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Saturday, July 29, 2006

Media Digest 7/29/2006

Stocks: (MNI)(GCI)(FAL)(PD)(PFE)(WMT)(LCC)(NOK)(T)(BLS)(MOT)(VZ)(ATVI)

According to Reuters, a courts will not block the sales of three California papers that McClatchy bought in its acquisition of Knight-Ridder. The antitrust suit was filed against several companies including MediaNews Group, Gannett and Hearst.

Reuters writes that Inco dropped its plans to buy Canadian mining company Falconbridge. Xstrata, a Swiss company has increased its holdings in Falconbridge. Inco itself may now be in play, although US firm Phelps Dodge has bid to acquire the company.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Pfizers board has named its general counsel, Jeffrey Kindler, to become the drug giant's next CEO.

The WSJ also reports that U.S. Airways approached Delta about a possible merger. Delta apparently rejected the offer.

The WSJ also writes that same-store sales at Wal-Mart were up 2.4%, the high end of the projected range. The figure showed a rebound from slower growth in June.

The WSJ writes that a proposal by Bristol-Myers and Sanofi to delay a generic version of Plavix by drug firm Apotex was rejected by state attorneys general. The move by state officials appears to signal a tightening of restrictions on deals between generic drug makers and branded drug companies to keep generics off the market for some time period.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Chevron's net rose 18% to $3.45 billion in its most recently reported quarter.

The New York Times reports that the ability of handsets to make WiFi calls has telephone companies concerned. Cell companies like Nokia, Samsung and Motorola will introduce phones with the new feature. The success of these projects could pose problems to Verizon Wireless and Cingular, which is owned by AT&T and BellSouth.

The New York Times also reports that Wal-Mart will exit the German market selling its 85 stores to a German retailer at a loss of $1 billion. Wal-Mart faced stiff competition from other retailers in the country.

The New York Times also reports that the SEC has asked for options data from Activision, the video game company.

Douglas A. McIntyre
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