The Attorney General for the state, Martha Coakley, said in a statement Monday the bank will put $40.2 million to reducing the principal amounts on more than 700 subprime loans, the third such agreement the state has reached with investment banks.

“Investment banks profited handsomely from those securitizations at the expense of homeowners,” Coakley said in the statement. “The only way we are going to return to a healthy economy is to hold these banks accountable in order to achieve real relief for homeowners.”

RBS, which is now majority-owned by the U.K. government, will also pay Massachusetts $8.9 million and municipalities another $2.6 million. The allegations stem from the former Greenwich Capital Financial Products unit, now known as RBS Financial Products Inc., which the state alleged financed and securitized residential loans that were presumptively unfair.

“We are pleased to have resolved this matter with the Massachusetts Attorney General,” a spokesman for RBS said in a statement.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) had both already reached similar deals with Coakley’s office, paying $60 million and $102 million, respectively.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rbs-reaches-52-mln-settlement-with-mass-ag-2011-11-28

Graceway, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September, is a specialty pharmaceutical company that makes products that treat various dermatological and women’s health conditions.

Medicis Chairman and Chief Executive Jonah Shacknai said the acquisition adds currently approved Gateway products as well as several mid- and late-stage pipeline products with combined annual net sales potential of more than $500 million.

The deal is expected to add to Medicis’ earnings next year and the company plans to update its financial guidance when the deal closes. The deal requires the approval of Medicis’s board and final approval of the bankruptcy court.

Medicis makes dermatalogical and aesthetic pharmaceutical products, including acne treatment Solodyn as well as Dysport, which competes with Allergan Inc.’s (AGN) Botox.

Last month, Graceway won permission to sell its business for $275 million cash to European pharmaceutical company Galderma SA, subject to higher bids at the auction.

Graceway, which filed for bankruptcy with a purchase offer in hand from Galderma, was founded in 2006 through the partnership of industry veteran Jefferson J. Gregory and Chicago-based private-equity firm GTCR Golder Rauner. In 2007, the company acquired 3M Pharmaceuticals for approximately $875 million. The same year Graceway merged with dermatology pharmaceutical company Chester Valley Pharmaceuticals, also partially owned by GTCR.

The Bristol, Tenn., company blamed its hardship on the emergence of a generic alternative to its top-selling Aldara genital warts cream. Aldara accounted for the majority of the company’s sales until last year, when revenue plummeted under competitive pressure from the generic. Revenue from the core product topped $320 million in 2009. In 2010, Aldara sales brought in only $52 million, court papers say.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/medicis-tapped-to-buy-graceway-for-455-million-2011-11-18

Looking ahead, the company, which makes tools used to make semiconductors, television screens and some solar panels, projected an adjusted first-quarter profit of 8 cents to 16 cents a share and a sequential sales decline between 5% and 15%, which would deliver $1.85 billion to $2.07 billion in revenue. Analysts’ average estimate called for 17 cents and $2.06 billion, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.

Applied Materials had posted double- and triple-digit bottom-line growth earlier in the year as growing consumer demand and a then-improving solar sector boosted sales. But the tool maker sharply tempered its optimism for the current quarter as solar-panel makers struggle with declining orders and personal-computer manufacturers face similarly tough demand.

The latest quarter included the impact of Applied Materials’ $4.9 billion deal for Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates Inc., a recent addition to the company’s wafer-fabrication offerings.

For the quarter ended Oct. 30, Applied Materials reported a profit of $456 million, or 34 cents a share, down from $468 million, or 35 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding a $203 million gain from audits on prior-year tax filings, stock compensation and other items, earnings fell to 21 cents from 36 cents as revenue dropped 24% to $2.18 billion.

The company’s deeply pessimistic August guidance called for a per-share profit of 16 cents to 24 cents with revenue falling 15% to 30% sequentially to between $1.95 billion and $2.37 billion.

Gross margin narrowed to 39% from 42.2%.

New equipment orders, a closely watched metric for Applied Materials, decreased 47% to $1.6 billion amid weaker demand for mobile and television display screens and pressure in the energy and environmental solutions segment, which provides tools for solar-panel manufacturers. Backlog fell by $851 million to $2.39 billion at the end of the quarter.

Shares fell 1.6% to $12.27 after hours. The stock was down 11% this year through the close.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/applied-materials-earnings-slip-shares-down-2011-11-16

After conducting several inspections of the nuclear plant, Dominion has “found no damage whatsoever that could preclude operation,” David Heacock, president of Dominion Nuclear, said during an appearance Friday before the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

“We have demonstrated the units are ready to restart,” Heacock said.

Before reviving the plant’s two nuclear reactors, however, Dominion needs approval from the NRC. The agency’s nuclear experts are still reviewing the plant’s readiness.

“The staff’s evaluation of whether the North Anna plant is ready, from a safety perspective, to restart remains ongoing,” NRC Chairman Greg Jaczko said.

The two reactors at the North Anna plant, located in Mineral, Va., automatically shut down following a 5.8-magnitude earthquake that was centered about 11 miles from the plant.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/north-anna-nuke-plant-ready-to-restart-dominion-2011-10-21

The electronics giant will halt production at its liquid crystal display panel factory in Hyogo Prefecture, central Japan, within this fiscal year and will also close and selloff its plant in Chiba, near Tokyo.

The company will also cut several thousand jobs from its TV division through early retirement schemes and other means, the report said.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/panasonic-to-drastically-scale-down-tv-ops-report-2011-10-19

Managing Director Richard Goyder said in a statement he was generally pleased with the conglomerate’s retail sales results, particularly given that consumer sentiment had remained subdued throughout the three months to Sept. 25.

