A California jury on Wednesday ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $29 million to a woman who had claimed asbestos in the company's talcum-powder-based products, including Johnson's Baby Powder, caused her mesothelioma. The verdict, is just the latest in which the company faces more than 13,000 talc-related lawsuits nationwide. J&J said it was disappointed with the verdict and would appeal, citing "serious procedural and evidentiary errors" in the course of the trial.

Japan’s Fujifilm Holdings Corp will buy a drugmaking business from U.S.-based Biogen Inc for about $890 million to try to bolster its healthcare business as growth at its legacy photocopy operations stagnates. Read more...

Rite Aid said on Tuesday its chief executive officer would exit as part of a revamp of its leadership, and that it would slash about 400 corporate positions. Read More...

Likening his company to a “supertanker…picking up speed,” Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess said Tuesday that the automaker is increasing by 50 percent the number of electric vehicles it plans to produce over the next decade. Read More...

The results are so positive that the company is now expanding its loyalty program nationwide, as its digital sales grew 66% in Q4 of 2018 accounting for nearly 13% of overall sales. The rewards systems needs customers to enroll via the website or app, receiving 10 points for each dollar spent.First time users will also earn free chips and guacamole and can accrue rewards online, in store or on the app. As digital sales grew, the company deemed it fit to collaborate with Venmo, a digital wallet company, depositing surprise amounts of $1 to $500 in fan’s accounts through March 15.

Another Norwegian company, Ocean Sun, specializes in floating solar technology and will be responsible for providing Statkraft with a floating solar plant in a reservoir in the European country. The Albanian solar park will be made up of four 0.5 megawatt (MW) units, Statkraft said in an announcement Tuesday.He is further hopeful that if the current plan works out well and cost-effectiveness is also reached, the company will think of establishing more floating solar in other Statkraft locations. According to a 2018 report from the World Bank Group and the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore, worldwide capacity of floating solar had increased from 10 MW at the end of 2014 to 1.1 gigawatts (GW) by September 2018.

The deal involves Disney’s acquisition of Fox’s entertainment assets in exchange for Disney divesting Fox's 22 regional sports networks. In light of the agreement, the companies confirmed that they are expecting Fox to distribute all issued and outstanding common shares of Fox Corp. to the 21CF shareholders at about 8 a.m.ET on March 20, 2019. Holders of the 21CF common stock will then be given a deadline of 5 p.m. on March 14 to elect the form of consideration they wish to receive in the acquisition. According to the terms of the deal, Disney is likely to pick up the studio, a controlling stake in Hulu, a suite of entertainment channels like FX and Nat Geo and some other assets.

On Wednesday, the company announced the details of the launch. Verizon said that Chicago and Minneapolis would be the first cities to get its next-generation wireless technology for mobile phones starting April 11.Later on in the year, Verizon expects to make 5G accessible to users of Samsung Galaxy S10 5G and LG’s V50 ThinQ as well. Prices start at $85 a month for the base Go Unlimited plan.

China’s mobile phone demand seems to have been hit by a slowing economy and a saturated market. According to data released Tuesday by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, mobile phone shipments in China plunged almost -20% year-over-year to 14.51 million in February.Smartphones in particular experienced a more than -20% decline in shipments, as revealed by the same study. While the week-long Chinese New Year holiday could have player a part in weaker demand, what’s probably alarming this time is that 2019 is the worst February since atleast 2013 with regards to phone shipments in China. Factors like macroeconomic sluggishness, a saturated smartphone market and excess inventory could have contributed to the shipment decline in the nation, as indicated by China senior market analyst for IDC, Xi Wang, to CNBC. The slowing of smartphone shipments in the world's second-largest economy could potentially impact major American or global makers of smartph

Vera Bradley shares jumped more than +11% on the news, during pre-market trading. The maker of luggage, handbag and fashion accessories raked in earnings of 25 cents a share, beating analysts’ estimates of 26 cents.The figure was also substantially greater compared to the 35-45 cents per share annual guidance that the firm provided around this time last year, according to the company. Net sales came in at $416.1 million, compared to $454.6 million in fiscal 2018.

Roku stock was downgraded to “sell” from “hold” by Loop Capital analysts, causing the shares to lose more than -4% in pre-market trading Wednesday. Loop Capital analysts argued that shares of the digital media player/streaming service company were overvalued, and therefore they could no longer hold the “hold” rating. Last month, Roku reported its latest quarterly earnings of 5 cents a share beating analysts’ expectations.However, analysts at Wedbush  at the time downgraded the stock to “neutral” from “outperform”, citing possibilities of higher spending by Roku and therefore lower operating margins than the analysts’ had previously estimated. 

The unit generated 400 million in revenue and $50 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The news follows last year's announcement from Kraft Heinz, of the sale of its Canadian natural cheese business to Italian dairy group Parmalat for $1.23 billion.The deal was followed by a $4.1 billion impairment charge on the Kraft brand in February. Dairy demand in the U.S. has apparently taken a hit due to a consumer preference tilt towards non-dairy alternatives like oat, soy and almond milk.

Levi Strauss plans to raise up to $587 million in an initial public offering of company shares. The San Francisco company said Monday that it's offering approximately 9.5 million shares, while selling stockholders are offering about 27.2 million shares. The stock is expected to be priced between $14 and $16 each. The underwriters will have a 30-day option to buy an additional 5.5 million shares from the company at the IPO price, minus underwriting discounts and commissions. The shares are expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the “LEVI” symbol.

President Donald Trump's proposed budget might make it easier for seniors to save for health-care costs on a tax-free basis. The proposal would allow beneficiaries to make tax-deductible contributions to health savings accounts "associated with high-deductible health plans offered by their employers or a Medicare Advantage plan." Current law keeps Medicare beneficiaries from making new contributions to HSAs, but they can still use money in the account to pay for health-care expenses.  HSAs allow you to save money either on a pre-tax or tax-deductible basis, have it accumulate interest free of taxes and then make tax-free withdrawals to pay for qualified medical expenses.They are offered in conjunction with high-deductible health plans, which come with a deductible of at least $1,350 for self-only coverage or $2,700 for family plans in 2019. In 2019, account holders can contribute up to $3,500 if they have self-only health coverage ($7,000 for family plans), plus a

It seemed like an opportunity a lender would not want to miss. The loan paid 10.25 percent interest which would go up if a benchmark rose.The borrower was Trident USA Health Services, a growing company which provided bedside medical testing in nursing and assisted living centers. Read more...

The scandal-plagued U.S. bank Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC - Get Report) is "too big to manage," a top U.S. lawmaker told CEO Tim Sloan at a hearing Tuesday in Washington.READ MORE...

Shares of Tesla (TSLA - Get Report) downshifted on Tuesday after analysts at Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of the electric carmaker, citing ongoing concerns about its ability to continue to generate sales momentum. Tesla shares were down 2.8% to $282.74 after Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas reduced his price target on the shares to $260 from $283 "to reflect higher free-cash-flow burn and a modestly lower long-term trajectory of volume."READ MORE...

A global benchmark for emerging markets is set to surge as much as 8 percent this year, according to Morgan Stanley. Read More...

Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan took a bipartisan battering in front of the House Financial Services Committee, as lawmakers blasted the executive for a series of scandals engulfing the bank. Read More...

PayPal (PYPL +0.4%) introduces a service that allows customers to move money more quickly into their bank using their PayPal account. Read More...