(TWT) CNBC Now: BREAKING: Abbvie says it will acquire Pharmacyclics for $261.25/share in cash and equity, or approximately $21


CNBC Now: BREAKING: Abbvie says it will acquire Pharmacyclics for $261.25/share in cash and equity, or approximately $21
2015-03-05 03:58:44.611 GMT

BREAKING: Abbvie says it will acquire
Pharmacyclics for $261.25/share in cash and
equity, or approximately $21 billion. $ABBV
$PCYC
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-0- Mar/05/2015 03:58 GMT

(BN) J&J Said to Agree to Acquire Pharmacyclics for Cancer Drug


J&J Said to Agree to Acquire Pharmacyclics for Cancer Drug
2015-03-04 22:09:20.952 GMT


By Manuel Baigorri, Matthew Campbell and Dinesh Nair
(Bloomberg) -- Johnson & Johnson has agreed to acquire
cancer-drug maker Pharmacyclics Inc., people with knowledge of
the matter said.
A deal may be announced as soon as Thursday, the people
said, asking not to be identified discussing private
information. Pharmacyclics has a market valuation of about $17.5
billion, after its shares surged about 89 percent so far this
year.
With the purchase, Johnson & Johnson would gain Imbruvica,
an oncology treatment whose sales are expected to grow to $3.56
billion in 2018. The drug is an easy-to-use pill that costs
around $100,000 a year, avoids certain serious side effects of
chemotherapy, and is already approved for four different blood
cancer uses.
Representatives for both companies declined to comment. The
Financial Times earlier said J&J was nearing a deal.
The deal comes with large drugmakers looking to bolster
their pipelines with acquisitions. Novartis AG was also
interested in acquiring Pharmacyclics, people with knowledge of
the matter said last month.

For Related News and Information:
Pharmacyclics Said to Weigh Sale of U.S. Cancer Drugmaker
Cancer Drug Once Bought for $7 Million May Now Fetch $18 Billion
Top Stories:TOP<GO>

--With assistance from Cynthia Koons and Ed Hammond in New York
and Caroline Chen in San Francisco.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Manuel Baigorri in London at +44-20-3525-4457 or
mbaigorri@bloomberg.net;
Matthew Campbell in London at +44-20-3525-8684 or
mcampbell39@bloomberg.net;
Dinesh Nair in London at +44-20-3525-3212 or
dnair5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Mohammed Hadi at +1-212-617-2914 or
mhadi1@bloomberg.net

>>> US Close Dow-0,59% S&P-0,44% Nasdaq-0,26% Russell-0,45%

Closing Market Summary: Stocks Register Second Consecutive Decline

The stock market registered its second consecutive retreat on Wednesday with the S&P 500 losing 0.4%. The benchmark managed to cut its loss in half by the closing bell while the Nasdaq Composite (-0.3%) outperformed. The tech-heavy Nasdaq remains higher by 0.1% week-to-date while the S&P 500 is down 0.3% since the end of last week. 

For the second day in a row, the market opened amid broad pressure, but heavily-weighted health care and technology sectors hit their lows during the opening hour and climbed off those lows into the afternoon. The health care sector (+0.4%) registered a modest gain while technology (-0.3%) finished ahead of most other cyclical sectors.

Biotechnology contributed to the outperformance of the health care sector with the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 340.09, +2.17) climbing 0.6%. In addition, the high-beta group helped the Nasdaq stay ahead of the broader market while chipmakers also displayed relative strength with the PHLX Semiconductor Index shedding 0.1%. Meanwhile, large cap components of the tech sector ended on a mixed note. Apple (AAPL 128.54, -0.82) lost 0.6% while Facebook (FB 80.90, +1.30) added 1.6%.

Elsewhere among cyclical sectors, energy (-0.2%) settled among the outperformers despite a late-morning slide to lows after the EIA storage report showed that crude inventories increased by 10.3 million barrels from the prior week. Like the sector, crude oil fell to lows on the news, but came back roaring to end the pit session higher by 1.9% at $51.50/bbl.

Also of note, the consumer discretionary sector (-0.6%) lagged throughout the session with Lumber Liquidators (LL 35.64, -5.14) tumbling 12.6% after the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation took interest in the company following reports it imported laminate flooring containing significant amounts of formaldehyde.

Over on the countercyclical side, the health care sector represented the lone outperformer while consumer staples (-0.8%), telecom services (-1.2%), and utilities (-0.6%) lagged throughout the trading day.

Treasuries notched their highs in the morning, but surrendered those gains in the early going, and spent the afternoon near the unchanged level. The 10-yr note ended flat with its yield at 2.12%.

Today's participation was in-line with recent trends as roughly 705 million shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.

