Failed Drug Merger Puts Wall Street in a Sour Mood
According to the "Aspirin Count Theory," a jump in the production of aspirin leads a downturn in the market. Aspirin is, of course, a drug, so by applying the same logic that says that all men are Socrates, it stands to reason that what's good for drug companies, is bad for the market. And vice-versa.
Ah, if only it were so easy.
News that
SmithKline Beecham
(SBH) - Get Report
and then Glaxo, is raising a few eyebrows in the City, though.
"You ever read
The Importance of Being Earnest
?", asks David Smith, managing director of
Cantor Fitzgerald
in London. "It's kind of like what Lady Whatshername -- Lady Bracknell -- says. 'To lose one parent is unfortunate; to lose two is careless.' I suppose one can sort of apply that sort of thing to SmithKline."
Other than the drug news, things in London are quiet, according to Smith. "I haven't seen a sector that's dominating," he says. "They all seem to have gone to sleep, so the market is tending to drift down rather than up."
It is, to quote Mrs. Rittenhouse,
for the Treasury market. The January
consumer price index
was unchanged for the overall number, while the core number, which excludes the volatile food and energy sectors, showed an increase of 0.2%. Both were in line with economists' expectations.
The big focus for Treasury traders, though, is
Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's
Humphrey-Hawkins
testimony before Congress today, slated to start at 10 a.m. (To get a leg up on the Chairman's prepared statement before the first ahem, check out the Federal Reserve's
at 10.)
The 30-year Treasury bond is up 5/32 at 103 8/32.
It was, perhaps, forgivable that Japan's ruling
Liberal Democratic Party
did not announce Monday a new economic stimulus plan on the heels of Friday's disappointing one. These things take time, and after the lambasting the government got from the G7 finance ministers in London over the weekend, perhaps
Finance Minister Hikaru Matsunaga
, who is, after all, new to all this, was a bit tired.
But today there were still no indications that the government plans to change its stance on the economy, and stocks fell badly. The
Nikkei
dropped 411.49 to 16,198.00.
Separately, in response to the alleged securities law violations of Diet-member Shokei Arai, who committed suicide last week, Hashimoto said that banning lawmakers from trading is not necessary. Given Friday's tepid stimulus plan, and the government's apparent unwillingness to come up with something more suitable, could the Prime Minister is short
Nikkei Futures
?
After spending most of the day down, Hong Kong stocks saw a bout of late-day, futures-led buying that brought them to nearly the break-even mark. The
Hang Seng
closed at 10,683.34, off 1.87.
German stocks, showing their nervousness above 4600, retreated. The
Dax
closed at 4599.54, off 58.00.
J.P. Morgan
(JPM) - Get Report
, hurt badly by Asian losses, is reportedly planning to lay off 700 people -- 5% of its workforce -- and is considering either merging with or acquiring another bank.