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Merit completes
Thomas takeover
Utah's Merit Medical Systems has completed the acquisition of Thomas Medical Products for $167 million. Thomas Medical was a unit of GE Healthcare based in Malvern, Pa. It designs and manufacturers catheters used in cardiology. It will now operate as Merit Medical Systems, Malvern Division.
China tops in
high-speed rail
China began service Wednesday on the world's longest high-speed rail line, covering a distance in eight hours that is about equal to that from New York to Key West, Fla. Bullet trains traveling 186 mph will offer regular service between Beijing and Guangzhou, the main metropolis in southeastern China. Older trains still in service take 21 hours.
Home prices
up across U.S.
U.S. home prices rose in most major cities in October, compared with a year ago, pushed by rising sales and a decline in the supply of homes. Higher prices suggest the housing market is improving. Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index rose 4.3 percent in October, the largest year-over-year increase in two and a half years.
D.C. police probe
'Meet the Press'
District of Columbia police are investigating an incident in which NBC News journalist David Gregory displayed a high-capacity ammo magazine on "Meet the Press." Gun laws in the nation's capital restrict possession of such magazines, regardless of whether a firearm is nearby. Gregory held up the object on Sunday's segment. Police say NBC was advised not to use it on the show.
Tobacco sellers may
have to apologize
A federal judge will decide whether your next tank of gas or soda comes with an apology from the Marlboro man and Joe Camel. A recent ruling ordering a multimedia blitz stating that tobacco companies lied about the dangers of smoking has retailers worried they may have to post the mea culpas. They fear the displays could take up their most valuable ad space and imply their own guilt-by-association.
Buffett sells two
small railroads
Warren Buffett's company has sold two short-line railroads it recently discovered it owned to satisfy regulators who might have had to review Berkshire Hathaway's 2010 acquisition of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad if the pair had not been jettisoned. As it was, before Berkshire acquired BNSF, Buffett sold the company's 9.6 million shares of Union Pacific Corp. and 1.9 million shares of Norfolk Southern Corp. to avoid problems with regulators.
Bristol drug gets
Japanese OK
Regulators in Japan have approved an anticlotting drug called Eliquis, a potential blockbuster from Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer. It's already on sale in Canada and Europe. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration twice postponed a decision on Eliquis, first saying it needed more time and then requiring additional data. The FDA is set to rule by March 17.