chuck coppola takes it from here with another big pharma deal. chuck coppola takes it from here with another big pharma deal. bill... big pharma works together, separately. stocks moved yesterday on what's being called a major 3-part transaction in the drug industry. glaxosmith kline is selling its cancer products business to novartis for the price tag of 14 and a half billion dollars. novartis will turn over its animal health division to u.s. firm eli lilly for 5 billion dollars. and glaxo will buy the vaccine division from novartis. shares of glaxo and novartis made advancements during the session ... eli lilly dropped 1%.the deals are expected to be complete in the first half of 20-15. another quarter of disappointing results for mcdonald's. fir the first 3 months of the year it reported a sales decline of 1.7%. the world's largest restaurant chain has been struggling for more than a year to introduce new menu items while its rivals did that and pushed discounts. the company did point to some good news - declines were narrowing and global sale

chuck coppola joins us now with that report.. angie--the congressional budget office cuts its estimate of the deficit this year by $23 billion. down to $492 billion for this fiscal year is the new projection. that number represents 2.8% of gross domestic product. the reason behind the improved number is a drop in government spending and outlays for interest payments. on a less positive note the non-partisan agency also projected that debt held by the public will reach 78% of gdp by 2024, up from 72% sunny numbers from the retail sector brought new optimism to the stock market this week. retail sales rose the most in 18 months as consumers spent more in march, following the harsh winter that left most of the nation cooped up indoors . sales edged up 1.1% . february's numbers were also revised higher, to 7 tenths of a percent up from three tenths of a percent. jack kleinhenz , chief economist for the national retail federation says the good times aren't over yet. "you know it's a pretty well balanced....good mix of spending. that o

chuck coppola has eyes on ipos-- good morning chuck.. good morning angie..it's a wild week for ipos. high frequency trading firm virtu is "indefinitely postponing" its ipo. it follows the release of the book "flash boys" by michael lewis- and the subpoenas of firms involved in high speed trading. most eyes are on alibaba-- which isn't coming to market this week.. but could file with the s-e-c to get the ball rolling. the chinese giant tech company could top $16 billion with its ipo. weibo, known as the twitter of china, soared 19 percent in its debut friday. saber- the travel tech company owbed by travelocity-- was given a 3% lift by investors in its first trading day. the frigid winter turned up the heat on trading at morgan stanely.. and possibly goldman sachs as well. both firms pointed to commodities trading as a strong spot for first quarter earnings. goldman had no comment but-- morgan's cfo tells reuters-- we had real strength in commodities, given volatility in the market driven by weather and robust client activity. the deep fre

time now to say good morning to my colleague chuck coppola who has an update on gm..chuck... angie, in our cover story, mary barra, general motors' c-e-o for less than three months began facing two days of congressional grilling. the safety flaws in 2.6 million g-m cars now being recalled have been detailed for weeks. but congress wants to know why g-m which taxpayers bailed out, took more than ten years to act upon it. general motors ceo, mary barra offered an apology to victims and their families and a vow--- to find out if key engineering employees at g-m covered up or were incompetent in accepting substandard ignition switches and why they were installed in chevy cobalts and other g-m cars, anyway. i want to know that as much as you do. it's not how we do business today. it's not how we want to design and engineer cars for our customers." the faulty ignition switches have been linked to 13- fatalties. the victims pictures lined the hearing room. in a lawsuit, the families of three teenagers killed allege that the automaker knew about the problem but jeopardized lives in o

chuck coppola joins us now for a look at the recent volatility in the nikkei. good morning chuck! angie, the nee-kay has hit a 2 week low after japan's central bank decided not to inject additional stimulus into the economy. the i-m-f is now pressuring japanese prime minister shinzo abe (ab-eh) to do more to execute his economic reform plan known as "abe- nomics". despite whispers of doubt, tom elliott, an investment strategist with deveere group, sees opportunity. abenomics is a huge stimulus quantitatve easing and supply side reforms to the economy. so my gut feel is to take a long position, but this is for the investor who can withstand what will continue to be high levels of near term volatility." elliott see growth opportunities for investors in stocks related to japan's domestic consumption such as hotels, food distribution and retail. the u.s. is leading the global economic recovery.. but treasury secretary jack lew tells cnbc.. there's a lot of work to do". lew says the economy has been growing since the bailouts and reforms on wall street. but improvements are still neede

