For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – October 26, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Schering-Plough (SGP), Merck & Co. (MRK), Sanofi-Aventis (SNY), Google (GOOG) and eBay (EBAY).
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Here are highlights from Friday’s AnalystBlog:
EU Nod for Schering-Merck Merger
Recently, the European Union (EU) approved the proposed $41.1 billion merger between Schering-Plough (SGP) and Merck & Co. (MRK). The deal is awaiting approval from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year.
While approving the merger, the EU clarified that the tie-up will not hinder effective competition significantly in Europe, even though both participants in the merger operate in the field of prescription pharmaceuticals. While checking for overlaps in Europe, particularly in the fields of asthma and allergic rhinitis, the European body did not find the products to be close competitors. Consequently, the merger would not be considered to hog the market and choke other companies.
As a reminder, Merck filed for EU approval last month after the completion of the sale of its 50% interest in animal health company Merial Limited (Merial) to Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) for a cash consideration of $4 billion (US).
FCC Votes on Net Neutrality
The rationale behind the net neutrality rule is that it will prohibit network operators from restricting any legal online content, devices, applications or services that competitive service providers wishes to run through the respective carrier’s networks. Operators have been accused of blocking or slowing traffic according to the revenues they generate from online contents.
However, the proposed “free and open Internet” rule also offers some flexibility to the network carriers to effectively manage their networks by preventing network congestion and blocking spam, viruses and illegal contents. While operators need to publicly disclose the way they manage their networks, they may be allowed to sell premium Internet services to the customers who pay more for their services.
The release of FCC’s proposal for net neutrality in September 2009 has become a bone of contention between the advocates of the rule and leading U.S. network operators. Large web content and application providers such as Google (GOOG) and eBay (EBAY) have joined a handful of public interest groups to raise voice against the discrimination by the ISPs and cable companies.
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Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.
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