Company News for March 12, 2009

• Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) reported a fourth quarter loss of $23.9 billion or $7.37 per share.  The firm said it seeks an additional $31 billion in rescue funds from the Treasury

• Men's Wearhouse (NYSE:MW - Snapshot Report) reported a fourth quarter loss of 6 cents per share, better than estimates of a 16 cent loss, on revenues of $476.3 million, up 2.2% from a year ago. The company projects first half results of 45-65 cents fully diluted with comparable sales down 6-10%

• National Semiconductor (NYSE:NSM) announced plans to cut 26% of its workforce, or about 1,700 jobs, after reporting a 71% drop in fiscal third quarter results to 9 cents from 29 cents, as revenues fell 36% to $292.4 million

• After eight months of negotiations, Roche sufficiently sweetened its deal to entice Genentech (NYSE:DNA) approval of a $95 per share offer for the 44% that it does not currently own

• Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB - Analyst Report) said its cancer drug Rituxan, co-marketed with Genentech (NYSE:DNA), failed to show that the drug is an effective treatment for lupus nephritis, a type of kidney disease

• Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Analyst Report) announced the launch of a $79 talking iPod Shuffle music player

• Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Snapshot Report) lowered its forecast, now anticipating a 40 cent per share loss in the first quarter, off earlier projections of profits up to 10 cents per share

• Smithfield Foods (NYSE:SFD - Analyst Report) reported fiscal third quarter results beating estimates by 12 cents, with a 15 cent loss versus a 44 cents profit a year ago on revenues of $3.3 billion

Read the full analyst report on FRE

Read the full analyst report on MW

Read the full analyst report on NSM

Read the full analyst report on DNA

Read the full analyst report on BIIB

Read the full analyst report on AAPL

Read the full analyst report on STLD

Read the full analyst report on SFD