Wesfarmers runs Australia’s second largest supermarket chain Coles, which experienced price deflation of 1.8% during the quarter because of discounting and lower fresh produce price inflation as crops recovered from flood and cyclone damage early in the year.

Coles Managing Director Ian McLeod said the first-quarter results represented strong progress in a tough retail environment.

“Weak consumer confidence in the face of rising living costs will continue to make trading conditions challenging in the lead up to Christmas,” he said in a statement.

The company’s home improvement division saw sales rise 8.5% during the quarter to A$1.73 billion, while its Target general merchandise stores saw sales fall 1.4% to A$835 million and sales at Kmart stores rose 0.1% to A$927 million.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wesfarmers-q1-food-liquor-sales-up-55-2011-10-19

With the most extensive distribution network in North America and warehouses across the United States, unlike other bottled water companies, Boreal also has exclusive access to a pristine and abundant spring source deep inside the heart of the Catskill Mountains. With exclusive exploitation rights, Boreal has a confirmed volume in excess of thousands of millions of gallons.

BOREAL WATER COLLECTION’s goal is to become the leading producer of high-end private label bottled water in North America. BOREAL is committed to providing its customers with the highest quality private label bottled water products at affordable prices; supported by a wide range of products and an outstanding level of customer service. Our product line, which features various labels and shapes and sizes of water bottles, is the most impressive in the market. In today’s health-conscious society, private label bottled water is an effective and highly desirable vehicle to promote businesses. Because we provide a turn-key project, we are able to offer our service to almost every type of corporate customer.

Production Facilities

BOREAL WATER COLLECTION plans to develop a national network of bottled water production facilities through an aggressive acquisition program and via selective joint ventures.

Distribution network

BOREAL WATER COLLECTION, with its acquired know-how and its exclusive product offering, will expand by selling distribution licenses to selected well-established distributors, in addition to developing its own national corporate accounts.

SOURCE: http://www.borealwater.com

O’Neill, like Grundhofer, joined Citigroup’s board during the dark days of the financial crisis when Citi was forced to overhaul its board.

Among the many changes the bank made to its operations is to give a new leadership structure to Citibank, a legal entity holding the bank’s deposits rather than an operating unit that runs a line of business.

The chief executive of Citibank is Eugene McQuade, who took on that post in 2009.

O’Neill had been CEO at Barclays Plc (BARC.LN), resigning on his first day on the job for health reasons. Prior to that, he was chief financial officer of Continental Bank and later Bank of America (BAC), which had purchased Continental, between 1993 and 1998. Between 2000 and 2004 he was chairman and CEO of Bank of Hawaii Corp. (BOH).

Grundhofer left Citi earlier this year to join the board of Santander Holdings USA, the U.S. subsidiary of Banco Santander SA of Madrid, and become chairman of its Sovereign Bancorp subsidiary.

Bloomberg earlier reported O’Neill’s appointment at Citibank.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/citigroup-appoints-director-oneill-chairman-2011-10-14

Shares of the coal company slid 10% to $13.11 in after-hours trading.

Arch Coal now sees full-year adjusted earnings of $1 to $1.40 a share, down from the already lowered July view of $1.75 to $2.15.

On Friday, Arch Coal said the mine complex had encountered unfavorable geologic conditions and its longwall was idled for nearly 45 days following a roof fall in August. The longwall restarted late this month.

Arch Coal has reported mixed results so far this year. In the first quarter, it swung to a profit on higher selling prices, which helped lift margins. But in the second quarter, profit plunged 83% on expenses related to the acquisition of International Coal Group Inc.

The company intends to provide additional details on its operating performance and outlook in its third-quarter earnings release and conference call on Oct. 28.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/arch-coal-slashes-full-year-view-on-production-cut-2011-10-01

“In an environment where public policy is paralyzed, all roads lead to natural gas,” Krenicki said, speaking at the start of an investor meeting hosted by GE Energy. “We see the future as gas.”

The comments by Krenicki, who serves as president of GE’s energy unit, underscore what has been increasing optimism in recent months among GE executives regarding the natural-gas sector, even though the Fairfield, Conn., conglomerate’s gas-turbine business has struggled for some time amid the economic downturn and weak U.S. sales.

Chief Executive Jeff Immelt in May forecast “a natural-gas power generation cycle” that he said GE was poised to benefit from.

Last week, GE said it had booked $1 billion in North American orders for its natural-gas-powered generators thus far this year. It said it had received “dozens” of orders for the turbine power generators, benefiting from low gas prices, stricter air-pollution regulations and a slowly recovering U.S. economy.

Meanwhile, GE Energy executives also said Tuesday that they still see strong prospects for renewable energy, despite some recent turmoil in the sector. Among the troubles, solar-manufacturing company Solyndra, which had received $528 million in loans from the federal government, recently went bankrupt.

Victor Abate, vice president of GE’s renewable energy unit, said such issues simply illustrates that “if you don’t have the right technology and the right strategy, you’re not going to be successful.”

He said GE anticipates a “multi-generational build-out” in the solar sector, adding that GE has “a differentiated position” that should enable it to prosper.

Overall, GE said it expects profit at its big energy division to decline about 4% this year, to about $7 billion. But it forecast a rebound to double-digit profit growth next year.

The division earned about $2.9 billion through the first six months of 2011, down 14% from the same period last year. GE has said a slowdown in demand for wind-energy gear hurt profits at the unit during the first half, as did the effort to integrate about $11 billion in acquisitions at the unit since late last year.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ges-krenicki-says-outlook-bright-for-natural-gas-2011-09-20