 15 and Jan. 17. WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119510099942593993.html

Barclay’s, Bear Stearns and HSBC Holdings PLC are the latest to announce write-downs this quarter due to subprime mortgages. Bear Stearns will take a $1.2 billion write-down on top of the $850 million write-off in the third quarter. (Fitch ratings lowered Stearn’s short-term rating from F1+ to F1). HSBC will write down $3.4 billion in the fourth quarter, its third write-down in a year. Barclay’s will take a $2.7 billion loss related to the subprime business. HC
http://www.courant.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-earns-britain-barclays,0,6573619.story

Tribune Co. may need to sell The Courant or two of its local TV stations in accordance with the new Federal Communications Commission’s proposal. The Tribune operates The Courant, WTIC, and WTXX under waivers from the FCC. While the new proposal lifts a ban on cross-ownership in the major cities, it may institute a ban, revoking waivers, on smaller markets such as Hartford. This comes at a sensitive time, as Tribune needs these waivers to close the $8.3 buyout deal with Sam Zell. The vote on the rules change could come Dec. 18. HC
http://www.courant.com/business/hc-fcc1115.artnov15,0,7251422.story

Roche Holding, while having FDA approval for its anemia-fighting drug, Mircera, may not launch the drug. A Boston jury just found that the patents on Amgen’s anemia drug were valid. Roche must decide to either appeal the jury’s finding, or wait until Amgen’s patents expire, to launch Mircera in the United States. WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119315766250368562.html

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Hartford Courant, USAToday

SKY News Summary 11-13-07

Geothermal energy is on the rise. Although currently it only accounts for a very small percentage of power generation (less than 1%), interest in geothermal power continues to grow as evidenced by land prices in the effected areas. Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Bureau of Land Management must conduct regular auctions of land, and this land is generally in parched, desolate areas of Nevada. Recently, land which is suitable to generate geothermal power, because of steam beneath the surface, sold for up to $14,000 per acre in BLM auction. WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119491339335890630.html

BHP Billiton, an Australian mining company, continues its quest to acquire rival Rio Tinto, based in London. Rio rejected BHP’s $150 billion all-stock bid saying that its transportation infrastructure is worth more than the proposed 44% stake in the combined company. For example, in Western Australia, Rio has two iron-ore mines and BHP has four. But Rio has two railways and two ports to move its ore, where as BHP has only one railway and one port. Problems in the transportation infrastructure often causes a bottleneck in the delivery of ore to China, the purchaser of half the world’s ore. WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119486236843989895.html

Japan’s gross domestic product, rose by 0.6% in the third quarter, from a year earlier, or 2.6% on an annualized basis, driven by exports to Asia and Europe. Less expensive products, due to the weak yen, make Japan’s products appealing overseas. In spite of the fact that these numbers exceeded expectations, the Bank of Japan voted to keep its key policy rate at 0.5% through the end of the year amid signs of a U.S. slow-down and volatile financial markets. WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119491892255690779.html

Berkshire Hathaway is sitting pretty with $45 billion in cash on its books, the only triple-A credit rating of its type, and bond insurers, such as Ambac Financial Group and MBIA, banging on its door. These bond insurers insured some of the $100 billion of riskier collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) and could be subject to downgraded rating themselves. To avoid being downgraded, these bond insurers may call upon Berkshire to reinsure the CDOs, giving Berkshire the opportunity of picking through the CDO portfolios, finding those that have been mispriced in the market mayhem. Or Berkshire could collect fees for allowing bond insurer’s customers to come directly to Berkshire for quick collection of payments. Finally, Berkshire is in the position of entering the bond-insurance business directly, as a financial guarantor. WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119491675764090710.html

Source: The Wall Street Journal

SKY News Summary 11-12-07

The Wall Street Journal had an entire section devoted to “green”, which is significant in itself. But it also had some fun facts to know and tell: for instance, the biggest home energy consumer is not the refrigerator, but small appliances and lighting (34%). The refrigerator consumes only 8% of total energy, while heating consumes 34%, water heating 13%, and electric A/C 11%. Other facts: Lowering the thermostat 2 degrees cuts energy use by 1%, replacing a pre-1980s furnace costing $4,000 would produce $3,269 in net savings, and reduce carbon emissions by 96,450 pounds, or 10-year’s worth of your car’s emissions. A higher-priced hybrid car generally takes over 10 years to recoup the increased cost through gas savings, and that’s assuming a new car was needed in the first place. Here’s a new idea: recycling newspapers not only means less energy used by industry in manufacturing the product, it also reduces landfill gas caused by the decay of the newspaper. Also, it’s often better to fly than drive from an environmental standpoint. A person flying 500 miles is responsible for 295 pounds of carbon. A person driving the same distance is responsible for 465 pounds of carbon assuming 23.9 miles per gallon. WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119463269049588171.html?mod=todays_us_the_journal_report

