News on Yacktman Svc Fund (YACKX)

The deal gives AbbVie access to Pharmacyclics' cancer drugs portfolio, lessening the Chicago-based company's dependence on its rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira that accounts for most of its sales. The transaction follows AbbVie's failed $55 billion bid to buy Dublin-based Shire Plc last October after the United States took steps to deter tax-lowering deals. Pharmacyclics said earlier it expects sales of Imbruvica, which is approved in more than 40 countries and has U.S. approvals for four forms of blood cancer, to touch $1 billion in the United States this year.

Asian stocks slipped on Thursday after Wall Street continued to pull back from record highs ahead of Friday's closely-watched U.S. jobs data, while the nervous euro languished at an 11-year low prior to the European Central Bank's policy meeting. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 0.4 percent with Thai, Malaysian and Chinese stocks posting losses. "Foreigners are continuing their buying spree on the back of increased global liquidity after quantitative easing by the ECB," said Lee Kyung-min, economist at Daishin Securities Co in Seoul. Risk asset markets, shored up by liquidity provided by easing-minded central banks around the world, will have a chance to confirm the ECB's easing stance when it holds a policy meeting later in the session.

By David Henry NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc had at least one advantage in its successful bid for the exclusive right to issue credit cards for Costco Wholesale Corp, rivals and tax specialists say: it lost so much money during the financial crisis that it has billions of dollars of tax credits.     Citigroup and Costco have not disclosed terms of the deal, and outsiders can only speculate about the reasons Citigroup bid aggressively enough to win the business. They declined to be identified because the negotiations were confidential.

By Koh Gui Qing and Kevin Yao BEIJING (Reuters) - China announced an economic growth target for 2015 of around 7 percent on Thursday and said it would boost government spending, signaling that the lowest rate of expansion for a quarter of a century is the "new normal" for the world's No.2 economy. Speaking at the opening of the country's annual parliamentary meeting, Premier Li Keqiang vowed to fight corruption and pollution, and stressed the need for more painful reforms to put the economy on a more sustainable footing after three decades of breakneck growth. "The downward pressure on China's economy is intensifying," Li told around 3,000 delegates gathered at the Great Hall of the People to the west of Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing. "Deep-seated problems in the country's economic development are becoming more obvious.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Citigroup has sold its nearly 10 percent stake in Turkey's Akbank for $1.2 billion, the U.S. bank said on Thursday, in its latest sale of overseas assets to cut costs and raise profits.

Brent crude was flat on Thursday, managing to hold above $60 a barrel as investors brushed aside bearish U.S. inventories data to focus on the lack of a deal in talks over Iran's nuclear program. Tehran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Wednesday no deal had been reached on the duration of any possible final agreement with world powers on Iran's program. The April contract inched up 5 cents to $60.60 a barrel by 0003 ET while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 22 cents to $51.75 a barrel. A 2 percent gain in the previous session narrowed WTI's spread with global benchmark Brent to less than $9 a barrel.

By Paul Carsten BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL] and Intel Corp are expanding an existing alliance to provide cloud computing to global telecoms carriers, as U.S. tech firms vie for Chinese tie-ups to retain access to a tough mainland market. The partnership, announced by Huawei in a statement, comes as U.S and other Western tech firms' scramble to burnish their bona fides with China, which has become increasingly wary of foreign technology. China's government has been openly pushing for the use of more Chinese and less foreign-made technology, both to grow its own tech sector and as a response to former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden's leaks about widespread U.S. cyber surveillance. Other U.S. enterprise tech firms adopting a partnership strategy include IBM Corp, Dell Inc [DI.UL], Cisco Systems Inc, Hewlett-Packard Co and Juniper Networks Inc. The cloud computing industry is a focus area for China, with Premier Li Keqiang saying in his government work report delivered to parliament on Thursday that the government would support its development.

