Pharmaceutical Companies Buy Rivals Drugs, Then Jack Up the Prices

Pharmaceutical companies such as Valeant are buying drugs that they see as undervalued, then raising the prices.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. bought the rights to a pair of life-saving heart drugs.

Neither of the drugs, Nitropress or Isuprel, was improved as a result of costly investment in lab work and human testing, Valeant said. Nor was manufacture of the medicines shifted to an expensive new plant. The big change: the drugs ownership.

At Volkswagen, a Game of Thrones as Chairman Ferdinand Piech Quits

Chairmans exit resolves boardroom battle, but auto maker still faces falling sales, high costs

Yahoo, Katie Couric Tweak the Recipe--She will be one of the stars of Yahoos big NewFront event for advertisers

It isnt about home-page traffic, they say, playing up the staying power of interviews thanks to social media

Yahoos bet on Ms. Couric is one of the most high-profile moves CEO Marissa Mayer has made in her attempt to turn around the lumbering tech company. Ms. Mayer is aiming to reduce Yahoos dependence on home page traffic, which in March was down 31% compared with a year earlier, according to comScore. She also wants to move away from a reliance on the display advertising business, which has suffered revenue drops for the last four quarters. Her goal is to diversify into growing arenas like video advertising and social media-distributed content.

Big Companies Put the Squeeze on Ad Agencies

The worlds largest advertiser wants to spend less on marketing, dealing another big blow to an industry already battered by corporate cost-cutting.

Procter & Gamble Co. is preparing to make deep cuts in the number of advertising agencies it works with, hoping to save up to half-a-billion dollars in fees that it now pays to outside firms to help pitch its myriad everyday items

Demand For Key Types of Railway Cars Falls Amid Declining Output

Orders for new railway tank cars fell 70% sequentially, data shows

Declining output from shale-oil fields cut demand for key types of railroad cars, new data shows, the latest sign of the fallout from lower oil prices.

Qualcomm Launches Unit to Help Chinese Smartphone Makers Sell Overseas-chip maker

Chip maker aims to prove itself a valuable partner as Beijing looks to reduce its reliance on foreign technology

Qualcomm Inc. has launched a unit to help Chinese smartphone makers sell overseas, part of efforts to build stronger relationships in the country following a long-running antitrust case.

Xiaomi Sees $1 Billion in Mobile Services Revenue This Year

Chinese company wants to make smartphone games and mobile finance an increasing part of its business

The Chinese smartphone maker expects revenue from mobile servicessuch as games and a payment appthat it sells to more than triple this year to nearly $1 billion

Wal-Mart in Showdown With Texas Over Alcohol - Retailer, other public companies move to override states laws

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was slow to get into alcohol, but now it is fighting for the right to sell more of it.

A prime target is Texas, where the worlds largest retailer has sued the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, saying legal limits on sales of hard liquor are unconstitutional.

One restriction prevents public companiesthose with more than 35 shareholdersfrom selling spirits. The state beverage code also says no company can own more than five liquor stores unless permits for the others are bought from a blood relative.

Oil Funds Sound a Warning

Money is pouring out of a popular investment tied to the oil market, a sign that a monthlong crude-price rally may be running out of gas.

Exchange-traded funds that invest in U.S. oil futures, including the $3.1 billion United States Oil Fund LP, have registered about $2.7 billion of investor outflows this month, according to investment bank Macquarie Group Ltd.

Millennium Hedge Fund, Quant Trader Plan Venture Mr. Tulchinsky who operate as WorldQuant LLC

First time Izzy Englander is creating a business with one of his portfolio managers

For two decades, Igor Tulchinsky and his team of quantitative traders have helped fatten the returns of New York hedge fund Millennium Management LLC.

Now, the roughly $28.5 billion firm and Mr. Tulchinsky are forming a joint venture that will allow the Belarussian trader to accept outside money and use a wider range of trading strategies, said people familiar with the matter, showing the value of star traders and the lengths firms are going to in order to keep them happy.

QQQ ETF Falters as Nasdaq Soars

ETF once represented 40% of trading volume at American Stock Exchange; a net outflow in 2014

Nasdaq stocks are finally having their moment. The 2,579-stock Nasdaq Composite Index has soared past its record set during the dot-com era. The smaller Nasdaq-100 index isnt far behind.

