Dow hits 2009 high NEW YORK (Reuters) - A broad U.S. stocks rally sent the Dow industrials to a 13-month high on Monday, after the Group of 20 pledged to keep aid flowing to the world economy, strengthening investors' desire for risk. The agreement by G20 finance ministers and central bankers over the weekend to keep stimulus in place boosted global stocks on the expectation of prolonged low interest rates. Kraft turns hostile in $16 billion bid for Cadbury LONDON/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Kraft Foods Inc <KFT.N> chief Irene Rosenfeld refused to sweeten her $16.2 billion offer for candy maker Cadbury Plc <CBRY.L> and took the bid directly to shareholders on Monday, setting the stage for a takeover battle that could last up to three months. North American food giant Kraft repeated on Monday the cash and shares terms of its original offer, which Cadbury rejected two months ago, and formalized the bid to meet a UK Takeover Panel deadline. The bid is now worth about 5 percent less after a fall in Kraft shares. "Fertilizer wars" throw spotlight on three CEOs NEW YORK/TORONTO (Reuters) - Mike Wilson, Steve Wilson and Mike Bennett are patient men. Embroiled in a nine-month three-way takeover battle, the chief executives of fertilizer companies Agrium Inc <AGU.TO>, CF Industries Holdings Inc <CF.N> and Terra Industries Inc <TRA.N> have stayed in the headlines even as a recession and falling grain prices pushed the stocks of their companies off their 2008 peaks. Google buys mobile ad firm for $750 million SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc <GOOG.O> said on Monday that it was acquiring of AdMob, one of the largest mobile advertising networks, for $750 million, widening its bet that cell phone advertising could become the Internet's next-big money maker. Google's agreement to buy AdMob in an all-stock deal would give it a key asset as it seeks to extend the reach of its online advertising business from the tethered world of PCs to the smartphones that consumers increasingly use to access the Web while on-the-go. European Commission objects to Sun-Oracle deal NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The European Commission has objected to Oracle Corp's <ORCL.O> acquisition of computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc <JAVA.O>, throwing the $7 billion deal into question. The commission said in a preliminary assessment that combining Sun's MySQL database product and Oracle's products could hurt competition in the database market, Sun said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. McDonald's October same-store sales up, U.S. slips LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp <MCD.N> said sales at established U.S. restaurants fell 0.1 percent in October, as expected, but its stock ticked up 1.5 percent after sales from the rest of the world buoyed overall results. McDonald's, which has been outperforming its peers, had signaled last month that U.S. October sales would be weak. Continued... |