Oil Continues Slide; FDA Blocks Ranbaxy, Best Buy Profit Declines; Bristol-Myers Bid Uncertain; Pandit’s Reassuring Memo; GM Showcases the Volt; Adobe Beats the Street; Constellation Plunges on Debt Worries

• Oil prices extended their decline yesterday (Tuesday), falling $10 a barrel in a dramatic, two-day slide as the outlook for U.S., as well as global, energy demand grew weaker. Light, sweet crude for October delivery fell $4.56 to settle at $91.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier falling as low as $90.51 – the lowest level since Feb. 8.

• The Food and Drug Administration is closing U.S. borders to more than 30 generic drugs made by India’s Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. (OTC: RBXLY), citing poor quality in two of the company’s factories, The Associated Press reported. However, Ranbaxy can continue selling medicines made at any of its other factories.

• Best Buy Co. (BBY) said yesterday (Tuesday) that its second-quarter profit fell 19%, to $202 million, despite a 12% jump in revenue. Same-store sales jumped 4.2% and total revenue came in at $9.8 billion. A sluggish U.S. economy will continue to challenge the retail giant the second half of the year.

• Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) said yesterday (Tuesday) that it might drop its $4.5 billion offer for the 83% of ImClone Systems Inc. (IMCL) it doesn’t already own. “There are situations in which we are willing, and we’ve disclosed that, we’re willing to walk away,” Jean-Marc Huet, Bristol’s Chief Financial Officer, said response to a question at a pharmaceutical investors conference, The Associated Press reported.

• Citigroup Inc. (C) Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit sent an e-mail to all 300,000 Citi employees reassuring them of the bank’s stability during this troubled time in the financial sector. “We can all be proud to represent Citi, an extraordinary institution, which has and will continue to play a critical role in global financial markets,” the e-mail read, BusinessWeek reported.

• General Motors Corp. (GM) officially unveiled its plug-in hybrid car the Volt yesterday (Tuesday) as part of the automaker’s 100th anniversary celebration. GM hopes the Volt will play a key role as it shifts to a more fuel-efficient line-up away from its previous reputation of large trucks and high horsepower vehicles, MarketWatch reported.

• Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) managed to beat Wall Street analyst expectations despite a slip in fiscal third-quarter profit. Net income for the San Jose, Calif.-based software maker for the period ended Aug. 29 dropped to $191.6 million, or 35 cents a share, compared with $205.2 million, or 34 cents a share, in the same period a year prior, MarketWatch reported. “We’re particularly impressed with Adobe’s profitability levels, which were higher than expected,” said Edward Jones analyst Andy Miedler.

• Constellation Energy Group Inc. (CEG) shares plunged $17.23, a decline of over 35%, to close at $30.76 yesterday (Tuesday) on investor concerns that banks would pull the utility’s credit lines, Reuters reported. The cost to insure Constellation’s long-term debt soared 60%, a record high, according to Markit Intraday.

Source: Global Investing Roundups Wednesday, September 17th, 2008