Investors last year pulled a net $11.4 billion from the fund, called the Invesco PowerShares QQQ ETF but informally known as the Qubes.

Chinas Currency Move Is Sign of Larger Struggle in Yuan

With many foreign competitors benefiting from sharp depreciations in their currencies, the Peoples Bank of Chinas move Friday to set its yuan target rate at a three-month high was a punch in the gut for factory owners in teeming exporting hubs like the Pearl River Delta.

For Fed, Nothing Going on but the Rent inflation 2.9%

Inflation is too low for the Federal Reserve, but not as low as it would be if rising rents werent propping it up.

Low as inflation is, it would be even lower if not for one group that has been remarkably adept at pushing through price increases: Landlords.

When Federal Reserve policy makers meet this week, they will likely signal that they have essentially given up on the idea of raising rates in June. Inflation, which has been running well below the central banks 2% target, is a big reason why.

Apple Earnings Surge 33% on iPhone Sales

Higher-priced phones help Apple beat out rivals; Tech giant also boosts dividend by 11%

Apple Inc. is pulling off a feat rarely seen in any industry, much less the cutthroat world of consumer electronics: gaining market share while also commanding higher prices.

Lackluster Avon Explores Makeover ceo Sherilyn McCoy

Falling U.S. sales, murky strategy force beauty firm to consider shift

the company has decided to explore more fundamental change, including possibly a sale of the company or an exit from its long struggling U.S. business

it lagged behind in developing an online strategy and hasnt capitalized on the opportunities of social media.

Obama Presses Case for Asia Trade Deal, Warns Failure Would Benefit China

President says anti-globalization sentiments from left and right a big mistake

President Obama, made his case for the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership warning that if the U.S. doesnt enact a free-trade deal with Asia, then China will write the rules in that region

We will be shut outAmerican businesses and American agriculture. That will mean a loss of U.S. jobs.

ESPN Sues Verizon Over New FiOS TV Packages

Sports network says new FiOS TV packages breach distribution contract

Proxy Adviser Backs Two Trian Board Seats at DuPont

ISS Institutional Shareholder Services Increcommends shareholders elect Peltz and Myers

Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron Cancel Merger Plan

Deal collapses after firms give up on winning antitrust approval

Burger King, Tim Hortons Parent Posts Higher Systemwide Sales

Restaurant Brands reports slightly higher profit

Restaurant Brands International Inc., parent of Burger King and Tim Hortons, reported a sharp increase in systemwide sales in its first quarter, fueled in part by new product launches and continued expansion.

Japanese Robot Maker Fanuc to Double Dividend

Fanuc said it will return 60% of its net profit to shareholders, marking a milestone in Japans move toward lifting shareholder returns.

Big Pharmas M&A Opportunity Merck and Pfizer are cash machines in a frothy pharmaceutical sector

Merck agreed to acquire antibiotic specialist Cubist for $8.4 billion, while Pfizer is buying generics company Hospira for $16 billion.

Pound Buoyant Despite Election Uncertainty Investors are braced for post-election volatility but not an extended slump ;;; The British pound has bounced back in recent weeks after a poor start to the year.

Silver Linings in Big Cloud Spending

Amazon, Google and Microsoft are spending billions to stay competitive in the cloud, with shareholders cheering them along. That is good for their suppliers.

That is the easiest takeaway from the latest set of results from the so-called hyperscale cloud-service providers: Amazon.com,Google and Microsoft. While these three have very different core businesses, all have been pouring billions of dollars into data centers, equipment and software to expand their cloud-services businesses. And all three are being rewarded by investors for it.

Akorns Restatement Drives Investors Nuts

Generic-drug maker Akorn has run into accounting issues. In todays frenzied deal market, though, that might attract interest.

Deutsche to Trim Investment Bank, Retail Operations

German lenders plans part of overhaul to boost profitability and capital adequacy

Deutsche Bank AG said it would scale back its investment-banking and retail operations, part of a long-awaited strategic overhaul designed to close the gap with rivals for profitability and capital adequacy.

Germanys largest lender said Monday that it also would strengthen transaction banking, which provides products and services to corporations and financial institutions, as well as its asset- and wealth-management unit.

Deutsche Banks Realism Makes Bleak Reading

German lenders dramatic cut in targeted returns underscores ongoing problems