Wyeth retreated fromearlier gains falling 0

The modest gains enabled the Dow to break a two-day losingstreak. Home Depot (HD.N) was among a spate of companies toannounce deep job cuts, with the world's largesthome-improvement retailer slashing 7,000 jobs The Dowcomponent rose 4.7 percent to $22.73 For details, seeID:nN26371979. Companies across all sectors have been chopping jobs asthey deal with slowing consumer demand and the fallout fromthe global economic downturn. Pfizer tumbled 10.3 percent to $15.65 on worries over whatbenefits if any it may reap from the acquisition, whichhad been rumored since last week It is the biggestnon-financial deal since March 2008. Wyeth retreated fromearlier gains, falling 0.8 percent to $43.39. "I think there might be some questions about, all in all,what does it bring them," Brunner said of the Pfizer-Wyethdeal. "Is this the solution that they need to offset the Lipitor(patent) expiration And the fact that their pipeline isn'tgreat, does this get them a big pipeline That could beargued." Financials turned lower in the afternoon and capped gainsas investors fretted over whether the sector, which is at theheart of the credit crisis, will need to raise yet morecapital The S&P financial index .GSPF fell 2.1 percent.

Among financial-sector laggards, Regions Financial Corp(RF.N) tumbled 12 percent to $4.10 after influential bankinganalyst Richard Bove said it may slash its dividend by 90percent. ID:nBNG250770 Volume was moderate on the New York Stock Exchange, whereabout 1.27 billion shares changed hands, below last year'sestimated daily average of 1.49 billion. On the Nasdaq, about1.84 billion shares traded below last year's daily average of2.28 billion. Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by1,983 to 1,076, while on the Nasdaq, the trend also held, with1,659 advancers to 1,039 decliners.

(Editing by Jan Paschal) Stocks Bonds Stocks Bonds. patents relating to the Portable People Meter electronicaudience measurement technology developed by Arbitron.(U.S. Patent Nos.5,787,334; 5,574,962 and 5,483,276.)On October 23, 2008, Arbitron and The Media Audit entered into a settlementagreement in which The Media Audit acknowledged that the three Arbitron U.S.patents were valid, enforceable, and not otherwise subject to any equitabledefenses.The Media Audit further agreed that, until the expiration of allthree Arbitron U.S. patents, they would not make, use, sell, offer for sale,test, demonstrate, distribute, or otherwise engage in activities thatpotentially infringe the three valid and enforceable Arbitron U.S patents.

Carried throughoutthe day by randomly selected survey participants, the PPMTM device can trackwhen and where they watch television, listen to radio as well as how theyinteract with other forms of media and entertainment.The PPM detects inaudible codes embedded in the audio portion of media andentertainment content delivered by broadcasters, content providers anddistributors. At the end of the day, the meter is placed in a docking stationthat extracts the codes and sends them to a central computer. PPM ratings, like all audience estimates however derived, should notbe relied on for precise accuracy or precise representativeness of ademographic or radio market.About ArbitronArbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) is a media and marketing research firm serving themedia radio, television, cable, online radio and out-of-home as well asadvertisers and advertising agencies in the United States. Arbitron's corebusinesses are measuring network and local market radio audiences across theUnited States; surveying the retail, media and product patterns of localmarket consumers; and providing application software used for analyzing mediaaudience and marketing information data.