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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Pressured by a firmer dollar, gold futures finished down sharply on Monday and for the month of March, but the precious metal advanced 10.3% during the first quarter. On Monday, gold for June delivery ended down $15, or 1.6%, at $921.50 an ounce. For March, gold lost $50.60 or 5.2%. But […]

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Moody’s Investors Service said Monday it downgraded the corporate family rating of Foot Locker Inc. to Ba3 from Ba2 because of poor sales. Moody’s kept the rating outlook at negative. “The downgrade was prompted by the company’s poor sales results for fiscal year 2007, primarily driven by weakness in the […]

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Pfizer Inc. said Monday a Spanish appeals court upheld a patent that protects the active ingredient in the drug maker’s best-selling product, the cholesterol treatment Lipitor. Pfizer said the Court of Appeal of Barcelona reversed a lower court decision on the patent that would have cleared the way for generic […]

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The trade group that represents the securities industry in the U.S. said Monday that it views the Treasury’s proposed new plan for a regulatory regime as “wise” and “thoughtful,” and that new rules are needed. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association said in a prepared statement Monday that, “Treasury has […]

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Standard & Poor’s said Monday it cut its rating of Security Capital Assurance Ltd.’s series A perpetual noncumulative preference shares to D from C. The default rating comes after the bond insurer failed to make a dividend payment due today.
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LONDON (MarketWatch) — ImClone Systems said it’s hired Kenneth J. Zuerblis to be chief financial officer and senior vice president. Zuerblis was formerly CFO of Enzon Pharmaceuticals. Peter Borzilleri had been interim vice president for finance. (Corrects spelling of Zuerblis’ name.)
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they […]

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — San Francisco Federal Reserve President Janet Yellen said “it is critical” to explore a “broader range of interventions” to keep families in their homes, even as the federal government implements some programs to prevent home owners from falling behind on their mortgages. In a speech at a community reinvestment conference here, […]

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Gold futures fell sharply in volatile trading Monday, along with other commodities, as a rise in the U.S. dollar weighed on the precious metal. Gold futures for June delivery dropped $8.80 to $927.90 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Other metals also declined, and crude-oil futures tumbled 3%.
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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Monsanto Co. said Monday it will acquire De Ruiter Seeds Group BV, a Dutch holding company that owns and operates De Ruiter Seeds, for 546 million euros, or more than $800 million depending on currency exchange rates less net debt. Monsanto said it expects the acquisition to add to its […]

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Iraq signed a contract with Boeing Co. worth $5.5 billion to buy 40 planes, with an option for 15 more, Agence France-Presse reported Monday, citing an Iraqi government official. The news agency reported Iraqi spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said delivery of the aircraft would begin this year and extend out to […]