Procter & Gamble, makers of Tide detergent and Pampers, now makes designer perfume sold only at Nordstrom’s and selling for close to $80 a bottle. In a calculated departure from its typical product, the company is focusing on promoting the perfume’s scarcity and allure. The results have shown promise: perfume sold in high-end retailers accounted for the fastest-growing segment of the company’s $23 billion beauty division, with annual sales of about $2.5 billion. WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119483281048189676.html

Ending the 2002 settlement started under the Clinton administration, the Justice Department told a judge that Microsoft can be free of restrictive oversight. Several states, including California and New York wanted to extend the oversight to 2012. It was set to expire today. ‘The Justice Department said that the states’ arguments are “inadequate and mutually inconsistent” and that Microsoft’s dominance per se isn’t cause for restrictions. WSJ

Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Bank of America came up with the details of the SIV bailout. A fund will buy assets from SIVs so that they can avoid a fire sale. But subprime mortgages are excluded from the sale. The three banks will ask about 70 other banks to participate at a fee of between 0.75 percentage points and 1% of assets. The companies hope to have the fund operating by year end, but the banks’ corporate management has yet to approve the plan. WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119482805957289567.html

A report by the Institute of International Education found that students studying abroad increased by 8.5% to 223,000 in 2005-2006. It is interesting to note that more than twice that number, 583,000, up 3%, of foreign students came to the U.S. to study. India, followed by China and Korea sent the most students, totaling 59% of U.S. International enrollments. The top two major fields for study in this country are business and engineering, while the top three major fields for our students studying abroad are social sciences, business and management and humanities. U.S. students tend to study in Britain, although Italy was second most popular, followed by Spain, France and Australia. HC and USAToday
http://www.courant.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-study-abroad,0,4368458.story

Sources: USAToday, Hartford Courant, The Wall Street Journal

SKY News Summary 11-8-07

Pat Robertson, founder of Christian Coalition, endorsed Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday, despite Giuliani’s pro-abortion, pro-gay-rights stand. USAToday

The first federal trial against State Farm Insurance over Hurricane Katrina damages ended with an award to the plaintiffs, Michael and Judy Kodrin. The couple claimed winds destroyed their house four hours before the levy broke. The jury awarded the couple $200,000 for wind damage, the maximum allowed by their policy, and $150,000 in penalties for State Farm’s failure to adjust the claim quickly. State Farm may appeal. HC
http://www.courant.com/business/hc-katrina1108.artnov08,0,7019352.story

Morgan Stanley acknowledged its mortgage losses in a $2.5 billion write-down. HC
http://www.courant.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-morgan-stanley-losses,0,3447476.story

Insurers of mortgage-related securities, such as Ambac Financial Group, may be under pressure as deterioration in credit markets force them to pay out more in losses than they had reserved. As the Wall Street Journal points out, “Investors are worried insurers will need to increase their capital levels to support their guarantees on bonds that grow riskier, as required, and to maintain their own high credit ratings.” WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119448916949286066.html

Kraft Food buckled under pressure from Nelson Peltz, a 2% owner of Kraft through his hedge-fund firm, Trian Fund Management, by nominating Mr. Peltz’s choices for board members. Last year, Mr. Peltz won seats on the board of Heinz after a lengthy proxy battle. Wendy’s avoided a proxy fight by appointing three Trian allies onto its board last year. WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119447058816585603.html

Oregon voters defeated a plan to pay for children’s health care by increasing the tobacco tax. Of course, they had the help of Altria and Reynolds American which contributed $12 million to Oregonians against the Blank Check Committee. The Reynolds spokesman said that “Oregon voters appeared to agree with the argument that it was fiscally unwise to fund a program such as children’s health insurance with a shrinking revenue stream such as a tobacco tax.” Legislators, however, seem to like the idea, with Congress recently passing the children’s health-insurance program, funded by a 61 cents tax on a pack of cigarettes. (President Bush vetoed the plan last month.) WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119448534015185970.html

The Federal Reserve announced yesterday that consumer credit rose at an annual rate of 1.8% in September, the smallest rate in five months, as growth in credit card debt and car loans slowed. USAToday

Nasdaq will have a presence in the fast-growing options market if its proposed acquisition of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange for $652 million in cash is approved. USAToday

The Labor Department announced that productivity grew 4.9% between July and September, the fastest growth since 2003. Unit labor costs dropped at an annual rate of 0.2%, the best showing in more than a year. HC

Sources: Hartford Courant, Wall Street Journal, USAToday