chuck coppola checks in now-- with an update on the ipo market. hello chuck! angie, the ipo market is in full bloom. king digital's candy crush, la quinta hotels and former gm auto lender ally financial are among the more high profile names that have already made it onto the stock market. however, traders are quick to caution investors. "i'm choosing to stay on the sidelines because the ipo market as of late, its been hot but its due for some type of tragic crash or something like that." "i think those ipos, because they're priced in a red-hot market, as a value guy: wait for the dust to settle, get some kind of trading in there, and then take a look at them." it's projected 284 companies will launch ipo-s. topping last year's 222 deals. that's a sign the economy is looking brighter for venture capitalists... especially in sunny california where big money investors are feeling the most confident in 6 years about funding start ups. however, diane moca discovered there are concerns of a bubble burst. "the exit environment is very strong. the ipo window was blown

chuck coppola has more.. . angie, the fed is keeping a close watch on inflation. that and more will likely be discussed in janet yellen's second major speech as fed chair. inflation remains a top concern on the fed's agenda. consumer prices in march popped two tenths of a percent, as food and housing costs rose more than anticipated, signaling the times of low inflation are coming to a close. today yellen will be in new york city following her speech at an atlanta banking conference, yesterday. the fed chair told attendees banks may need more capitol on hand to weather the possibility of another financial meltdown. a change at the top could happen sooner than expected at general electric. the wall street journal reports-- ge's ceo jeff immelt may step down before his 20-year tenure ends. he's been on the job since 2001. ge says it doesn't comment on speculation.also making changes: best buy. shawn score-- the president of retail sales in the u.s. is retiring just 7 months after being promoted to the job. shari ballard who heads the retailers hr department will tak

chuck coppola joins us with some of the key numbers. bill-- it's a big week for the heavy hitters on wall street. netflix stock popped last night after the company said it added 2 million subscribers last quarter.it will hike new membership prices by a dollar or two. the stock rose 6% in after hours trading -- more on that stock later in chart talk. halliburton hits an all time high.the drilling contractor saw earnings surge past expectations. the company has returned to profitability -- after a lawsuit over the 20-10 deepwater horizon explosion hurt profits a year ago. the company reports strong growth in the middle east and asia. and, toy company hasbro lands on profits after sales of girls toys increased 21%. a new study finds investors are still skittish over stocks. despite the hot streak in the stock market...bankrate reports individual investors are more inclined to stay on the sidelines. " for individual investors the wounds of the 2008 financial crisis are still pretty fresh. individual investors are still very risk averse when

chuck coppola has the latest move. angie..... regulators are calling in backup to oversee hedge funds. reuters reports a new team is being assembled within the securities and exchange commission to examine how hedge funds and private equity firms value assets and disclose fees. under dodd frank regulation -- larger hedge funds had to register with the sec, but the complex investment holdings have created a need for special regulators. if successful, the sec may expand the plan. this marks the busiest week of the year for ipo-s. 14 companies are slated to debut. shares of la quinta hotel chain price after the close tonight and open for trading wedensday. thursday its former gm finance firm ally bank. along with farmland partners reit. there are new stocks connected to health care. ah dahmas pharmaceuticals thursday and friday, cerulean. pharama zoe's kitchen serves up shares on friday. sears spin off -- had a hard landing in its frst day of trade. land's end shares plunged nearly 6% monday. ceo eddie lampert's esl investments stil

diane moca is filling for chuck coppola this morning with a report on how the federal reserve is monitoring the economy.. good morning. angie... in today's cover story... fed chair janet yellen warns conditions in the labor market are worse than the unemployment rate suggests. during her first public event as fed chair... she talked about what the fed can do... machine turning on and humming the machines were humming... and the students were singing the praises of an advanced manufacturing program... as janet yellen toured the city colleges of chicago. she applauded the inexpensive... short-term program.. teaming up business professionals and academics to try to close the skills gap... but said such efforts aren't enough to lower nagging unemployment -- declaring the fed's 'job is not done.' "i think this extraordinary commitment is still needed and will be for some time." yellen "also" told more than a thousand community development professionals that the fed has its eyes on 'slack' in the labor market. that's when the pool of "skilled" workers seeking employment.. outweighs the jobs avail

chuck coppola has more. tensions between ukraine and russia are beginning to boil over. russia has threatened civil war unless ukraine pulls back its military in ukraine's eastern region. pro-russian protestors are demonstrating in three ukrainian cities, vowing to form an independent republic. analysts say those protestors may be attempting to destabilize ukraine in order to weaken resistance to further russian annexation of the country. secretary of state john kerry called the situation "deeply disturbing" and threatened greater sanctions against russia. meantime --- oil remains on the agenda. as oil futures continue to rise... some are calling this an "opportunity". "we should do what we have to do to create energy independence for our country and create more business and jobs for our people." that was billionaire businessman john (catz-imm-ah-tee-dus) ceo of the red apple group. he calls this an opportunity to ramp up production of oil and nat gas in the u.s. to supply to europe, which gets its supply from ukraine. opponents say.....statement? the conflict between ru

