March 10, 2009 (FinancialWire) (By Philip Holmes) ' Stocks ended lower on Monday after investors took in a depressing report from the World Bank and news that drugmaker Merck had offered to buy Schering-Plough for $41.1 billion. Investors were hardly cheered by a World Bank report that said the global economy will likely shrink for the first time since World War II. Trade is set for its biggest drop in 80 years. BusinessWeek points out that the World Bank's "assessment is more pessimistic than an International Monetary Fund report in January predicting 0.5% global growth this year." President Obama is preparing to do his part to fix things at next month's G20 summit. According to reports, the president will push world leaders to increase government spending on various financial market fixes and stimulus programs. The wealthier European economies (France and Germany) are said to be opposed to radical measures, preferring to dole out their euros on a case by case basis. The problem for the Europeans is political: Western European governments balk at having to raise taxes to bail out the "subprime" economies of the East. They will tell Obama that their challenge is a bit more thorny than his asking Connecticut taxpayers to bail out banks in California. Investors did have a big piece of corporate news to digest, with a focus on New Jersey. Drugmakers Merck and Schering-Plough plan to merge in a cash and stock deal worth $41.1 billion. Merck is said to like the deal as a means of boosting its drug development pipeline and as a way to cut costs. AP reported that the merged company may look to shed up to 16,000 jobs. That last bit was probably not greeted with much enthusiasm at the White House.

The Investrend Earnings Calendar features AirMethods (NASDAQ: AIRM), expected at $0.27; Boston Beer Co. (NYSE: SAM), expected at $0.37; Brown-Forman (NYSE: BFB), expected at $0.77; China Digital TV (NYSE: STV), expected at $0.12.

The Investrend Economics Calendar lists Fed Chairman Bernanke speaks to Council on Foreign Relations (8:30 a.m.), Weekly Chain Store Sales (8:55 a.m.) , Wholesale Inventories for January (10 a.m.), Treasury auctions 3-year notes (1 p.m.).

The Investrend Events Calendar showcases ACIW Investor and Analyst Day; ADI Annual Shareholder Meeting; AMAT 2009 Annual Meeting of Stockholders; APC 2009 Investor Conference; BA, COL, UTX, BEAV at JPMorgan Aviation & Transportation Conference; CHK, ALL, CA, AZO at Raymond James Institutional Investors Conference; LVS, MAR, WYNN, BYD at Deutsche Bank Securities Hospitality & Gaming Conference; SQNM, ABT, NUVA, IMGN at Barclays Capital Healthcare Conference.

The Investrend Money Index is an indicator of the depth of market direction or indirection. While not always including the same stocks, the NYSE/NASDAQ 50 Most Actives indicate the direction in which the mass of money is flowing. Last session's trading showed 19 advancers versus 31 decliners. Advancers were led by Stemcells, Inc. (NASDAQ: STEM) up 43.48%, Bk Of America Cp (NYSE: BAC) up 19.43%, Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) up 16.54%, Wells Fargo & Co New (NYSE: WFC) up 15.80%, Us Bancorp (NYSE: USB) up 15.53%, Schering Plough Cp (NYSE: SGP) up 14.18%, Dryships Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) up 10.63%, Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) up 7.75%. Decliners followed Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI) down 67.65%, Las Vegas Sands Corp (NYSE: LVS) down 19.77%, Merck Co Inc (NYSE: MRK) down 7.70%, Taiwan Semicond Ads (NYSE: TSM) down 6.18%.

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Quote of the Day: "We are born princes and the civilizing process makes us frogs." Eric Berne

Today is: Salvation Army Day, Purim.

Happy Birthday: Edmund Waller, Tsar Alexander III of Russia, Broncho Billy Anderson, Sam Jaffe, Chuck Norris, Bob Greene, Sharon Stone, Edie Brickell, Carrie Underwood.

Today in History: Christopher Columbus left Hispaniola for Spain in 1496, ending his second visit to the Western Hemisphere. Charles I of England dissolved Parliament in 1629, starting the Eleven Years Tyranny in which there was no parliament. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was ratified by the United States Senate in 1848, ending the Mexican-American War. Alexander Graham Bell made the first successful telephone call in 1876 by saying "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you." Almon Strowger, an undertaker in Topeka, Kansas, patented the strowger switch in 1891, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching. An earthquake in Long Beach, California, killed 120 people in 1933. Astronomers discovered rings around Uranus in 1977. The NASDAQ stock market index peaked at 5048.62, signaling the beginning of the end of the dot-com boom.

[FirstAlert" was created by Gayle Essary, founder of Investrend Communications, Inc., parent of Investrend Information (http://www.investrendinformation.com). The opinions expressed in FirstAlert" do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Investrend.]

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