Economic data included ADP Employment, ISM Services, and MBA Mortgage Index:
  • The ADP National Employment Report revealed that employment in the nonfarm private business sector rose by 212K in February while the consensus expected an increase of 220K 
    • The January reading was revised up to 250,000 from 213,000 
  • The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index increased to 56.9 in February from 56.7 while the consensus expected a drop to 56.5 
    • The improvement in the headline index comes despite weakness in production and orders. The Business
      Activities/Production
      Index fell to 59.4 from 61.5 while the New Orders Index declined to 56.7 from 59.5 
  • The weekly MBA Mortgage Index ticked up 0.1% to follow last week's 3.5% decline 
Tomorrow, the Challenger Job Cuts report for February will be released at 7:30 ET while weekly Initial Claims ( consensus 295K) and Q4 Productivity (consensus -2.3%)/Unit Labor Costs data (consensus 2.9%) will be released at 8:30 ET. The day's data will be topped off with the 10:00 ET release of the January Factory Orders report (consensus 0.6%).
  • Nasdaq Composite +4.9% YTD 
  • Russell 2000 +2.3% YTD 
  • S&P 500 +1.9% YTD 
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average +1.5% YTD

WSJ: Beige Book: Hiring and Consumer Spending Look Solid at Start of Year

Beige Book: Hiring and Consumer Spending Look Solid at Start of Year
Points of concern include bad weather in Northeast, and the West Coast ports dispute

WASHINGTON—The U.S. economy continued to expand across most of the country at the start of the year amid broad-based hiring and rising consumer spending, though bad weather in the Northeast, lower oil prices and a West Coast port dispute hurt some parts of the country, according to the Federal Reserve’s latest survey of regional economic conditions.

The Fed found modest or moderate growth in eight of its 12 districts, according to the “beige book” report released Wednesday. Elsewhere the pace of economic activity was increasing only slightly or slowing.

Payrolls “remained stable or expanded” across broad range of sectors, though “wage pressures remained moderate and were limited largely to workers in skilled occupations,” the report said. Prices for goods and services were flat on increasing slightly.

The survey of anecdotal information, covering January to mid-February and collected through Feb. 23, was released ahead of the Fed’s March 17-18 policy meeting in Washington.

Fed officials are weighing when to begin raising short-term interest rates from near-zero, where they have held since December 2008. The central bank’s policy makers are expected to make the first such move this year, though not before June. Officials now must weigh steady improvement in the labor market against weak inflation and soft wage gains.

“Provided that labor market conditions continue to improve and further improvement is expected, the Committee anticipates that it will be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate when, on the basis of incoming data, the Committee is reasonably confident that inflation will move back over the medium term toward our 2% objective,” Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen told Congress last month.

Wednesday’s report highlighted several crosscurrents, including rising auto sales, an increase in manufacturing and rising loan demand alongside impacts from bad weather, the West Coast port slowdown, and declining energy-sector activity.

“Both the New York and Boston Districts reported that harsh winter weather negatively affected retail business in their Districts,” the beige book said. “However, the Boston and Cleveland Districts also reported increased sales of winter-related items such as winter apparel, rock salt and snow shovels.”

A work slowdown at West Coast ports hurt agricultural exports cargo volumes at some Midwest trucking firms, but boosted traffic at East Coast ports.

Energy-related activity took a hit as crude oil prices remained low.

The Cleveland, Minneapolis, Kansas City and Dallas Districts all reported a decline in oil and gas drilling and are planning for cuts to capital expenditures.

“Energy firms said they have halted hiring and started downsizing, with most expecting payrolls to decline in the first half of the year,” the Dallas district reported.

WSJ : Bouygues’s M&A Calls Aren’t Getting Through


Bouygues’s M&A Calls Aren’t Getting Through
The more success Bouyges Telecom has, the more difficult it becomes to sell

What’s good for Bouyges Telecom may actually be bad for Bouyges shareholders.

The French conglomerate owns the third largest wireless carrier in France. After losing out in its bid to merge Bouygues Telecom with mobile company SFR last year, the pursuer has become the pursued. So far, however, Bouygues is playing hard to get.

Bouygues Telecom is operating at a loss. It accounts for only 13% of its parent’s revenues but about half of its total capital expenditure in 2014. And this trend goes back at least five years. Given France’s four-way mobile competition where the best that mobile operators can hope for is market share gains to maintain flat revenues, it is hard to see how the telecoms business can generate an acceptable return on capital employed without further consolidation—at least in the next few years.

The backbone of Bouygues is really its construction business which, in the past, has helped to offset losses in the telecoms unit. But it has fallen on uncertain times. Orders fell by 2% in 2014. Yet Bouygues’ share price has still risen 19% this year. It is now trading about 50% above its five-year average valuation on earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, on hopes that a deal to sell Bouygues Telecom is imminent.

