| Merck, Wyeth Earnings Disappoint
Shares of drug makers Wyeth and Merck & Co. took a hit Tuesday after disappointing earnings reports, but for different reasons: Wyeth missed analysts' expectations by a wide margin, while Merck's profit plunged due to ongoing legal and restructuring costs. Merck surprised some analysts by boosting its reserve for litigation over withdrawn painkiller Vioxx for a second straight quarter. That charge and others cut Merck's fourth-quarter profit by 58 percent despite higher revenues. Shares fell 60 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $44.91 with nearly double normal trading volume. Wyeth shares fell $1.24, or 2.5 percent, to $49.36, also on the New York Stock Exchange, as the Madison, N.J.-based company boosted quarterly profit by 17 percent but came in a nickel below analysts' consensus of 71 cents in earnings per share.
Meshuggah Nuns- a new musical is making its way around the country
It's taken two thousand years to reach a rapprochement between Christians and Jews, but the moment has finally come! A new musical called Meshuggah Nuns is now making its way around the country, stopping at various theaters, even Jewish theaters. Though the material makes one feel squeamish at times, and the corn is high as an elephant's eye (to quote Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma"), it is nonetheless a message of tolerance and infinite good will.
In this improbable tale, a bevy of nuns connect with a Jewish actor who has stumbled into their midst. Each proceeds to show warmth and respect for the other's customs and faiths, as they sing and dance and tell corny jokes.
It's Dan Goggin's latest development in his "Nunsense" series, a show theme which he has turned into a cottage industry.
Heart disease now kills women, men equally
For the first time in 30 years, cardiovascular diseases are killing as many women as men in this country, according to a new report from the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation. The report also says women are far less likely to receive appropriate treatment after a heart attack or stroke and their chances of dying are much greater. "When it comes to heart disease, not all Canadians are created equal," says cardiologist and foundation spokesperson Beth Abramson, who said a "gender bias" is partly to blame. The report, released yesterday, shows the number of female deaths from heart disease and strokes increased 5 per cent to 36, 823 between 1973 and 2003. That's virtually the same number of deaths for males, whose cardiovascular mortality rates declined by 19 per cent over the same three decades.
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