Industries

Cadbury Rises to Record; Nestle Mulls Bid, Reuters Says Kraft May Bid More Cadbury Plc rose to a record in London trading after Nestle SA was said to weigh a takeover, the Wall Street Journal said Hershey Co.’s controlling trust wants the U.S. company to make an offer, and Reuters reported that Kraft Foods Inc. may raise its bid.

Hershey's Debt Risk Rises on Speculation Company May Make Cadbury Bid The cost to protect against a default by Hershey Co. approached a record high on speculation that the maker of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups will outbid Kraft Foods Inc. for Cadbury Plc and trigger a debt-rating downgrade.

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Crude Oil Futures Are Little Changed as U.S. Demand Drops, Dollar Weakens Crude oil was little changed after failing to break through resistance at $80 a barrel as the dollar weakened and fuel demand dropped in the U.S., the world’s biggest energy-consuming country.

Reliance Urged to Pay Less Than $12 Billion for LyondellBasell Industries Reliance Industries Ltd.’s bid for bankrupt chemicals and fuels maker LyondellBasell Industries AF will be “positive” if India’s largest company pays less than $12 billion, brokerage CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets said.

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Bank of America May Name Stopgap CEO to Allow Board More Time for Search Bank of America Corp.’s board may extend its search for a permanent new chief executive officer into 2010 if directors can’t settle on a candidate in the next three days, according to people familiar with the matter.

Morgan Stanley Names Ex-Merrill Manager Moffitt to Securitization Business Morgan Stanley, preparing for a resurgence in securitized debt sales, hired former Merrill Lynch & Co. executive David Moffitt to lead the effort within the firm’s capital markets division.

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King Pharmaceuticals Increases as Battered Drug Firms Lure Private Equity King Pharmaceuticals Inc., LifePoint Hospitals Inc. and Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. may be buyout targets as private-equity firms seek companies battered by the economy and poised to gain from the U.S. health overhaul.

Glaxo Pulls Swine Flu Vaccine Batch in Canada to Probe Allergic Reaction Canadian doctors should hold off on using a batch of GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s swine flu vaccine while the company probes reports of higher-than-expected occurrences of a side effect known as anaphylaxis, a spokeswoman for the U.K. drugmaker said today.

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Democrats Show Signs of Disunity on Health Care as Debate Looms in Senate Democrats who united last week to bring a sweeping health-care plan to the U.S. Senate floor still need to settle disagreements in their own ranks to pass President Barack Obama’s top domestic initiative.

Pertamina May Sell Stakes in Insurance, Drilling Units in IPO Next Year PT Pertamina may list some units on the Indonesian stock exchange next year ahead of a plan to offer to the public a stake in the state oil company, Chief Financial Officer Ferederick Siahaan said.

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Existing Home Sales in U.S. Climbed 10.1% Last Month to 6.1 Million Rate Sales of existing U.S. homes jumped 10 percent in October to the highest level since February 2007 as Americans rushed to take advantage of a tax credit, cheaper properties and lower mortgage rates.

New York to Sell $351 Million Bonds as Moody's Urges Lasting Deficit Plan New York seeks bank bids today for $351.3 million of bonds after Moody’s Investors Service said the state’s credit rating may fall if spending cuts aren’t part of plans to close a $3.2 billion budget deficit.

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GE Said to Lean Toward IPO of Vivendi's 20% Stake in NBC Universal Unit General Electric Co. is leaning toward allowing an initial public offering of Vivendi SA’s 20 percent holding in NBC Universal as talks to purchase the stake stall, a person with knowledge of the situation said.

Oracle Purchase of Sun May Be Blocked by Europe Regulator, Document Says Oracle Corp.’s planned $7.4 billion purchase of Sun Microsystems Inc. may be blocked by European Union regulators because of concerns that Oracle might be able to eliminate Sun’s MySQL database product as a competitor, according to an EU document.

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Caterpillar Beating Komatsu as Dow Industrials Soar on Dollar Index Drop For the first time since the equity rally began in March, the biggest U.S. stocks are beating the smallest as the dollar’s descent sends investors to companies with the most business in international markets.

EU Ministers Plan to Consider Aid Request for GM's Opel Unit Next Month European Union officials said no decision on granting aid to General Motors Co.’s Opel unit will be made until a meeting next month.

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