Based on current share prices, Bouygues’ telecoms assets are being valued at about 8.5 times 2015 Ebitda, reckons Barclays, compared with the industry average of about 6 times 2015 Ebitda. Cost savings from any combination of Bouygues with another French operator should prove significant. Nevertheless, the higher the price, the tougher it is to make a deal work. Given its high level of past capital expenditure, Bouygues will likely want a hefty premium to justify those investments.

Iliad was spurned last year for an offer Bouygues considered too stingy. Orange has already said it won’t be leading consolidation in France, and has separately expressed interest in pursuing merger talks with Telecom Italia to broaden its pan-European reach. That leaves only Altice , which is busy integrating SFR with Numericable and likely won’t be ready for an expensive purchase anytime soon.

Bouygues is fighting its corner by slashing costs and subscription prices. It added an impressive 415,000 broadband customers in 2014, but at the same time lost 22,000 mobile customers. The company is aiming to lure a million new mobile customers and another million broadband subscribers by 2017, a target that will likely require a further painful squeeze on profitability to reach.

The trouble is that the more success Bouygues Telecom has at gaining market share, the less its parent company will need to sell and the higher the price tag. That offers little comfort for shareholders, who may be left just waiting for the phone to ring.

(KeplerCheuvreux) List of French Stock Profit Taking

Aéroport de Paris: -17%, Bouygues: -22%, Casino: -20%, Eurofins: -17.5%, Havas: -23% and Kering: -15%

List of French “profit-taking” stocks
* List of stocks to play a market consolidation scenario in France
* On average, they present downside potential of 13%
* Six conviction stocks show downside potential of close to 20%
* Three stocks do not show any upside potential and poor news flow

* List of stocks to play a market consolidation scenario in France
We publish today a list of nine French stocks that we see as potential
vehicles to exploit a market consolidation scenario in the weeks ahead.
We took a bottom-up approach when selecting these stocks for which we
have a Hold or a Reduce rating. On average, the list presents a downside
risk of 14%. This could totally offset the performance of these stocks
which are up 16% on average YTD (performance in line with the French
indexes (CAC 40: 14% - SBF 120: +14.1% - CAC Mid & Small: +14.8%). The
list consists of six large caps (Aéroport de Paris, Bouygues, Casino, Kering,
Sanofi and Schneider Electric) and three mid-caps (Eiffage, Eurofins and
Havas).

* Six conviction stocks with downside potential of close to 20%
For six of the nine names, we estimate a downside risk of close to 20% on
average (Aéroport de Paris: -17%, Bouygues: -22%, Casino: -20%,
Eurofins: -17.5%, Havas: -23% and Kering: -15%). In a nutshell, we believe
they are all nicely valued versus peers (in particular ADP, Casino, Eurofins
and Havas), but could be hit by unfavourable news flow in in 2015 (Kering
with Gucci in Asia, Casino in Brazil and Bouygues with its exposure to
French construction).

* Three stocks do not show any upside potential and poor news flow
For three stocks (Eiffage, Sanofi and Schneider Electric), we would play a
profit-taking scenario due to the absence of upside. For all of them, we
cannot rule out the possibility of negative news flow (exposure to the
French motorways for Eiffage, exposure to China for Schneider Electric
and the risk of disappointment on Lantus/Toujeo for Sanofi). These risks
are not included in our models at the moment. If they materialise, this
could create a downside risk for their valuations. Moreover, the
risk/reward profile for these stocks is not appealing. Finally, with regard to
Sanofi, we believe the new CEO, Olivier Brandicourt, will find it hard to
create positive momentum in the short term by issuing ambitious strategic
and financial targets.

(BFW) Mediaset, EI Towers Fall; Regulator Seeks Clarity on Rai Way Bid

Mediaset, EI Towers Fall; Regulator Seeks Clarity on Rai Way Bid
2015-03-04 09:48:01.49 GMT


By Blanche Gatt
(Bloomberg) -- Mediaset falls as much as 3.6% on 2nd
consecutive day of losses; volume 58% of 3-month daily avg,
worst performer on FTSE MIB.
* Italian antitrust regulator yday asked Mediaset subsidiary
EI Towers for more details on its Rai Way bid
* EI Towers (EIT IM) down as much as 1.6%
* Rai Way (RWAY IM) up as much as 1%
* NOTE: Mediaset owns 40% of EI Towers through its its
subsidiary Elettronica Industriale, according to Bloomberg
data
* NOTE March 2: EI Towers Reiterates Bid for Rai Way Is Fully
Valid, Lawful Link


For Related News and Information:
First Word scrolling panel: FIRST<GO>
First Word newswire: NH BFW<GO>

To contact the reporter on this story:
Blanche Gatt in London at +44-20-3525-0351 or
bgatt@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James Ludden at +44-20-3525-2645 or
jludden@bloomberg.net

(BofA-ML) The Thundering Bull : Stocks versus Bonds…just 14% away from 2000 “bub

* The Thundering Bull
Six years ago on March 6th 2009, the S&P500 index hit a low of 666. Today the
index is 2108. Total annualized returns since 3/6/09: SPX 23%, ACWI 20%, REITs
31%, high yield 17%. In our view, the bull protagonists are central bank liquidity and
tech disruption: the market cap of Apple ($752bn) now exceeds the GDP of Saudi
Arabia ($748bn).

