Berkshire Hathaway To Buy BNSF

1 Legendary investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire (NYSE:BRK-A - News) will pay $44 bil including debt, or $100 a share, for the 77% of No. 2 U.S. railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE:BNI - News) that it doesn't already own. Buffett called it an "all-in" bet on the U.S. economy. Analysts added it's a bet on the global economy and coal. Berkshire's A and B shares rose nearly 2%. Burlington jumped 27.5% to 97.

Stocks Mixed In Lower Volume

2 The major averages retreated for much of Tue. before a late rally pushed all but the Dow into the black. The Nasdaq and the NYSE composite rose 0.4%, the S&P 500 0.2%. The Dow slid 0.2%. Volume was light ahead of the Fed's policy statement Wed. Berkshire Hathaway's Burlington Northern buy and other M&A deals helped. Oil and gold prices rose.

J&J Will Slash 7,000-8,000 Jobs

3 The health care products giant will ax up to 7% of its staff as its aims to save $1.4 bil to $1.7 bil by '11. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - News) sees flat profit in '09 and single-digit growth in '10, hurt by expiring patents. Nokia's (NYSE:NOK - News) mobile networking venture with Siemens (NYSE:SI - News) will ax nearly 6,000 jobs, or 7%-9% of staff. Banking giant HSBC (NYSE:HBC - News) will cut 1,700 U.K. jobs.

Will Fed Hint At Eventual Hikes?

4 With policymakers all but certain to keep rates at a record-low 0%-0.25% range at the end of their 2-day meeting Wed., the focus will be on any tweaks to the statement afterwards. With the economy still fragile, most analysts expect the Fed to stick to its script to keep rates "exceptionally" low for an "extended" period of time.

RBS, Lloyds Get More U.K. Aid

5 Britain's top retail banks got $50.5 bil more from the gov't and agreed to sell branches and key units to satisfy EU concerns over state aid. Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE:RBS - News) accepted drastic bonus caps. Lloyds also raised $22.1 bil from a record rights issue. Meantime, Swiss banking giant UBS (NYSE:UBS - News) suffered its 4th straight quarterly net loss. UBS shares fell 3%. RBS sank 5%.

GM: U.S. Sales Up, Keeping Opel

6 GM's Oct. sales rose 4.7%, the first annual gain in nearly 2 years, helped by easier comparisons. And in a surprise, GM won't sell its European unit, Opel. Ford's (NYSE:F - News) sales rose 3% helped by fuel-efficient models like the Ford Fusion. Toyota (NYSE:TM - News) edged up less than 1%. Hyundai's sales jumped 49%. Honda (NYSE:HMC - News) edged lower, weighed by a big drop in sales of its popular Civic. Chrysler's sales fell 30%.

Medco Health Profit Tops Views

7 The No. 1 U.S. pharmacy benefits manager's Q3 EPS rose 19% to 75 cents ex items, topping views by 3 cents. Revenue rose 18% to $14.79 bil, above views. Solid new client growth and price inflation helped. Medco Health Solutions' (NYSE:MHS - News) adjusted prescriptions rose 14% to 220.2 mil. Medco sees 2010 EPS outlook of $3.28-$3.38 vs. views of $3.28. Shares rose 3% to a new high.

MasterCard Warns On Q4 Costs

8 The No. 2 credit card network's Q3 EPS surged 41% to $3.48 ex items, crushing views by 54 cents. Revenue grew 2% to $1.36 bil, above views. Continued cost cuts and an 8% gain in transactions processed helped. MasterCard (NYSE:MA - News) warned marketing expenses will jump 20% in Q4, adding that rebates and incentives also will rise. Shares fell 2%.

Factory Orders Beat Sept. Views

9 The 0.9% rise -- the 5th gain in 6 months -- was led by a 7.9% spike in machinery orders. Demand for core capital goods, a gauge of business investment plans, also rose. Yet factory orders were still 17.1% below a year earlier. Inventories fell for a 13th straight month. Economists expect restocking to help boost output soon.

House GOP Crafts Health Plan

10 The draft obtained by AP would promote health savings accounts, cap medical malpractice awards and let people and firms buy insurance across state lines. Unlike House Dems' $1.2 tril proposal, it doesn't include an employer or individual insurance mandate, force insurers to offer coverage to people regardless of their health, or include big tax hikes. Dems dismissed the GOP ideas.