Monday, January 11, 1999
Markets
Tech stocks rocketed higher, especially Internet issues, while blue-chips and the broader market declined. The
Nasdaq Composite Index
and
TheStreet.com Internet Sector
index both soared to record highs.
European bourses closed lower. Asian markets also suffered, as Japan's
Nikkei 225
shed 23.33 to 13,368.48, and Hong Kong's
Hang Seng
dropped 88.43 to 10,634.27.
For more markets action and news, click
here.
Companies
Drug wholesaler
Bergen Brunswig
(BBC) - Get Report
has agreed to buy
PharMerica
(DOSE)
, a provider of pharmacy services to nursing homes and prisons, for $1.4 billion.
DaimlerChrysler
(DCX)
said it will spend $55 billion to $60 billion on research and development over the next three years.
Jon Corzine
will step down as co-CEO of
Goldman Sachs
, leaving
Henry Paulson
to serve as sole CEO. Both Paulson and Corzine will continue as co-chairmen.
Merck
(MRK) - Get Report
reportedly will claim its arthritis drug
Vioxx
is more effective at treating a broad range of pain than
Monsanto's
(MTC) - Get Report
Celebrex
, which the
Food and Drug Administration
has said can only be marketed as an arthritis treatment.
Revlon
(REV) - Get Report
said it will cut as many as 1,200 jobs and liquidate excess real estate holdings in an effort to streamline operations.
Starbucks
(SBUX) - Get Report
today opened its first branch in China at a five-star Beijing hotel.
For more news on companies and stocks, click
here.
Tech
Compaq
(CPQ)
agreed to acquire
Shopping.com
for about $220 million.
Lucent
(LU)
agreed to acquire billing software company
Kenan Systems
for $1.48 billion in stock. The company reportedly is also in talks to acquire networking supplier
Ascend Communications
(ACND)
.
MCI WorldCom
(WCOM)
said it will not bid for cellular phone giant
AirTouch Communications
, leaving AirTouch to continue talks with
Vodafone
(VOD) - Get Report
and
Bell Atlantic
(BEL)
.
Former
Packard Bell NEC
CEO Beny Alagem reportedly is in talks to acquire a large stake in
Samsung Group's AST Computer
.
For more tech news and commentary, click
here.
International
British American Tobacco
(BTI) - Get Report
agreed to acquire
Rothmans International
from
Compagnie Financiere Richemont
(RCHMY)
and
Rembrandt Group
(RBDGY)
for about $7.5 billion in stock.
U.K. oil production companies
Enterprise Oil
(ETP)
and
Lasmo
(LSO)
said they are in merger talks.
Italian carmaker
Fiat
(FIA)
reportedly is in merger talks with several companies, including Sweden's
Volvo
(VOLVY)
.
Guangdong International Trust & Investment
, the investment unit of the wealthy Chinese province of Guangdong, has filed for bankruptcy with debts of $4.3 billion.
Japan's nationalized
Long Term Credit Bank
has hired
Goldman Sachs
to assess its assets and help find a receiver for its operations.
For more international news and commentary, click
here.
General News
The
Securities and Exchange Commission
settled its investigation of improper trading practices on the
Nasdaq Stock Market
by levying $27.1 million in penalties to 28 brokerages.
Two U.S. fighter jets fired on an air defense installation today in northern Iraq after they were lit up by Iraqi radar.
At the
Bank for International Settlements
meeting in Hong Kong,
Federal Reserve
Chairman
Alan Greenspan
told the heads of 16 central banks, including 11 from the Asia-Pacific region, to expect any slowdown of the U.S. economy to be "relatively moderate."
Elsewhere
Communications and pharmaceutical mogul Daniel Snyder and banking brothers Howard and Edward Milstein have agreed to purchase the
Washington Redskins
and
Jack Kent Cooke Stadium
for $800 million.
