HEALTHCARE

U.S. stocks rose on Monday, with the Nasdaq hitting a 15-month high after a healthcare reform bill advanced in the Senate and brokerages upgraded two Dow components on improving profit prospects.

Stocks rose on Monday, with the Nasdaq hitting a 15-month high after a healthcare reform bill advanced in the Senate and brokerages upgraded two Dow components on improving profit prospects.

President Barack Obama on Monday heralded a U.S. Senate vote that moved a bill on his signature healthcare reform closer to passage and congratulated lawmakers for defying special interests.

Healthcare shares rose on Monday as a bill to reform healthcare passed the first critical test in the Senate, without many of the provisions, such as a government-run health insurance option, that investors most feared would hurt profits.

Healthcare shares rose on Monday as a bill to reform healthcare passed the first critical test in the U.S. Senate, without many of the provisions, such as a government-run health insurance option, that investors most feared would hurt profits.

Stocks gained more than 1 percent on Monday, buoyed by healthcare shares, after a Senate bill advanced which had been stripped of provisions seen as detrimental to health insurance and other companies.

U.S. Senate Democrats reached a compromise on Saturday with a holdout senator that secured the 60 votes they need to pass a broad healthcare overhaul sought by President Barack Obama.

Belgian film and printer company Agfa-Gevaert said it has signed a deal worth up to $500 million to have its hospital imaging systems distributed in China, seen as a critical emerging market for healthcare.

A $636 billion military spending bill that would fund wars in Iraq and Afghanistan cleared a procedural hurdle in the U.S. Senate early on Friday.

In the lucrative business of underwriting and selling a company's stock, J.P. Morgan led the world's banks this year, earning an estimated $2.2 billion in fees, or nearly double what it hauled from the deals last year.

High unemployment and a fractious debate over healthcare have combined to push down President Barack Obama's job approval ratings and highlight the potential for political dangers ahead.

The U.S. Senate staggered toward the healthcare finish line on Wednesday, as Republicans used new tactics to delay debate and a Democratic holdout remained uncommitted after meeting President Barack Obama.

Dell Inc said the acquisition of Perot Systems will help tap new growth markets as it makes a deeper push into technology services.

The full U.S. Senate seems certain to put off until next month a vote to reconfirm Ben Bernanke to a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve, a Democratic aide said on Wednesday.

If the U.S. Congress fails to agree on a healthcare bill soon, the opportunity for a sweeping overhaul of the $2.5 trillion system will be lost for a generation, Vice President Joe Biden warned on Tuesday.

Leading U.S. senators on opposite sides of the healthcare debate are emphasizing different parts of a proposed bill to show that while health insurance coverage will expand and individual costs for healthcare will drop, overall spending by the federal government will grow.

If Congress does not pass a healthcare bill soon, the opportunity to reform the U.S. healthcare system will be lost for a generation, Vice President Joe Biden warned Tuesday.

President Barack Obama said he expects the U.S. Senate to pass by the end of next week legislation to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system, but the top Senate Republican scoffed on Sunday that Obama's Democrats were too divided to do so.

President Barack Obama on Wednesday praised a healthcare compromise reached by Senate Democratic negotiators and said it could clear the way for passing a sweeping healthcare reform overhaul.

President Barack Obama said Wednesday he will allocate nearly $600 million from the $787 billion economic stimulus plan to help create jobs at 85 community health centers.

Shares of U.S. health insurers rose on Wednesday after efforts to overhaul the health system moved away from creating a government-run insurance plan long viewed as damaging to the industry.