chuck coppola steps in now with more on the ipo market monster. angie, it's being called "bigger than facebook". anticipation is huge as rumours swirl that chinese e-commerce site alibaba is prepping for an ipo in the u.s. the company has more sales than amazon and ebay combined, and has a $15 billion dollar valuation. that could rise to as much as 150 billion dollars after the ipo. analysts are speculating the stock will debut this summer. josef schuster of ipo-x- schuster expects it to debut-- this november. "it could be really exciting for the us capital markets to have a primary listing like alibaba which is really a key name in the e-commerce space " alibaba is not commenting on the buildup of rumours. yahoo holds a 24% stake in alibaba, and its stock is on the go. shares jumped 6% yesterday. the u.s. economy still needs little help from the fed. that's one of the points that came from federal reserve chairman janet yellen who spoke yesterday at the economic club of new york. yellen says the fed's policies must respond to significant unexpect

chuck coppola joins us me this morning.chuck--i'm sure bank of america investors will be hoping for a rebound in that stock today. bank of america admits to a "miscalculation" of how much capital it has on its books. shares plummeted 6% monday-- wiping out 10-billion dollars in market capitalization. and because of the bad math, the second-largest u-s bank says it's suspending its four- billion-dollar stock buyback as well as a planned increase in its quarterly dividend.at issue is how b-of-a calculated the value of structured notes after b-of-a's purchase of merrill lynch during the financial crisis in 2007. 3 u.s. based traders at british bank barclays face criminal charges in the libor rate rigging scandal. they become the first on american soil to become a part of the scandal to be charged by uk authorities. the 3 traders reportedly will stand before a london court next month. security flaws have aol and microsoft users on alert. microsoft is working to fix a bug that has been discovered in versions 6 through 11 of its "internet explorer" browser. at aol -- a rise in "spoofed emai

the chicago cubs are tossing around the idea of selling shares...chuck coppola catches on to that story. good morning. angie, if you're dreaming of becoming part-owner of a major league baseball team, now's your chance. the chicago cubs are exploring limited partnerships to help the team finance a proposed half-billion dollar renovation of the cub's wrigley field and build a hotel next to it. sources say individuals of high net worth are being contacted first in the hopes of raising capital through as few investors as possible. "i'm not against the notion of expanding the ownership base." "i think it's a good thing for chicago, it's a good thing for baseball, if they get more people involved in the ownership." the rickett's family, whose patriach founded ameritrade, owns 95% of the cubs. cubs chairman tom ricketts says he figures something less than 25% of the team would be made available. forbes magazine ranks the cubs as fourth most valuable major league baseball franchise--worth 1.2 billion dollars. the rickett's family, whose patriach founded ameritrade, owns 95% of the cubs. cubs c

chuck coppola has news on an upcoming vote in college sports that could make history. bill-- football players at northwestern university vote tomorrow morning on whether they want to be represented by a union. it follows february's landmark ruling by the national labor relations board that players are considered employees. northwestern is appealing that ruling, but a decision is not expected before the vote. players argue that they are left out of billions of dollars that n-c-double-a organizations bring in. as many as 76-football players are eligible to vote tomorrow . protests are planned outside 50 staples stores today. who's picketing? postal workers. they don't like the plans of staples and other retail stores to open mini post offices. initially it was a pilot project but it's now expanding to more than 15 hundred stores. workers say it is a step closer to privitizing the us-ps. they're worried about their jobs. but post master general patrick donahoe says no one's going to lose their jobs because of this. next week when congress returns from recess, a bill to re

here's chuck coppola with news about the regulators stepping in to the growing e-cigarette market. the 2-billion dollar electronic cigarette industry is headed for government regulation. the food and drug administration wants rules banning sales of e- cigs to minors, and for manufacturers to put health warnings on any nicotine- delivering devices.rules will include cigars, pipe tobacco and hookahs,but will not restrict television advertisements or flavorings. a lot of deal news in the health care sector this week. look at the zing in the stock for zimmer holdings. up 12 percent to an all time high after it said it would buy one of its rivals - biomet which also makes orthopedic devices, like artificial hips and knees. that news also stopped biomet's plans to launch an initial public offering. separetly the 2 companies had nearly 8 billion dollars in sales last year. zimmer expects double digit earnings in the first year of the merger. accretive health's ceo is stepping down after less than two years on the job. stephen schuckenbrock's is set to leave on october 2, when his contract

