TOP STORIES 
 
ECONOMIC GROWTH, CORPORATE PROFITS SLOWED AS 2014 ENDED 

Profits at U.S. corporations in late 2014 posted their largest drop in four years, a reflection of an economy weighed down by a strong dollar and weak global demand.

 
DOW CHEMICAL TO SPLIT OFF CHLORINE BUSINESS 
 

Dow Chemical said it will split off a significant portion of its chlorine business and merge it with Olin in a deal valued at $5 billion. Shares of Dow rose 4%; Olin up 20%.

 
U.S. STOCKS SET FOR WEEKLY LOSSES 
 

U.S. stocks wavered between slight gains and losses, struggling to find direction following four consecutive sessions of losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up about 40 points in recent trading.

 
GERMANWINGS CO-PILOT HAD HOSPITAL CHECK-UP 
 

German co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, who appeared to have deliberately crashed Germanwings Flight 9525, had been for medical check-ups at the University Hospital in Duesseldorf, but had not been treated for depression at the clinic.

 
CITADEL SECURITIES TO SHUT DOWN APOGEE DARK POOL IN U.S. 
 

Citadel Securities is said to be planning to shut down its Apogee "dark pool" in the U.S., as the U.S. market maker focuses on its faster-growing off-exchange trading platform aimed at institutional investors.

 
BLACKBERRY SWINGS TO A PROFIT 
 

BlackBerry posted a surprise 4Q profit but revenue fell short of views, a sign cost-cutting is paying off but that it has yet to see full benefit of sales of new security software and smartphones. Revenue was $660 million; analysts expected $786 million. Shares up 3%.

 
DAIMLER'S MERCEDES-BENZ DEVELOPING A PICKUP 
 

Mercedes-Benz Vans, the light truck division of automotive group Daimler, is in talks with Nissan Motor about joint development and production of a planned midsize pickup truck that Mercedes wants to launch by the end of the decade.

 
TWO EX-CREDIT SUISSE BANKERS AVOID JAIL TIME IN TAX-EVASION CASE 
 

Two former Credit Suisse bankers who pleaded guilty to helping wealthy American evade taxes received no jail time after cooperating in the U.S. case against the Swiss bank but will have to pay a small fine.

 
REPUBLICAN-CONTROLLED SENATE CLEARS BUDGET PLAN 
 

The Senate passed a Republican budget for fiscal year 2016 early this morning after a grueling, round-the-clock marathon of amendment votes.

 
ISRAEL TO RELEASE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY TAX MONEY 
 

Israel said it will release hundreds of millions of dollars in Palestinian tax funds that it had frozen at the beginning of the year in protest over the Palestinian leadership's decision to join the International Criminal Court.

 
PETROBRAS NOMINATES VALE CEO AS CHAIRMAN 
 

Brazilian state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro said it has nominated the chief executive of mining giant Vale, Murilo Ferreira, as its next board chairman, as the company scrambles to deal with fallout from a vast corruption scandal.

 
 
 
 
  ======= DOW JONES NEWSWIRES ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARIES ======= 
 
 
Politics 
HARRY REID WON'T RUN FOR RE-ELECTION 
 

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid won't run for re-election in 2016, ending a storied career in the Senate after three decades and opening up the competition to replace him as the chamber's top Democrat.

 
The Wall Street Journal 
CHINA'S BIG BANKS DOUBLE THEIR WRITE-OFFS 
 

China's major banks last year wrote or spun off more than twice what they did in 2013 to keep the fallout from a slowdown in China's economy from lingering on their balance sheets.