Top 10 News Items 1/26-1/30: 'Bad Bank' Plan Boosts Stocks, But Gains Reversed on Reports of a Snag; $819 Stimulus Package Passed; Pfizer Confirms Wyeth Bid

January 30, 2009 4:09 PM EST

This is a recap of the top news items for the week on Wall Street:

1. Stocks rose on Tuesday and Wednesday following reports that the Obama administration was rumored to be planning a "bad bank" initiative which would essentially move toxic assets off struggling banks balance sheets. The move would promote lending at these banks and address mark-to-market "issues". The rally started in the financial group, but buyers quickly came into every sector of the equity markets. On Friday, CNBC's Charlie Gasparino reported that his sources are now indicating that the plan has caught a snag and will likely be put on hold, sending the markets to lower levels than at the beginning of this week.

2. The U.S. House passed its version of the $819 billion economic stimulus package. More work will be needed on the bill in the Senate to get a final plan. Republicans in the Senate are working on their own proposals to add to the stimulus package.

3. Proving that M&A is not completely dead on the Street, Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) was out this week confirming rumors that we heard last week that it would have a go at another top pharma company, Wyeth (NYSE: WYE). The deal is being valued around $68 billion, or about $50.19/share. Specifically, each outstanding share of Wyeth common stock will be converted into the right to receive $33 in cash and 0.985 of a share of Pfizer common stock. As traders bid the stock up on Friday amid the rumors, shares of Wyeth ended up finishing the week down 1.3%.

4. GDP for the fourth quarter came in at down 3.8% -- certainly a very ugly number -- yet the number was actually better than the Street consensus of down 5.5%. The economic contraction marked the largest decline in more than a quarter century.

5. On Thursday, President Obama said he intends to send a message to Wall Street that there is a time for profits and bonuses, and "now is not the time."

6. Thursday night, Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) reported much better-than-expected Q4 earnings, giving tech-investors some much-needed relief. The online retailer topped the Street's EPS estimate by 13 cents, and also issued Q1 sales guidance that was well above the consensus estimate. Shares of Amazon surged nearly 18% on the results.

7. Layoffs continued this week (of course), with major announcements coming from Home Depot (NYSE: HD), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN), Corning (NYSE: GLW), Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI), Target (NYSE: TGT) and Time Warner (NYSE: TWX). To view all the news on expected job cuts, visit StreetInsider.com's Layoffs entity page.

8. Monday morning, Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) confirmed that it is no longer interested in acquiring Rohm and Haas (NYSE: ROH). Shares of Rohm and Haas sank more than 13% on the news, and continued lower throughout the week. The stock ended the week down more than 16%.

9. Timothy Geithner was confirmed by the Senate as the next Treasury Secretary.

10. Citigroup (NYSE: C) backtracked on buying a $50 million luxury jet this week, following a ton of heat from the media and even President Obama as the bank has taken loans from the TARP, but has enough money to buy a luxury jet. Click here for the full report.

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• Charles Gasparino
• Citi
• StreetInsider.com Top 10 News Items for the Week
• Layoffs
• Timothy Geithner

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