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U.S. Economy: Output Gain Points to More Investment (Update1) Industrial production unexpectedly rose in February, due in part to gains in demand for computers and semiconductors that signal the pickup in U.S. business investment is being sustained.

Boston Scientific Plunges After Halt of All Defibrillator Sales Boston Scientific Corp. discovered a documentation error in its regulatory filings “in the last few days” that led the company to halt sales of its cardiac defibrillators, a company spokesman said. Shares fell the most in more than 17 months in New York trading.

Homebuilder Confidence Index in U.S. Declined to 15 in March Confidence among U.S. homebuilders unexpectedly declined in March, a sign the housing recovery is having trouble gaining momentum.

Buy Real Put Options to Hedge Elections, BofA Says (Update1) Bank of America Corp. recommended clients buy real put options to hedge against the risk that Brazil’s presidential election in October will spark a “short- lived” slump in the currency.

Citigroup Helps Finance 20,000 NYC Housing Units (Update1) Citigroup Inc. will provide $576 million in loans and cash to help New York City build or renovate more than 20,000 low-income housing units during the next four years, its chief of community development banking said.

Ex-Investment Banker Charged With Insider Trading (Update3) Christian Littlewood, a former banker at Shore Capital Group Plc and Commerzbank AG’s Dresdner Kleinwort, and his wife were charged with insider trading by the U.K. financial regulator.

Money Rates Rising Hint Treasury Losses Amid Fed Exit (Update3) Money market interest rates at five-month highs show the Federal Reserve is laying the groundwork to siphon a record $1 trillion in excess cash from the banking system and sending a bearish signal on Treasuries.

Phillips-Van Heusen to Buy Hilfiger for $3 Billion (Update3) Phillips-Van Heusen Corp. agreed to buy clothing maker Tommy Hilfiger BV from private-equity firm Apax Partners LP for 2.2 billion euros ($3 billion), adding the brand to its Calvin Klein and Izod lines. Phillips-Van Heusen shares jumped in New York trading.

Baidu Advances on Speculation Google Will Soon Leave China Baidu Inc., operator of China’s biggest Internet search engine, rose the most in two months in U.S. trading on speculation that rival Google Inc. will shut down its Web site and exit the country.

MetLife CFO Wheeler Says Alico Earnings to Climb (Update1) MetLife Inc., the biggest U.S. life insurer, said it will invest in advertising and technology to expand operating income beyond the 2009 total of $1.5 billion at the unit it is buying from American International Group Inc.

U.S. Stocks Fall on Concerns Over Banking Rules, China Economy U.S. stocks fell for a second day amid growing concern lawmakers will limit trading at banks and speculation that China will restrict economic growth to curb inflation.

Commercial Mortgage Debt Rallies as TALF Ending: Credit Markets Commercial mortgage-backed bond returns are accelerating as the Federal Reserve ends support for the $700 billion market, showing growing confidence that loan defaults won’t derail the economic recovery.

Al-Suwaidi Says Dubai Not Likely to Need More Aid (Update3) United Arab Emirates Central Bank Governor Sultan bin Nasser al-Suwaidi said Dubai isn’t likely to need more central bank aid as one of its companies restructures $26 billion in debt.

Target-Date Funds Outperform Peers, Morningstar Says (Update1) Target-date funds did better than other mutual funds in retirement plans and continue to attract investments, Morningstar, the Chicago-based equity-market researcher, said today.

Continental Ends Airline Era as Free Coach Meals Cut (Update1) Continental Airlines Inc., the last U.S. carrier serving free meals in the coach cabin, will start charging for food for economy-class passengers on most domestic and Canadian flights as well as certain Latin American routes.

Deutsche Bank’s Lee Zhang Said to Hold Talks About Joining ICBC One of Deutsche Bank AG’s top executives in Asia is in discussions about joining Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world’s largest lender by market value, said people with knowledge of the matter.

Stock-Fund Managers Don’t Look So Bad After Rally: Chart of Day Managers of U.S. equity mutual funds have less of an excuse these days for failing to beat benchmark indexes, judging by a Standard & Poor’s study.

Lawmakers Urge Geithner to Cite China on Currency (Update1) U.S. lawmakers urged Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner to say China manipulates its currency, writing that an undervalued yuan hurts American manufacturers and provides a subsidy to Chinese competitors.

Goldman Sachs Demands Collateral It Won’t Dish Out (Update1) Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., two of the biggest traders of over-the- counter derivatives, are exploiting their growing clout in that market to secure cheap funding in addition to billions in revenue from the business.

Nigeria Oil City Hit by Explosion After Rebel Warning (Update1) Rebels in Nigeria set off two car bombs in the southern city of Warri and threatened to step up attacks against oil companies operating in the region.

