The Traderszone Network

Australian tax authorities on Thursday took the unprecedented step of publishing the records of hundreds of companies, including Google Inc (GOOGL.O) and Apple Inc (APPL.O), which show they paid little or no tax on their in-country earnings. Of more than 1,500 largely foreign-owned companies which reported total earnings over A$100 million ($72.11 million) in the 2014 financial year, more than a third paid no tax, the Australian Taxation Office data showed.

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Royal Dutch Shell’s takeover of BG Group may look less attractive after the slide in oil prices but the fact the same investors own nearly half of both firms means the deal is still likely to go through. Investors holding about 43 percent of Shell’s shares also hold 53 percent of BG, according to Reuters data. For example, Blackrock, Franklin Mutual Advisers and Norges together hold more than 12 percent of Shell and nearly 7.5 percent of BG.

U.K. pharma giant bolsters blood cancer treatment portfolio by buying a 55% stake in Acerta Pharma in a $4 billion deal.

After canceling on the host in October, Donald Trump appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” Wednesday night.

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Amblin has signed a five-year distribution deal with Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures to release its films.
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Firmer tones as expected as Europe gets underway
– DAX futures +1.6%
– CAC40 +1.7%
– FTSE +1.2%
Shanghai Comp Index closes up +1.8%, CS 1300 Index +1.9%