Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: News Corp., McGraw-Hill, NYSE Euronext, Thomson Reuters and Novartis

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 25, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: News Corp. (NWS - Analyst Report), McGraw-Hill (MHP - Analyst Report), NYSE Euronext (NYX - Snapshot Report), Thomson Reuters (TRIN) and Novartis (NVS - Snapshot Report).

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Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:

Dow Jones to Change Hands

Dow Jones & Co., owned by News Corp. (NWS - Analyst Report), has started seeking potential buyers for its stock market index business, including the renowned benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Goldman Sachs has been appointed to explore strategic options for the business. News Corp. bought Dow Jones & Co. in 2007 for $5.7 billion, and has never released any financials for the unit since its acquisition. As an independent company, Dow Jones last reported results for the first nine months of 2007, when its revenue increased 18% year over year to $101.3 million.

Market analysts believe that competitors, like McGraw-Hill’s (MHP - Analyst Report) Standard & Poor’s, FTSE, a joint venture between the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange, MSCI Barra, Russell Indexes, NYSE Euronext (NYX - Snapshot Report), Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters (TRIN), will be interested in Dow’s index business.

Xolair Label Expanded in EU

This morning, Novartis (NVS - Snapshot Report) announced that it has received approval from the European Commission (EC) for the use of Xolair (omalizumab) as an add-on therapy for severe persistent allergic asthma in children in the age group of 6 to 11 years.

The approval is positive news for the company and should expand the patient base for the drug. Asthma is a chronic lung disease which is estimated to affect about 10% of children in Europe. It is also the most common cause of school absenteeism and children often use oral corticosteroids to deal with the disease. However, despite conventional therapy, severe asthma remains uncontrolled in more than 50% of children with this condition.

Xolair is a humanized monoclonal antibody aimed at treating the underlying mechanism of allergic asthma. The product works by blocking the action of immunoglobulin E (IgE). This helps in preventing the onset of debilitating symptoms, such as shortness of breath and wheezing, in severely affected patients.

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