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...these stomach-churning times, there's comfort to be had in chocolate. Just ask Kraft. The world's second-largest foodmaker revealed on Monday, Sept. 7, that it had launched a $16.7 billion bid for British confectioner Cadbury, a bold effort to create "a global powerhouse in snacks" worth $50 billion a year in revenues. Cadbury rejected the offer, but Kraft, maker of Oreo cookies and Kool-Aid, showed its sweet tooth. The firm is "committed to working toward a transaction," it said in a statement, "and to maintaining a constructive dialogue...
...Cadbury can't be that surprised by Kraft's interest. Ever since U.S. chocolate giant Mars picked up chewing-gum maker Wrigley for $23 billion in 2008 - overtaking Cadbury to become the world's biggest confectioner in the bargain - analysts have held up the British firm as a compelling target for a firm like Kraft. Cadbury boasts around a quarter of the world's fast-growing gum market, a sector Kraft has missed out on. Its muscle in the U.K., Latin America and key emerging markets like India would also complement Kraft's strengths in the U.S. and Europe...
Pfizer • record-breaking $2.3 billion penalty is imposed on in connection with various illegal marketing practices...
Proving a negative is always a challenge, but there's mounting evidence that the controversial $787 billion stimulus bill is achieving one of its major goals: shortening the recession. Economists at Goldman Sachs say the bill, officially called the American Recovery and Reconstruction Act, has resulted in a 2% to 3% boost to annual GDP in the second and third quarters of this year, turning what could have been a worsening recession into potential growth. For President Barack Obama, whose poll numbers have dropped precipitously from around 65% to around 50% as Americans have become worried about government spending...
...Still, one would think that the mere infusion of $88 billion into the economy in six months - that's how much the government has spent so far - would buy Obama some goodwill; certainly many local and state politicians, including some who originally opposed the stimulus, have been quick to claim credit for stabilizing their economies with the federal largesse. Except, as it turns out, the very thing that makes the stimulus help the economy in the short term is a political loser: the program is giving most of its money to the poor. Of that $88 billion, the majority...