Filed under: Economy , Media If you can afford to spend $87,403 to buy the gifts of ” The Twelve Days of Christmas ” — that’s the Associated Press’s calculation for the full tab, from the 12 drummers drumming down to the partridge in a pear tree — then more power to you. But it might be a lot cheaper to make yourself happy. A variety of spiritual and religious groups will help consumers throw off the shackles of their unhappiness for far less cash than hiring 10 lords a-leaping. My own unscientific survey calculates the cost of being your own best friend as far cheaper than being a true love. Adopting a pet from a shelter for $100 is a great stress-reliever, as is a massage ($80) or a Prozac prescription ($15 with insurance). Continue reading Ten lords a-leaping? $4,414. Making yourself happy for less? Priceless Ten lords a-leaping? $4,414. Making yourself happy for less? Priceless originally appeared on DailyFinance on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Ten lords a-leaping? $4,414. Making yourself happy for less? Priceless

Filed under: Economy After the world’s experience with sub-prime lending, probably the worst call a prognosticator can make about a debt crisis is that it will remain “contained.” So here goes nothing: Chances that the would-be deadbeats in Dubai will set off a series of defaults among emerging market countries seem very, very remote. When Dubai World, the investment arm of the Disney World city-state, said it would miss a $3.5 billion bond payment (a fraction of its $60 billion to $100 billion in liabilities), emerging market stocks swooned and the U.S. dollar soared — pretty much the opposite of the global reflation trade that has done so much to repair our battered 401(k)s. In other words, things were looking ugly. Cut to Monday — and with the exception of shares in Europe, whose banks own 70% of Dubai World’s debt — the dollar is once again falling and our beloved emerging markets are trudging hesitantly upward. From Wednesday’s to Friday’s close, EEM, the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets exchange-traded fund ( EEM ), coughed up 4%, while the dollar spiked on a global flight to safety. Give investors a weekend to digest the news and voila: EEM is posting some fractional gains and the dollar has resumed its slide . Continue reading Dubai debt crisis is contained — and hardly a surprise Dubai debt crisis is contained — and hardly a surprise originally appeared on DailyFinance on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Dubai debt crisis is contained — and hardly a surprise

Filed under: Company News , Healthcare , Pfizer , Merck It seems that for Pfizer ( PFE ), the saga of Prempro is just beginning. Barely a month after the world’s largest pharmaceutical company lost a case related to Wyeth’s Prempro hormone replacement therapy drug and was ordered to pay punitive damages on top of earlier compensatory damages, it lost the second pending case in the matter in Philadelphia on Monday. Initially, Pfizer was ordered in September to pay $3.75 million in compensatory damages. The punitive damages amount awarded a month later was sealed pending another verdict in a second similar case in the same courthouse. On Monday, the court revealed that Pfizer has been ordered to pay a total of $103 million in punitive damages in the two cases. The jury found the hormone drugs the two plaintiffs used for years contributed to their breast cancer. Including three other cases, so far Pfizer has been ordered to pay $165 million in punitive damages. Continue reading Prempro lawsuits: Pfizer hit with $103 million more in punitive damages Prempro lawsuits: Pfizer hit with $103 million more in punitive damages originally appeared on DailyFinance on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Prempro lawsuits: Pfizer hit with $103 million more in punitive damages