BA, Unite Approached Over Talks as Brown Urges Accord (Update1) British Airways Plc and the Unite cabin-crew union were asked by mediators to return to negotiations as Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged the sides to resolve a dispute he said threatens national interests.

Facebook May Make Africa, Middle East Mobile Deals (Update1) Facebook Inc. may make deals with mobile-phone operators in Africa and the Middle East as it looks to sign up new users for the world’s largest social-networking site.

Minerva Jumps Most in 7 Months on Buyout Speculation (Update1) Minerva SA, a Brazilian meat producer, rose the most in seven months after a report that bigger competitor Marfrig Alimentos SA may pay as much as 1 billion reais ($566 million) to buy the company.

Credit Suisse Hires From Deutsche Bank, RBS in Russia (Update1) Credit Suisse Group AG, co-manager of Russia’s first international bond sale in more than a decade, hired five fixed-income specialists in Moscow from global rivals as competition for local talent intensifies.

Chilean Peso Gains on Pinera Plan to Use Copper Savings Fund Chile’s peso rose the most in a week after President Sebastian Pinera said he plans to tap the nation’s overseas savings and borrow in international debt markets to pay for reconstruction from last month’s earthquake.

Stocks, Commodities Drop on China Economy Concern; Dollar Gains Stocks retreated, led by emerging markets, and commodities declined on concern that China and India will seek to restrict economic growth to curb inflation. The pound and the euro weakened against the dollar.

Consol to Buy Dominion Marcellus Fields for $3.48 Bln (Update3) Consol Energy Inc., a coal and natural gas producer, agreed to buy Dominion Resources Inc.’s natural gas and oil exploration and production business for $3.48 billion to expand its Marcellus Shale holdings.

Siemens Said to Pull Hearing-Aid Disposal on Low Bids (Update1) Siemens AG shelved a possible sale of its hearing-aid unit after bids fell short of the 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion) that Europe’s largest engineering company had sought, two people familiar with the plan said.

Baidu Rallies on Speculation Google With Pull Out of China Baidu Inc. shares rallied to a record amid speculation that Google Inc. will withdraw from China.

Gibney’s ‘Al-Qaeda’ Documentary to Premiere at Tribeca Festival In comedies and tragedies, Islam and the Middle East will play a prominent role at next month’s Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

Chile May Face More Blackouts After 80% Lose Power (Update2) Chileans braced for more blackouts after an outage yesterday left 80 percent of the population without power and much of Santiago in darkness for more than two hours, the result of grid damage from last month’s earthquake.

Amylin, Alkermes Gain as FDA Doesn’t Need More Byetta Data Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Alkermes Inc. rose in Nasdaq trading after U.S. regulators said they didn’t need more studies to decide whether to approve a once-weekly version of the diabetes drug Byetta.

MannKind’s Insulin Afrezza Fails to Win Approval (Update2) MannKind Corp., the biotechnology company run by billionaire inventor Alfred Mann, failed to win approval from U.S. regulators to market its inhaled insulin drug, Afrezza, for people with diabetes.

Saakashvili ‘Staged’ TV Report of Russian Invasion (Update2) Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili “staged” a fictitious television news report about a Russian invasion that sparked panic in the Black Sea country, former Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli said.

Murdoch Spreads Risk, Nets $400 Million From ‘Avatar’ (Update1) News Corp. will earn $350 million to $400 million from James Cameron’s “Avatar” once the world’s top-grossing film is also released on pay television and DVD, said two people with knowledge of its financial performance.

Tiger Woods’ Promoter Joins Ambani to Wean India Off Cricket IMG Worldwide Inc., the sports- management agency that represents Tiger Woods and Maria Sharapova, is teaming with Asia’s richest man to promote basketball and soccer in cricket-obsessed India.

OSI CEO Goddard Rejects Astellas on Tarceva $7 Billion Promise OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. Chief Executive Officer Colin Goddard said Astellas Pharma Inc.’s $3.5 billion hostile takeover bid doesn’t reflect peak annual revenue of $7 billion from the cancer pill Tarceva.

Nicole Farhi Buyer OpenGate Set to Announce Three More Deals OpenGate Capital, the private equity firm buying the Nicole Farhi fashion label, expects to announce three more acquisitions over the next month or so, said managing partner Andrew Nikou.

Global Demand for U.S. Assets Slowed in January (Update1) International demand for long-term U.S. financial assets weakened in January as China and Japan, the two biggest holders of Treasuries, reduced their positions.

U.S. Stocks Trim Early Losses as Wal-Mart, PepsiCo Advance U.S. stocks trimmed early losses as consumer-staples shares rallied after analysts advised buying shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and PepsiCo Inc.’s board agreed on a dividend increase and buyback plan.