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FDA's approach to Eli Lilly's drug Prasgrel which is more effective than Plavix for preventing heart attacks but can lead to fatal bleeding in some patients. The other side of the picture is that 30% of patients are not suited for Plavix, and these patients could have an alternative. In weighing the risks and the benefits, and of letting some patients who may be suited to Prasugrel have access to the drug, the FDA has to find the right approach. An FDA panel was set to recommend whether to approve the drug and under what conditions.

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The FDA relaxes some of the restrictions on anemia drugs of J&J and Amgen used by cancer patients after protest letters.

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Warning labels for the diabetes drug Avandia and a great deal of agreement that Avandia does pose some higher risks for the heart is how the FDA concluded its vote and discussion on what to do about Avandia for the safety of users.

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FDA and the cholesterol drug Cordaptive which the FDA rejected

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The FDA in heightened concern for safety decides not to follow an advisory panel's close 7-6 vote that Doribax for hospital acquired pneumonia was efficacious, and a 8-5 vote that it was safe. The FDA is taking more time to make decisions and asking for more data. In this case it paid attention to the questions raised by some advisory panel members about the design aspects of the study used to test the drug.

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Questions whether a study by Genzyme is strong enough to merit expanded approval of a drug called Myozyme to treat Pompe disease, that affects a person's muscle and respiratory function. It is from the lack of an enzyme aci alpha-glucosidase needed for muscle development and function.

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The turnaround is huge with Howard Stringer's strategy or refocussing on the main electronics business on which Sony founded itself and thrived in the post war years. Because results were so poor before this the results are huge on digital cameras , new flat panel tvs, andand other consumer electronics except videogames unit. Sales at the electronics unit increased 21%, and operating profit up by $939 million, for 3rd quarter 2007. Stringer has shed most of the non core businesses including the life insurance unit and an online bank spun off 2 weeks ago for $3 billion in an IPO, and selling some semiconductor operations to Toshiba for $800 million last week. Also gone is Aibo, the robot dog. The battery overheating recalls charges are also behind Sony. And the Sony movie studio is making profits with popular movies. These are not reflected in the announced results for 3rd quarter 2007. About $50 billion of Sony's $70 billion in worldwide sales are from electronics. Sony has tieup with Samsung in tv's and this has helped it improve results in its tv business and collaborate to combine resources where needed. Its also investing in technology with a new type of tv screen 0.12 inches thick , enabled by an organic light emitting diode display. Losses continue to mount on the Playstation 3 with losses this year of $847million and more nimble companies like Nintendo have done better in this field. sales are from electronics...

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The large response triggered on the internet by Anne-Marie Slaughter's article in the July/August 2012 issue of the Atlantic on women and work, how it is difficult for women to work and raise children without making changes in today's American society so that a healthy balance can be achieved.

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Product obsolescence in a matter of weeks- the situation with the HP Touchpad. The Touchpad tablet is introduced at a retail price of $399 for 16GB and $499 for 32GB versions on July 1, 2011. The product is scrapped by CEO Apotheker after disappointing sales within weeks of introduction. It is now sold at a sale price of $99 in the last week of August 2011. This shows the astounding rate at which things change in the high tech product markets. Nokia, Nintendo, and now HP have seen their fortunes change quickly in 2011.

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The problems for Chrysler may not be as much the culture gap between nationalities, as Daniel Howe of the Detroit News points out, as in other areas. It is not going to be in the union area as the President's auto task force has studied the other risks facing Chrysler, and is aware of the failed effort of United airlines unions to run that airline. In the agreements by which 55% ownership of Chrysler is given to the UAW union, the government leaves the union entirely out of the management of the company, which is left to Fiat. And the UAW seeks to sell off its ownership share at the earliest favorable opportunity. The risk lies in the fact that the new models such as the 40 miles per gallon car Fiat is required to build as one of 3 milestones, each worth an additional 5% stake above the inital 20% stake, will not be built till 2012. Meantime as the President said, Chrysler will have to find ways of staying afloat in a market where it is seeing a 40-50% drop in sales each month this year over 2008, with cars that are "less reliable, less popular, and less fuel efficient than foreign competitors." ...

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The Trump administration says waivers for China, India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey to import Iranian oil that expire in May will not be renewed. The decision is to have zero exemptions. Earlier Taiwan, Greece and Italy, also on the list, decided to find other sources of imported oil. Iranian oil exports are estimate to be below 1 million barrels a day compared to 2.5 million barrels a day before president Trump abandoned the Obama administration negotiated Iranian nuclear deal and reimposed oil sanctions. 

Saudis and UAE say they will keep the oil market in balance, and president Trump is also relying on U.S. shale oil supplies. The move faces resistance from China which says the U.S. has no jurisdiction to interfere. India haces issues with the U.S. for importing from not only Iran, but also Venezuela, Turkey and Iran are neighbors, India and Iran are neighbors, both with cultural ties to Iran, making the situation difficult for both countries.

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Concern about slowing growth in China with rising inflation. The problem of opaqueness of the financial system and of banks that are both listed companies and run by the government, and how this could accelerate a slowdown at some point with accumulated problems in the financial system. A sense that China's growth model has reached a limit, and whether there will be a soft landing.