* The Blessed & the Cursed
Excess liquidity has furiously reflated assets blessed with “growth”, “yield” and
“quality”, e.g., US tech stocks, REITs and high yield bonds, quality stocks in Europe,
Asia and EM. Conversely, excess liquidity has smothered the US dollar, volatility and
bond yields, and conspicuously ignored banks, EM, resources and commodities. Tech
disruption (and deleveraging) has kept inflation and interest rates low.

* The End Game
We think the bull market end-game is either inflation hurting bonds, EPS recession
wounding stocks, or speculative excess. Our 2015 Asset Allocation of long US
dollar, long volatility and long stocks over bonds reflects our belief that global growth
surprises on the upside this year and liquidity expectations peak. It also captures
the risk of speculative excess. We believe long Nikkei, short Treasuries is the purest
2015 macro expression of our current AA. The US dollar remains the roadblock for
contrarians in commodities, energy and EM.

* The March Trade
Risk ripped higher in Feb, thanks to bearish sentiment and policy (18 rate cuts YTD,
554 since Lehman). Sentiment now more bullish, the March FOMC looms, inflation
breakeven levels are surging, as is volatility in EM FX. We think banks would benefit
from a bumper Feb payroll, released on the six-year anniversary of the bull. In
contrast, overbought US/Japan/EU consumer discretionary and health care stocks
and Chinese banks appear vulnerable to a more likely risk-off reaction led by bonds.

(BFW) Afren Won’t Pay $15m Interest; Continues Talks With Advisers

BN 03/04 07:02 *AFREN SAYS NO CERTAINTY PACT WILL BE REACHED.
BN 03/04 07:02 *AFREN CONTINUING CONSTRUCTIVE TALKS W/ ADVISERS
BN 03/04 07:02 *AFREN AD HOC COMMITTEE HAS NO INTENTION TO TAKE ACTION
BN 03/04 07:02 *AFREN NON-PAYMENT WON'T RESULT IN IMMEDIATE OBLIGATION TO REPAY
BN 03/04 07:02 *AFREN SUCH NON-PAYMENT WILL RESULT IN A DEFAULT UNDER '16 NOTES
BN 03/04 07:02 *AFREN NOT TO PAY US$15M OF INTEREST
BN 03/04 07:01 *AFREN AFR UPDATE ON REVIEW OF AFREN'S CAPITAL STRUCTURE
Afren Won’t Pay $15m Interest; Continues Talks With Advisers
2015-03-04 07:12:43.748 GMT


By James Ludden
(Bloomberg) -- Afren not paying interest bill on 2016 notes
that was due Feb. 1 and given 30-day grace period.
* Doesn’t mean it has to immeditely repay 2016 notes or any
cross-default under other debt facilities
* Committee (representing 55% of principal face amount of 2016
notes and 44% of principal of 2016, 2019 and 2020 notes),
not planning to take action in hope that parties can agree
to restructuring to keep business as going concern
* Talks continue with committee of largest bondholders; any
agreement likely to substantially dilute shareholder
interests
* Also in talks with other stakeholders and third party
interests on interim funding, recapitalisation
* NOTE: Short interest 14% of shrs outstanding, according to
Markit data
* Link to Statement:Link

For Related News and Information:
First Word scrolling panel: FIRST<GO>
First Word newswire: NH BFW<GO>

To contact the reporter on this story:
James Ludden in London at +44-20-3525-2645 or
jludden@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Andrew Rummer at +44-20-3525-3722 or
arummer@bloomberg.net
James Ludden

>>> Glencore - First Reserve is elling 54m shares - DBK managing the sale

Glencore Drops Most in More Than 5 Weeks in H.K. After Placement
2015-03-04 01:25:02.414 GMT


By Jan Dahinten
(Bloomberg) -- Shares drop 4.4% pre-mkt, down most since
Jan. 26 as Deutsche Bank starts sale of ~54m shrs from First
Reserve.
* Drop extends YTD loss to 5.1% vs 2.5% decline for London-
listed shrs, which fell 3.1% yday
* NOTE: Co. yday reported profit that beat est. as oil,
agricultural trading helped it weather rout in resource
prices


For Related News and Information:
First Word scrolling panel: FIRST<GO>
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To contact the reporter on this story:
Jan Dahinten in Singapore at +65-6212-1164 or
jdahinten@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Jan Dahinten at +65-6212-1164 or
jdahinten@bloomberg.net