Pfizer Pays to Resolve Allegations and 3 Dow Movers to Follow

3M Company’s (NYSE:MMM) 2013 Outlook Meeting should include comments regarding the following figures from the company’s fiscal year 2013: Capital expenditures between $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion, Mergers and acquisitions of $2 billion to $3 billion, Dividends $1.65 billion to $1.75 billion, Buybacks between $2 billion and $3 billion gross, $1 billion to $1.5 billion net, and Pension/OPEB $400 million to $600 million, moving towards fully funded status.

Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Surface will be for sale at Best Buy’s Web site on Wednesday beginning at 2 p.m. Pacific Time and then on Sunday at Best Buy retail outlets and select Best Buy Mobile stores. Meanwhile, Staples will have the tablet available as soon as Wednesday. All this is part of Microsoft’s plan to expand the reach of Surface beyond its own stores, a strategy that was initially targeted for early next year, but retailer enthusiasm for Surface prompted Microsoft to step up the time frame.

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Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) will pay $55 million plus interest to settle claims that Wyeth illegally launched and caused the introduction into interstate commerce of a misbranded drug, Protonix, between February 2000 and June 2001, says the Justice Department. This civil complaint and settlement resolves the United States’ investigation of Wyeth connected with the promotion of Protonix for unapproved uses. However, the claims settled by this agreement are  only the allegations, which Pfizer rejects; there has thus far been no determination of liability. Pfizer purchased Wyeth in October 2009, but since August of that year, Pfizer has been under a Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services, which  remains in effect.

United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) will divest its Pratt & Whitney Power Systems division, which is currently part of Pratt & Whitney, to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Financials of the agreement were not reported and the transaction should close in the second quarter of 2013. Selling Power Systems enables UTC to concentrate on its core aerospace and commercial units.

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