The Traderszone Network

U.S. drugmaker Pfizer (PFE.N) pressed the scientific case for its controversial plan to acquire AstraZeneca (AZN.L) on Monday as its chief executive prepared for a grilling from British lawmakers. In the latest phase of Pfizer’s campaign to counter critics of its proposed $106 billion deal, research head Mikael Dolsten said he had been through five different mergers and acquisitions and denied such big transactions disrupted drug research.

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By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) – Shares advanced cautiously on Monday as investors braced for a possible escalation in Ukraine’s civil conflict after anti-Kiev rebels declared victory in a referendum on self-rule. European stock markets got the week off to solid start, edging up in line with Asia early on, while the euro and euro zone government bond yields were pinned down by the European Central Bank’s signal that it is likely to cut rates next month. But tensions in Ukraine kept the mood cautious.

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Snowplows were sent out on Denver’s streets, while the threat of tornadoes and thunderstorms loomed over the nation’s heartland, forecasters warned.

* Data shows central bank policy largely neutral (Adds details, economists’ comments) BEIJING, May 12 (Reuters) – China’s new bank lending and total social financing weakened in April, but money supply growth picked up slightly, indicating the central bank is treading cautiously in steering policy to support the slowing economy. Chinese banks made 774.7 billion yuan ($124.39 billion) worth of new yuan loans in April, lower than a forecast of 880 billion yuan in a Reuters poll and below than the previous month’s 1.05 trillion yuan, central bank data showed on Monday.

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Ryan Yang could have taken a job in a New Jersey DNA sequencing laboratory after graduating from college last year. Instead, the 23-year-old lives with his family in Queens, New York, still unemployed and searching. Now, that’s changing as members of the millennial generation, the estimated 85 million born from 1981 through 2000, prove less restless than their forebears. \”They remain stuck in place,\” said William Frey, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington who specializes in migration issues.

The online retail giant is heavily rumored to be getting ready to introduce a phone. Is this a bad idea or something that was inevitable and necessary?

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Packaged food company Hillshire Brands said it would acquire Pinnacle Foods for about $6.6 billion, including debt, in a cash and stock deal.