The Institute for Supply Management on Wednesday said its services index was 56.9 in February, up slightly from 56.7 in January. Analysts were looking for a reading of 56.5, according to a Reuters poll.

By Douwe Miedema WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The largest U.S. banks and their foreign rivals are facing a tough two-step check-up of their financial health by the Federal Reserve, forcing the firms to get a far better grip on how they measure risk. In its annual "stress tests", the Fed gauges whether banks have enough shareholder capital to withstand a severe economic shock like that of the 2007-09 crisis, when taxpayers spent billions of dollars to keep the industry afloat.

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. private employers added fewer jobs than expected last month, with the gains declining as well from January's revised level as growth slowed in some sectors, a payrolls processor report showed on Wednesday. The ADP National Employment Report, jointly developed with Moody's Analytics, showed a gain of 212,000 private-sector jobs. Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast the ADP to show a gain of 220,000 jobs. For instance, service-providing employment rose by 181,000 jobs in February, compared with growth of 206,000 in the sector in January.

NEW YORK (AP) — A pair of better economic reports helped nudge the U.S. stock market up in early trading Thursday, even as global markets headed lower.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Services across Greece shut down Wednesday as unions staged a 24-hour general strike and held peaceful demonstrations to protest further austerity cuts in the cash-strapped country.

Stocks were on track to finish higher Thursday afternoon for the second day in a row as investors drew encouragement from reports on Chinese manufacturing, U.S. home sales and some positive earnings from Best Buy, Dollar Tree and other retailers.

Major stock indexes shifted higher in midday trading Thursday, getting a lift from an encouraging report on Chinese manufacturing and some positive earnings from Best Buy, Dollar Tree and other retailers. The market also got a boost from data showing modest improvement in sales of previously occupied homes.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are opening mixed as investors look over more earnings reports from big companies.

France's 1930's Maginot Line failure may seem an odd analogy, but 'digital washing' of old ideas and lack of forward thinking also have the potential to create strategic disaster in a highly competitive world where speed to market and agility are key

Carrier-backed mobile payments initiative announces closure after Google acquired its technology.>

A look at its peers in neighbouring China gives OlaCabs a glimpse of its promising future despite current headaches of regulation, potential rogue drivers, and an unproven business model.

Technology and innovation will be at the centre of Australia's continued productivity over the next 40 years, according to the Treasury Department's latest Intergenerational Report.

Rolls-Royce has created Serenity, a one-of-a-kind Phantom with a bespoke interior, hand-crafted to be the "ultimate luxury.">

Alongside its G4 and G Flex 2 smartphones, LG is preparing to launch a 'super' phone in the second half of 2015, according to mobile boss Juno Cho.

Following the opening of a startup innovation centre in Queensland in 2012, Microsoft has opened its second one in Adelaide.

What do Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Ursula Burns, Tony Adams and Andrea Jung have in common? All are successful CEOs. All are heads of profitable, respected companies. And believe it or not, they all got their start as interns. If a business is questioning whether or not interns add value, consider this: would you have passed up having talent...

The parliamentary committee inquiring into the laws allowing Australian government agencies to block websites has received calls for an independent party to oversee the scheme.

The company that brings Blizzard's online games to China is now aiming to bring its own games to the Western market, backed by its billionaire chairman.>

A much-rumored 12.9-inch iPad won't go into production until the fall, sources tell Bloomberg.>

Saying final goodbyes to personality-filled pet robotic dogs isn't easy. Now that Sony has shut down its AIBO customer support, robot dog owners are holding funerals for their broken pooches.>

Gemalto and Tapit have teamed up to enable consumers to leverage NFC technology to make 'frictionless' payments on their mobile phones, and have their transactions billed to their mobile phone.

On today's show, we discuss the new set-top box future of Nvidia Shield, explain how you can take a comic book course taught by Stan Lee himself, and check out NASA's SUPERball, a robot that might someday explore moons in our solar system.>

The online crafts marketplace plans to use the money to develop localized services and attract new members, among other things.>