Industries

Wal-Mart Brings Back 300 Items to U.S. Stores After Losing Shopper Visits Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, returned about 300 items to its U.S. stores after their removal last year hurt shopper traffic.

Accor Says Recovery From 2009 Drop in Hotel Revenue May Take Five Years Accor SA, Europe’s largest hotelier, said recovery from last year’s revenue drop will take at least four to five years in Germany and other saturated markets as the possibility for price increases is limited.

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Crude Oil Rises to Eight-Week High as Fuel Supply Declines, Demand Gains Crude oil rose to an eight-week high and gasoline surged after a government report showed that U.S. fuel supplies declined as demand climbed and refineries idled units.

OPEC Raises Forecast for Oil Demand on Lower Estimate for Gas Liquids The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said it will need to pump more crude than previously forecast this year after cutting its outlook for production of natural gas liquids.

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Goldman Tells Grassley It Gets Third of Muni Fees From Build America Bonds Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the bank that got $10 billion in taxpayer bailout money, has made $55.7 million on the sale of $36.4 billion of Build America Bonds, about a third of the fees it earned from municipal business, it said in response to queries from Iowa Senator Charles Grassley.

Apollo Said to Triple Property Assets With Buy of Citigroup Investing Unit Apollo Management LP agreed to buy Citigroup Inc.’s real estate investment unit in a move that will more than triple the value of the private-equity firm’s property assets, a person with knowledge of the deal said yesterday.

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J&J Pushed Drug's Sale to Elderly After U.S. Warned of False Safety Claims Johnson & Johnson made plans to reach $302 million in geriatric sales for its antipsychotic Risperdal just months after federal regulators said the company falsely claimed the drug was safe and effective with the elderly, according to internal documents.

Abbott to Buy Facet for $27 a Share, 54% More Than Biogen's Rejected Offer Abbott Laboratories, maker of the arthritis medicine Humira, succeeded in its bid for Facet Biotech Corp. by offering 54 percent more than Biogen Idec Inc. in its rejected takeover effort.

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MetLife Expands Beyond `Slow Growth' U.S. With Alico Buy, Henrikson Says MetLife Inc., the insurer spending $15.5 billion to buy an overseas unit from American International Group Inc., said lower growth in the U.S. market is prompting expansion abroad.

AIG's `Money in the Door' Asset Sales Garner $3.2 Billion for Bondholders American International Group Inc. bondholders reaped at least $3.2 billion after the bailed-out company announced deals to sell its two largest non-U.S. life insurance divisions for $51 billion.

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Apollo Said to Triple Property Assets With Buy of Citigroup Investing Unit Apollo Management LP agreed to buy Citigroup Inc.’s real estate investment unit in a move that will more than triple the value of the private-equity firm’s property assets, a person with knowledge of the deal said yesterday.

U.S. Mortgage Applications Index Increased for a Second Week, MBA Reports Mortgage applications in the U.S. rose for a second week, led by an increase in purchases that may indicate the renewal of a homebuyer tax credit is starting to invigorate demand.

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FTC Said to Ask Google Rivals for Statement on AdMob, May Signal Challenge U.S. regulators are seeking sworn declarations from Google Inc. competitors and advertisers as part of their probe of the Internet company’s bid to buy AdMob Inc., indicating the government may challenge the deal, said people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Global Box-Office Sales Rose to a Record $29.9 Billion in 2009, MPAA Says Global box-office sales increased 7.6 percent to a record $29.9 billion last year, helped by 3-D movies and “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”

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American, BA Offer to Cede London Airport Slots to Boost Alliance Chances AMR Corp.’s American Airlines and British Airways Plc offered to cede at least four takeoff and landing slots in London for flights to New York and three other U.S. cities to win approval for their proposed alliance.

British Airways Lurches Closer to Cabin Crew Strike as Union Talks Fail British Airways Plc lurched closer to a strike by its 12,000 flight attendants after talks over cost cuts broke down.

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