http://vixtrade.com trade options on the vix index Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:18:51 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en General Electric has bulked up on its health binge, moving to buy medical device maker Vital Signs for $860 million. Vital Signs shareholders are to get $74.50 per share in cash, a 28.4 percent premium to Wednesday’s closing price, and above the shares’ 52-week high of $61.20, reached on May ... http://vixtrade.com/2008/07/24/ge%e2%80%99s-inorganic-growth/ Diversification is the buzz word in pharmaceuticals as the feared 2010-2012 patent "cliff" looms nearer, when many of world's top medicines lose patent protection. New Glaxo CEO Andrew Witty, 43, is embracing the concept wholeheartedly via a bold deal with South Africa's Aspen that takes the world's second biggest drugmaker into generics in emerging markets ... http://vixtrade.com/2008/07/24/turning-the-glaxo-supertanker/ Yesterday, UBS put out a research note saying Lehman was likely to make a sizeable asset sale, which may include the disposition of its investment management unit Neuberger Berman. Today, Morgan Stanley said in a research note that although the bank may make a “meaningful” asset disposition, it was unlikely to ... http://vixtrade.com/2008/07/24/lehman%e2%80%99s-fortune-tellers/ From Silicon Alley Insider, July 23, 2008: The head of Microsoft's Platforms and Services Business (which includes the online business), Kevin Johnson, is http://vixtrade.com/2008/07/24/another-blow-to-microsofts-online-ambitions-umpteenth-reorg-and-kevin-johnson-to-juniper/ From Silicon Alley Insider, July 23, 2008: Release out: Solid quarter in a weak economy. Revenue in line, EPS through roof once including a $53 million one time non-cash gain from the sale of a European DVD business. ... http://vixtrade.com/2008/07/24/amazon-q2-revenue-in-line-eps-boosted-by-one-time-gain-amzn/ Financial stocks were taking a breather Wednesday, which is to be expected after the group's ferocious rally. Heading into today, the Financial SPDR (XLF) had risen 31% in a five-day advance, culminating (perhaps) on Tuesday when huge losses were greeted http://vixtrade.com/2008/07/24/bouncing-banks-how-11b-of-losses-is-good-news-on-wall-st-2/ For months, America's politicians fiddled over housing legislation as the real estate market burned. This week, after a full-court press from Treasury Secretary Paulson and others, Congress is expected to pass related legislation.Key points of the bill, w http://vixtrade.com/2008/07/24/housing-bill-better-than-nothing-but-no-cure-for-still-ailing-market-2/ Despite Apple's claims to the contrary, Steve Jobs' health is not a "private matter."That fact has been on display again this week as rumors about Jobs' health continued to circulate. In the wake of those rumors and various reports in other news http://vixtrade.com/2008/07/24/jobs-health-not-private-ceo-had-surgery-but-no-recurrence-of-cancer-says-nyt-2/