Fred Business News - Merck & Co. reported a surge in fourth-quarter operating earnings Wednesday that exceeded analysts' estimates, but shares slumped in early trading.

The drugmaker said earnings, before extraordinary charges, jumped to 80 cents per share in the fourth quarter.

On that basis, analysts polled by Thomson Financial had forecast an increase in quarterly earnings to 74 cents per share.

Sales edged up 3% to $6.2 billion in the fourth quarter, meeting the consensus analyst estimate.

Despite the solid results, Merck's stock fell 4% ...   more »

Fred Business News - The housing market is only getting worse, according to the latest report from S&P Case/Shiller released Tuesday.

Home prices were down 8.4 percent in November compared with last year in its 10-city index, a record low. The 20-city index also fell 7.7 percent.

The Case/Shiller report compares same-home sale prices. The industry considers it to be one of the most accurate snapshots of housing prices.

Previously, the largest year-over-year decline on record was 6.3 percent in April 1991. The November report marked the ...   more »

Fred Business News -  A government agency with regulatory power over Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae opposes lifting the loan caps for the two agencies, part of the economic stimulus package announced Thursday.

The stimulus package includes a proposal that temporarily raises loan limits for the government sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. That could kick start sluggish residential real estate markets in high cost areas that have suffered through the liquidity squeeze that started last summer.

The director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise ...   more »

Fred Business News - FedEx reportedly is in talks to buy all or part of Deutsche Post's DHL delivery business in the U.S., in a deal that would help it challenge larger rival United Parcel Service.

Seeking to cut losses in the hyper-competitive domestic fast-delivery business, Deutsche Post may move to trim its DHL business in the U.S., without abandoning it completely, according to published reports on Friday.

Deutsche Post Chief Financial Officer John Allan was quoted by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a German newspaper, as saying ...   more »

Fred Business News - One week from Sunday, the titans of American advertising will take to the field and go head-to-head in an epic battle of marketing muscle to determine who will be the king of commercials.

Oh, and there will be a football game too.

As most sports fans already know, Super Bowl XLII is game day for the Giants and Patriots, but it is also the biggest advertising event of the year.

Last year, the big game was the highest rated TV show in the ...   more »

Fred Business News - The Hershey Co. is halting production of Ice Breakers Pacs in response to criticism that the mints look too much like illegal street drugs, the company's president and chief executive officer said Thursday.

Hershey CEO David J. West disclosed the decision during a conference call about the company's newly released fourth-quarter earnings report.

Ice Breakers Pacs, which first hit store shelves in November, are nickel-sized dissolvable pouches with a powdered sweetener inside. The pouches come in blue or orange and bear the Ice Breakers ...   more »