Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) plans to follow Citigroup (NYSE:C) and repay the money it owes to the TARP fund. Wells Fargo still holds government money and said that it had received approval to repay the $25 billion it owes. Part of payment will come from a stock offering of $10.4 billion. The bank said the move would save it $1.25 billion in annual preferred stock payments. After the news of the repayments from the two huge banks, Treasury Secretary Geithner said in a statement, "With the recent announcements on repayments, we are now on track to reduce TARP bank investments by more than 75%, while earning a healthy profit on that commitment." The Treasury Department added, "Today’s announcements mean that more than $185 billion of the $245 that TARP invested in banks is now slated to be returned to taxpayers — with $90 billion scheduled to come back just in this month alone." –Daily Finance
Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) disclosed that a Phase III clinical trial evaluating darusentan did not achieve its co-primary efficacy endpoints. "We think it would be challenging to define an expedient path forward. We would likely be required to initiate another Phase III study and would rather allocate our resources to other promising research and development opportunities in our pipeline," stated Chief Scientific Officer Norbert Bischofberger. -MarketWatch
Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) announced that its fourth-quarter gross profit rate will be lower than it anticipated as the chain relies on less profitable notebook computers and televisions to drive sales. Third-quarter net income rose to $227 million, or 53 cents per share, from $52 million, or 13 cents, a year earlier, when Best Buy wrote down its stake in Carphone Warehouse Group Plc. Analysts projected earnings of 44 cents, the average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Total sales gained 4.6 percent to $12 billion, in line with average analyst estimates. Sales in stores open at least 14 months gained 1.7 percent in the quarter. Schick estimated a 3.6 percent gain, the first increase since last fiscal year’s second quarter. -Bloomberg
Crude futures were largely steady as traders preferred to mark time ahead of key U.S. oil inventories data and tomorrow’s U.S. interest-rate decision. A lack of clear direction in global stock and currency markets also prompted some oil traders to stay sidelined. The widely watched U.S. oil inventories data from the Department of Energy covering the week ended Friday will be released at 1530 GMT Wednesday, while the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, will put out its data Tuesday at 2130 GMT. –The Wall Street Journal
Magellan Health Services (NASDAQ: MGLN) lifted its earnings guidance for 2009 and provided its first forecast for 2010 results. Magellan said it now expects to report earnings of $2.77 to $2.95 a share for 2009, compared to its previous forecast of $2.41 to $2.70 a share. For 2010 the group is expecting revenue in the range of $3 billion to $3.2 billion and earnings of between $2.73 and $3.29 a share. Analysts were expecting earnings of $2.62 a share for 2009 and $2.91 a share for 2010. –MarketWatch
European Union regulators appear to be softening their opposition to Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) proposed $7.4 billion takeover of Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ:JAVA), a shift that has resurrected some investors’ hopes that one of the year’s biggest technology deals will go ahead as planned. Oracle and the European Commission both said Monday that they have had "constructive discussions" about the fate of the deal. Its approval has been uncertain since the commission launched a formal antitrust investigation in September over concerns the combination could harm the database software market. -Forbes
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