U.S. stocks down on soaring bond yields
NEW YORK, March 6 (UPI) -- Soaring bond yields took a bite out of all major U.S. stock indexes Monday.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury fell 14/32, or $4.38 per $1,000 invested, to yield 4.742 percent. That the highest level since June 2004.
Dow Jones industrial average fell 62.20 or 0.56 percent to 10,969.39 on a volume of 1.2 billion. The Nasdaq composite was down 16.57 or 0.72 percent at 2,286.03, and the Standard & Poor's 500 slipped 8.96 or 0.70 percent to 1,278.27.
The dollar rose, hitting 117.29 yen from 116.39 as the euro fell to $1.2016 from $1.2037.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 closed at 15,901.16 after rising 237.82 or 1.52 percent, and London's FTSE 100 settled at 5,897.80 on an increase of 39.10 or 0.67 percent.
Blackstone paying $5.6B for CarrAmerica
NEW YORK, March 6 (UPI) -- A unit of buyout firm New York-based Blackstone Group is paying $5.6 billion in cash for CarrAmerica Realty Corp.
The price per share represents an 18.4 percent premium over CarrAmerica's closing stock price Feb. 16, the last day before news of a deal was published.
CarrAmerica's board has unanimously approved the merger and has recommended the approval of the transaction by CarrAmerica's common stockholders.
BlackBerry to lead to patent law reform
NEW YORK, March 6 (UPI) -- The settlement of a patent dispute between the maker of BlackBerrys and a tiny patent-holding firm is expected to lead to U.S. patent law reform.
Canada's Research in Motion Ltd. agreed to pay NTP Inc. $612.5 million to settle litigation by NTP that RIM was infringing its patents to run its popular BlackBerry personal communication devices.
The size of the settlement -- which came despite the U.S. Patent Office revoking NTP's patents -- has begun producing calls for updating U.S. patent law, The Wall Street Journal said Monday.
"It won't be too long before this brand of litigation triggers a backlash, in the form of patent reform," said Matthew D'Amore, a patent lawyer with Morrison and Foerster.
Brad Smith, general counsel of Microsoft Corp., said: "One lasting impact of the case is that it has turned patent litigation from simply a legal issue into a broader business, commercial and even an economic issue. If the lasting consequence of the case is to broaden awareness and promote the level of debate that we need to have about what it takes to have a healthy patent system, then there is a good side to that."
Trade Me sells for $463 million
WELLINGTON, New Zealand, March 6 (UPI) -- Australian media company John Fairfax Holdings has bought New Zealand's top Internet auction site, Trade Me, for $463 million.
Trade Me founder and chief executive Sam Morgan will continue to run the business, the Wellington Dominion Post said Monday.
Wellington-based Trade Me has 1.2 million members who are expected to host 35 million auctions this year.