diana moca is filling for chuck coppola this morning and has more on the ukraine crisis... good morning angie...it's a packed agenda for president obama and german chancellor angela merkel. the two will meet at the white house on friday. the telegraph reports early this week u.s. and european leaders are expected to reveal an extension to russian sanctions, as the conflict between ukraine and russia escalates. the white house says the sanctions will be targeted on russian individuals and companies. washington has been pushing for tougher economic sanctions on russia, which would have a direct impact on europe. a preliminary report on missing malaysian flight 370 is coming out this week. contents of the report are under wraps, but it's expected to include a safety recommendation for the aviation industry.after nearly two months, the search for the jet has turned up nothing.all leads have hit roadblocks, and a u-s defense official told reuters the search could take years. in today's cover story... college athletes could be one step closer to unionizing... after an historic vo

on to chuck coppola with more stock action! angie...it's spin city for stocks. employment data firm a- d-p says it will spin off its dealer services business into a separate company due to the strength in the auto sector. ratings agencys moodys and s&p reacted with a downgrade, stating the spin off will increase credit risk. shares fell 66 cents. and, carl icahn--- has backed off his proposal for ebay to split off its paypal unit. even though, he still thinks it's a good idea. ebay fell 3 percent to $54 dollars. as the stock market tumbles... prices at the gas pump are surging. the average for a gallon of unleaded gasoline rose a nickle during the past week to $3.61. the national association of convenience stores' jeff lenard has the latest gauge of consumers. what we found in the last few months defies what we found previously. people are feeling the same if not a little bit better about the economy, even though gas prices are going higher. lenard says its because americans are becoming accustomed to the spring transition in the gas industry that will eventualy

let's turn it over to chuck coppola now for the story that has traders and just about everyone talking about this morning. in today's cover story, l-a clippers owner donald sterling has been banned for life from any involvement in the n-b-a effecive immediately. and fined two-and-a-half million dollars--the maximim under league rules. it comes after sterling admitted to a racist rant that he made privately to his girlfriend that became public. in his first crisis after taking over as nba commissioner less than three months ago from david stern, adam silver threw the book at l-a clippers owner donald sterling. "mr. sterling may not attend any nbva games, be present at any clippers facility or participate in any decisions relating to the team." players were proud that silver said he'll urge the nba's other owners, to force sterling to sell the clippers three quarters of the owners must agree to it. "we want immediate action. we want a timetable for when this vote will happen." the clippers' website immediately showed only the phrase "we are one" after the commissioner's news conference.

chuck coppola joins me now with encouraging numbers from the labor market. angie ... the labor market is reporting fewer layoffs. according to outplacement firm challenger gray and christmas, employers in march announced the fewest first-quarter layoffs in 19-years. that's on the heels of a-d-p's jobs data reporting businesses added 191-thousand jobs in march. there were just over 34-thousand job cuts in march. that's the second-lowest monthly total since january of last year. "from our standpoint the labor market is in very good shape. we aren't seeing much in the way of layoffs. people just aren't going through the restructuring programs we saw 5 years ago during the recession " that was john challenger, who says there is no data to suggest job cuts will rise, anytime soon. a large percentage of jobs in the u.s. pay less than 20 dollars an hour. cnn money calcultes of 130 million jobs in the u.s...63 million pay less than 20 dollars per hour. 18 million jobs -- are under 10. at the other end of the scale -- 40 dollar hourly pay goes to dentists and lawyers -- and is

lets turn now to chuck coppola -- good morning. angie, in our cover story, missouri senator claire mccaskill accused general motors of having a "culture of cover-up" during the time faulty ignition switches were linked to at least 31-crashes and the deaths of 13 people. it's also led to a current recall of 2.6 million g-m cars and a showdown in a senate hearing room. in more combative questioning by senators than g-m ceo mary barra faced in the house, a senate subcommittee demanded to know who was responsible for the installation of redesigned ignition parts numbered the same as those they replaced on compact chevy, pontiac and saturn cars. with the same number, the change was untraceable to owners and federal safety regulators and averted a mandatory recall. "in late 2006 or 2007, gm replaced the ignition part but did not tell anyone." subcommittee chairwoman claire mccaskill of missouri on documents that show a g-m engineer who authorized a redesigned ignition in 2006-- then denied it in a court deposition, last year. she had a p