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TOP STORIES

Valeant shares plunge on short-seller report

NEW YORK - Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (NYSE: VRX - news) Inc (LSE: 0M50.L - news) fall as much as 30 percent after an influential short-seller accuses the company of fraud, saying it used its relationship with specialty pharmacies to inflate revenue. (VALEANT-CITRON (Other OTC: CTNI - news) / (UPDATE 3, PIX), moved, by Caroline Humer, 770 words)

+ See also:

- VALEANT-CITRON/LEFT, moved, by Daniel Bases and David Gaffen, 610 words)

GM (NYSE: GM - news) profit tops estimates on strong truck demand, improved China

DETROIT - General Motors Co reports record quarterly earnings, as strong demand for trucks in North America and improved profit margins in China overcame declining revenue. (GM-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 2), moved, by Joseph White and Bernie Woodall, 450 words)

Biogen (NasdaqGS: BIIB - news) to cut 11 pct of staff, cancel some drug programs

Biogen Inc, whose shares have tumbled since it slashed growth forecasts for its top-selling multiple sclerosis drug in July, will cut 11 percent of its workforce of roughly 7,500 and eliminate development of several drugs to focus on high-priority medicines in its pipeline. (BIOGEN-RESTRUCTURING/ (UPDATE 3), moved, by Bill Berkrot, 510 words)

MARKETS

Decline in healthcare stocks checks gains by GM, tech

U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . stocks are little changed as healthcare stocks slide for a second day, as gains by General Motors and technology stocks are limited by a slide in healthcare shares, (USA-STOCKS/ (UPDATE 4), updated throughout day, 490 words)

+ See also:

- GLOBAL-MARKETS/ (WRAPUP 8), updated throughout day, 490 words

- GLOBAL-OIL/ (UPDATE 10), updated throughout day, 400 words

Ferrari (Berlin: FR6.BE - news) shares race ahead as much as 15 pct in Wall St debut

NEW YORK/MILAN - Ferrari shares rise as much as 15 percent in their Wall Street debut after the Italian supercar maker priced its share offering at the top of the range amid heavy investor demand. (FERRARI-IPO/ (UPDATE 2), moved, by Lauren Hirsch and Agnieszka Flak, 570 words)

ECONOMY

Bank of Canada takes wait-and-see approach to Liberal deficits

OTTAWA - Canada's central bank says it will take a wait-and-see approach to plans by the country's newly elected Liberal government to run deficits, noting it will take time to see how quickly and deeply it affects the economic outlook. (CANADA-CENBANK/ (UPDATE 3, PIX), moved, by Randall Palmer and Leah Schnurr, 400 words)

COMPANIES

Western Digital (Swiss: WDC.SW - news) to buy SanDisk (NasdaqGS: SNDK - news) in $19 bln deal

Hard-disk drive maker Western Digital Corp will buy SanDisk (Swiss: SNDK.SW - news) Corp in a $19 billion that will greatly increase its ability to make flash memory storage chips used in smartphones and tablets. (SANDISK-M&A/WESTERN DIGITAL (UPDATE 5), moved, by Devika Krishna Kumar and Abhirup Roy, 380 words)

Disney's ESPN to eliminate over 300 positions - source

Walt Disney Co's ESPN sports network, facing declining numbers of subscribers, is reorganizing and eliminating over 300 positions, according to a person familiar with the situation. (ESPN-LAYOFFS/ (UPDATE 1), moved, 120 words)

EU rules Starbucks (Swiss: SBUX.SW - news) , Fiat (Hanover: FIA1.HA - news) tax deals illegal, rocking system

BRUSSELS - The European Commission rules that Starbucks and Fiat benefited from illegal tax deals with the Dutch and Luxembourg governments, dealing a heavy blow to profit-shielding arrangements used by many multinationals. (EU-TAXAVOIDANCE/ (UPDATE 3, TV, PICTURE), moved, by Foo Yun Chee and Philip Blenkinsop, 760 words)

Volkswagen CEO says emissions scandal bill could rise

WOLFSBURG, Germany - Volkswagen (Other OTC: VLKAF - news) may have to set aside more than the $7.4 billion) it has calculated so far to cover the costs of an emissions fraud if the scandal has a negative effect on car sales, according to its chief executive. (VOLKSWAGEN-EMISSIONS/PROVISIONS (UPDATE 2), moved, by Andreas Cremer (Sao Paolo: R2:CREM3S.SA - news) , 290 words)

Silver Lake, Thoma Bravo to take SolarWinds (NYSE: SWI - news) private in $4.5 bln deal

SolarWinds Inc agrees to be taken private by investment firms Silver Lake Partners and Thoma Bravo LLC for $4.5 billion, joining a growing list of enterprise software makers going private. (SOLARWINDS-M&A/SILVERLAKE (UPDATE 2), moved, 360 words)

YouTube unveils paid video service without ads

Alphabet Inc (Xetra: ABEA.DE - news) 's YouTube unveils new offerings at an event in Los Angeles amid reports it is close to unveiling a paid subscription service with content from big media companies such as Time Warner Inc (Xetra: AOL1.DE - news) and Comcast Corp's NBCUniversal. (GOOGLE-YOUTUBE/, expect by 1900 GMT/3 P.M. ET, by Lisa Richwine, 400 words)

Few suitors seen for bankrupt Caesars casinos and resorts

Caesars, one of the world's biggest gaming companies, is putting itself up for sale at the height of a global M&A boom, yet those involved doubt anyone will bid for the dozens of casinos owned by Caesars Entertainment's operating unit, which is in bankruptcy. (CAESARS-M&A/ (PIX)), expect by 1900 GMT/3 PM ET, by Tracy Rucinski, 700 words)

France's Chanel buys Napa Valley wine maker

PARIS - French luxury goods provider Chanel has acquired Napa Valley's St. Supéry Estate vineyards and Winery for an undisclosed sum, adding a Californian brand to its portfolio of Bordeaux wines. (CHANEL-WINE/, moved, 180 words)

ALSO IN THE NEWS

Firms question how carbon levy will fund California rail project

SAN FRANCISCO - State officials tasked with building California's $68 billion high-speed rail last year hail new funding assigned to them from the state's fledging cap-and-trade program, but private companies question the reliability of the new revenue stream. (CALIFORNIA-RAIL/, expect by 2300 GMT/7 PM ET, by Rory Carroll and Robin Respaut, 650 words)