Economists and businessmen agree with the French economist Thomas Piketty, that inequality today is close to that of the era of Robber Barons.

Festivities for the 25th anniversary of “Die Wallfall”, the fall of the Berlin Wall between the old Communist East Germany and the rest of the world were rather subdued because the now free German railroad workers went on strike. Strikes were illegal in the old German “Workers' Paradise”.

AstraZeneca and Pharmacyclics will collaborate on a non-exclusive basis and multiple studies may be considered and conducted. The studies will be led by AstraZeneca.

Stryker Corporation posted nearly 10.6% rise in adjusted earnings per share to $1.15 in the third quarter of 2014 from $1.04 in the prior-year quarter and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny.

The upheaval in France brings to the fore an economic debate taking place in many countries: whether to launch deficit spending to exit the wake of the global financial crisis, or whether to stick with budget-balancing austerity.

Insider buying dropped a little last week with insiders buying $32.38 million of stock compared to $33.73 million in the week prior. Selling increased with insiders selling $897.75 million of stock last week compared to $812.44 million in the week prior.