No doubt, the loss of a Democratic Senator is not the kind of present President Obama wanted for his one-year anniversary. He would have preferred passage of his long-promised goal of health-care reform over this stunning defeat that puts any reform in jeopardy. Now that Republicans have gained filibuster power, can the Democrats still pull this one off? My colleague, Joe Lazzaro, thinks they might do it just yet. Investors, however, seem to have already started to bet against health-care reform. Already on Tuesday, the health-care and pharma sectors climbed higher, a trend that mostly continued on Wednesday.

Continue reading Health-Care Sector Appears to Rally As Reform Chances Dim

Health-Care Sector Appears to Rally As Reform Chances Dim originally appeared on DailyFinance on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:15:00.

Filed Under: Healthcare, Genzyme Corporation , Bristol-Myers Squibb, CIGNA Corporation, Sanofi Aventis, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Amgen, Eli Lilly

Talk about stakeholder power. In 2001, a new eBay (EBAY) policy had regular sellers on the site storming the barricades and all but ready to lynch the CEO. Company executives had figured: Hey, maybe we could generate more action by steering the losers in one auction to other auctions, where similar products are on offer.

Continue reading Books@DailyFinance: eBay's Meg Whitman Looks Back in Wonder

Books@DailyFinance: eBay's Meg Whitman Looks Back in Wonder originally appeared on DailyFinance on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:00:00.

Filed Under: Company News, Columns, People, Media

Within hours of last Tuesday's earthquake in Haiti, charities and concerned individuals were scrambling to respond to the catastrophe. From the American Red Cross to Doctors Without Borders, Food for the Hungry to Habitat for Humanity, dozens of organizations were marshaling resources and determining where they could offer aid. At the same time, online scammers were also getting ready. Faced with a tragedy of unbelievable proportions, they recognized that there would soon be a massive wave of public support and moved quickly to divert some of the rich stream of money into their wallets.

Continue reading Haiti Earthquake Brings Charity Scams Out of the Woodwork

Haiti Earthquake Brings Charity Scams Out of the Woodwork originally appeared on DailyFinance on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:20:00.

Filed Under: Technology

Many people don't believe that they need to check their credit reports. Sometime, credit card companies make mistakes and it is up to the consumer to right a wrong.

When Rich Becker plans what to watch on TV for the evening, he does it differently than most Americans. Rather than pawing through TV Guide or tuning into a listings channel, Becker surfs his iTunes software program on his computer and downloads the content he wants to watch onto his Apple (AAPL) iPhone. He then hooks the phone up to his TV set via a $10 cable he bought, and voilà, he and his family are watching customized content without any cable or satellite dish fees.

Continue reading Coming Soon From TV Land: An Internet Programming Turf War

Coming Soon From TV Land: An Internet Programming Turf War originally appeared on DailyFinance on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:15:00.

Filed Under: Technology, Media, General Electric , Sony, Apple, Comcast

Late last year, the natural-gas sector got a jolt from Exxon's (XOM) $41 purchase of XTO (XTO). Since then, we've seen other big-ticket deals, including Total SA's (TOT) $2.25 billion joint venture for Chesapeake Energy's (CHK) Barnett properties. This week, the trend continued with Williams Cos. (WMB), which is undergoing a $12 billion restructuring of its various holdings. While the deal is fairly complicated, it will nonetheless result in a much simpler structure for investors to value the assets.

Continue reading Williams Hits a Gusher with Clever Financial Engineering

Williams Hits a Gusher with Clever Financial Engineering originally appeared on DailyFinance on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:00:00.

Filed Under: Energy, Company News, Technology, Investing, Exxon Mobil

After marching more than 115 points higher on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial average fell more than 122 points in Wednesday's market sell-off, prompting some analysts to suggest investors may over-reacting to financial news.

Continue reading Market's Teeter-Tottering Suggests Investors Are Overreacting to News

Market's Teeter-Tottering Suggests Investors Are Overreacting to News originally appeared on DailyFinance on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:50:00.

Filed Under: Economy, Investing, Bank of America

When it comes to mergers and acquisitions, Warren Buffett is truly a master of the universe. While other M&A machines have faltered or even crashed -- Tyco (TYC), for example -- Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) continues to grow.

Continue reading Buffett Bashes Kraft's Cadbury Buy: 'I'd Vote No'

Buffett Bashes Kraft's Cadbury Buy: 'I'd Vote No' originally appeared on DailyFinance on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:36:00.

Filed Under: Company News, People, Investing, Kraft Foods, Berkshire Hathaway

E-commerce giant eBay (EBAY) beat Wall Street expectations Wednesday with a solid earnings report, powered by growth in PayPal, its core marketplaces unit and the sale of 70% of Web-calling service Skype. The results, which were helped by a better-than-expected holiday shopping season, are a nice boost for a company that has taken a beating lately from rival Amazon.com -- as well as skeptical analysts.

Continue reading EBay Surprises Street With Solid Report, Stock Up After Hours

EBay Surprises Street With Solid Report, Stock Up After Hours originally appeared on DailyFinance on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:00:00.

Filed Under: Company News, Technology, Retail

To understand why the American public is so enraged by Wall Street's bonus structure, one needn't look further than New York-based Morgan Stanley (MS). Despite a dismal year in 2009, the company paid out bonuses and salaries that are raising eyebrows.

Continue reading 'Fat Cat' Bonuses at Morgan Stanley Despite Dismal Year

'Fat Cat' Bonuses at Morgan Stanley Despite Dismal Year originally appeared on DailyFinance on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:46:00.

Filed Under: JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs , Morgan Stanley