TOP STORIES
ZIMMER TO BUY BIOMET FOR $13.35 BILLION
Zimmer Holdings agreed to buy fellow orthopedic device maker
Biomet for about $13.35 billion in cash and stock, in a bid to
position the combined company as a leader in making products to
repair muscles and bones. Zimmer shares rose 16%.
GM PROFIT FALLS AMID RECALL
General Motors 1Q results fell 82% but far exceeded Wall Street
expectations, as the push to sell cars and trucks at higher prices
in North America helped the auto maker offset the cost of model
recalls. Shares rose 1%.
U.S. STOCKS RISE, BUOYED BY APPLE, FACEBOOK RESULTS
Stocks rose after upbeat reports from Apple and Facebook lifted
technology shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 30
points, putting the blue-chip benchmark within striking distance
from its all-time closing high
RUSSIA LAUNCHES MILITARY EXERCISES AT UKRAINE BORDER
Russia said it launched military exercises along the Ukrainian
border after Ukrainian forces killed pro-Russian militants and
overran three roadblocks outside the eastern city of Slovyansk, in
part of a renewed military operation to regain control.
VERIZON LOSES CONTRACT WIRELESS PHONE CUSTOMERS
Verizon Communications lost wireless customers for the first
time early this year. The loss of phone customers came as the
company's first-quarter profit more than doubled to $3.95 billion,
as revenue rose 4.8% to $30.8 billion.
UPS PROFIT SLIDES ON HARSH WEATHER
United Parcel Service posted a lower 1Q profit of $911 million,
or 98 cents a share, pointing to unusually harsh weather that
increased its expenses and slowed its revenue growth. Revenue rose
to $13.8 billion.
U.S. JOBLESS CLAIMS JUMP BY 24,000
Initial claims for jobless benefits, a measure of layoffs, rose
by 24,000 to a seasonally adjusted 329,000 in the week ended April
19, the Labor Department said. The weekly gain was the largest
since December.
OIL FUTURES BOUNCE HIGHER ON VIOLENCE IN UKRAINE
Oil futures gained as increased violence in Ukraine renewed
concerns that the West could impose sanctions on Russia, the No. 2
oil-exporting nation.
ISRAEL SUSPENDS PEACE TALKS WITH PALESTINIANS
Israel says it has suspended peace talks with the Palestinians
in retaliation for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's plan to
bring together Palestinian political factions in a national unity
government, despite Israeli warnings and U.S. advice.
E-CIGARETTES FACE FIRST REGULATIONS
The FDA proposed to impose the first federal regulations on
electronic cigarettes, eventually banning sales of the popular
devices to anyone under 18 and requiring makers to gain FDA
approval for their products.
GE IN TALKS TO BUY ALSTOM'S ENERGY BUSINESS
General Electric is in talks to buy French engineering firm
Alstom's energy operations, people familiar with the matter said, a
move that would help consolidate the struggling power-generation
business.
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The Wall Street Journal
E-CIGARETTES FACE FIRST REGULATIONS
The FDA proposed to impose the first federal regulations on
electronic cigarettes, eventually banning sales of the popular
devices to anyone under 18 and requiring makers to gain FDA
approval for their products.
The Wall Street Journal
OBAMA, ABE STRESS REGIONAL BENEFITS OF ALLIANCE
President Obama offered Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe an
unequivocal affirmation that if islands at the center of Japan's
territorial dispute with China were ever attacked, the U.S. would
come to Japan's aid.