The Swiss pharmaceutical company said it has entered an agreement to acquire the private company for $2.7 billion with additional payments of up to $400 million based on drug-development milestones.
Germany Books Wider Trade Surplus as Exports Fall Less Steeply
Germany's trade surplus widened a little more than expected in October as imports fell more sharply than exports.
The eurozone's most important economy booked an adjusted trade surplus-representing the difference between exports and imports of goods-of 17.8 billion euros ($19.37 billion) climbing from EUR16.7 billion in September, according to figures set out Monday by federal statistics agency Destatis.
Swiss Life CEO to Step Down
Swiss Life Holding said Patrick Frost has decided to step down as chief executive at the group's annual general meeting in May next year, after 10 years at the helm of the insurer.
The company said Monday that Matthias Aellig, currently chief financial officer, would succeed Frost as CEO as of May 16, 2024. Marco Gerussi, who served as head of finance transformation since 2018, will replace Aellig as CFO.
GLOBAL NEWS
Goods Deflation Is Back. It Could Speed Inflation's Return to 2%.
After a historic run-up in inflation, Americans are now starting to see something they haven't in three years: deflation.
To be sure, deflation-that is, falling prices-is largely confined to appliances, furniture, used cars and other goods. Economywide deflation, when prices of most goods and services continuously fall, isn't in the cards.
Stock Funds Get Back on Their Feet
Stock funds might have a decent year after all.
After three straight months of declines, stocks rallied, for the most part, in November-adding to stock-fund investors' 2023 gains. The average U.S.-stock fund rose 9.1% in November, according to Refinitiv Lipper data, to expand the year-to-date gain for stock funds to 13.4%.
How to Use Industry ETFs to Ride Waves of Momentum
Momentum-trading mutual funds, which try to hold stocks that benefit most from upward market trends, first appeared in the 1980s. There are still some out there. But these days, investors who want to ride market upturns-or bet on market reversals-are turning more to single-industry ETFs.
Investors over time have shifted to industry exchange-traded funds as a low-cost alternative to momentum mutual funds, whose returns have faltered over the past 20 years.
The Stocks Investors Are Putting Under the Tree
Retailers are making modest predictions about the holiday shopping season-and their stocks are going gangbusters in response.
Victoria's Secret, Foot Locker, Ulta Beauty and Dollar Tree are among the companies that offered somewhat mixed assessments of the state of the shopper last week. Yet each received an ovation from investors.
U.S. Destroyer, Commercial Vessels Attacked by Drones, Missiles in Red Sea
A U.S. destroyer and three commercial ships operating in the Red Sea came under drone and ballistic-missile attacks, the Pentagon said Sunday, marking the most significant escalation of a weekslong military attack on ships operating in those waters.
In two instances on Sunday, the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, came under attack, including while responding to distress calls from nearby commercial ships that faced missile attacks, the Pentagon said. The Carney also shot down a drone that flew nearby.
House GOP Moves Toward Formalizing Impeachment Probe of Biden
WASHINGTON-House Republican leaders are moving toward a vote on formalizing an impeachment probe into President Biden, aiming to bolster an investigation that some in the party are still wary of pushing forward too quickly.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) and committee chairmen made a case to rank-and-file lawmakers on Friday, with a vote possible as soon as this week. House Republicans have already spent months trying to tie Biden to his family members' overseas business dealings and gather support for their claims-which he denies-that he benefited from them. They so far have failed to deliver evidence backing up their most strident claims about the president.
Israel-Hamas Deal Talks Stall as Fighting Ramps Up
Talks between Israel and Hamas to hand over hostages held in Gaza in return for a pause in fighting there have stalled, the White House said Sunday, while Israeli forces step up attacks and direct Palestinians in the enclave to move into a narrower strip of land.
"The negotiations have stopped. That said, what hasn't stopped is our own involvement, trying to get those back on track...We would like that to happen today," White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told NBC. He blamed Hamas for failing to provide a fresh list of civilian women and children to be released.
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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
12-04-23 0544ET
