Month: July 2011

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. ( JEC ) entered into a joint venture with AMEC and Costain to provide waste retrieval, processing and filling services. The joint venture will serve Magnox Limited at eight of their nuclear power station sites across the UK […]

American Axle and Manufacturing Inc. ( AXL ) plans to close its manufacturing facility in Detroit as communication with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union broke down. The parties had disagreement over the reduction of compensation for the workers from $45 an hour to $30 an hour. […]

As per an emissions report filed with state regulators, British energy giant BP Plc ( BP ) has restarted its gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking (FCC) unit No.1 in its Texas city refinery. The unit of the 437,080-barrels-per-day (bpd) refinery was shut in April following an electrical power failure. It was restarted and then was forced to go offline again on June 13 due to the loss of a blower. […]

In a recent research report published by technology research firm Gartner, the firm expects worldwide spending on IT products and services to grow by 7.1% in 2011, considerably higher than its earlier estimate of 5.6%. According to the research firm’s estimates, global IT spending is expected to be approximately $846.0 billion this year, a 6.6% increase from last year. Computer Hardware (up 11.7%) and Enterprise Software (up 9.5%) are expected be the leading products in the sector in terms of growth. […]

Call of Duty fans will have a good time as Activision Blizzard Inc. ( ATVI ) celebrates its first Call of Duty community event on a grand scale with Call of Duty XP 2011 at Los Angeles on Sept 2 and 3. The whole event is being organized in the confines of a 12-acre compound in urban LA and is expected to be attended by more than 6000 fans […]

Vivus Inc. ( VVUS ) announced that it has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its investigational drug, avanafil. The company is seeking to get the drug approved for the treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED). […]

In a multi-day auction, the consortium of six technology companies including iPhone maker Apple Inc. ( AAPL ) won the bid to acquire Nortel Network Corp.’s intellectual assets for an estimated $4.5 billion. Besides Apple, the consortium comprises EMC Corp. […]

Recently, Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) presented data from late stage trials, which showed that its ultra-long acting insulin Degludec lowered blood glucose levels with significantly reduced risk of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) versus Sanofi Aventis ’( SNY ) Lantus in patients with type II diabetes. Novo Nordisk presented data from two, late stage, 52-week clinical trials, one in patients with type I and the other in victims of type II diabetes. These data were presented at the American Diabetes Association […]

Oilfield services provider Baker Hughes ( BHI ) has launched a new wellbore clean-up and displacement system. This will be utilized to ensure equipment efficiency as well as minimum hazards while operating in high-cost environments such as deepwater applications; horizontal, extended-reach, and deviated wells; deep wells; and wells with high dogleg severity. The latest generation cyclone-based system –– X-Treme Clean XP –– is expected to clear off dregs and scraps more effectively. […]

CNO Financial Group Inc. ( CNO ) had spent $16.2 million to buy back 2.2 million shares in the second quarter of 2011. […]

In the midst of a takeover fight between rival retail chains, Wal-mart Stores Inc. ( WMT ) states its desire to buy Carrefour SA’s (CA) operations in the booming Brazilian market. Carrefour, a giant French retailer, had been experiencing a rough patch for last few years. […]

Recently, Alkermes Inc. ( ALKS ) presented encouraging top line data from an early stage study of its schizophrenia candidate ALKS 9070 (n=32). ALKS 9070 is a once-monthly injectable extended release version of Bristol-Myer Squibb ’s ( BMY ) schizophrenia drug Abilify (aripiprazole). […]

The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) manufacturing index rose to 55.3 in June from 53.5 in May. This was a big positive surprise as the consensus had been looking for the index to fall 51.1. Based on historical experience, the June reading is consistent with GDP growth of 4.5% […]

Dominion Resources Inc. ( D ) said its unit Dominion Virginia Power has installed a new pollution control equipment in its Chesterfield Power Station in Richmond with a view to reduce emission from this power generation plant. The new pollution control equipment popularly called the 'scrubber' will absorb 95% of sulfur dioxide and also reduce 80% emission of hydrochloric and sulfuric acids from the 344 Megawatt (MW) Unit 5 of the station for which it has been commissioned. […]

Developers Diversified Realty Corporation ( DDR ), a real estate investment trust (REIT), has recently refinanced its existing secured term loan facility worth $550 million with a new $500 million senior secured term loan. At the same time, the company amended its two senior unsecured revolving credit facilities as part of its corporate strategy to reduce its short-term floating rate debt. […]

Forest Laboratories, Inc. ( FRX ) and partner Almirall, S.A. […]