March 17 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories in
the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories
and does not vouch for their accuracy.
- William Ackman's Pershing Square (NYSE:SQ) Capital Management LP is
selling down his biggest investment as a disastrous bet on
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (NYSE:VRX) VRX.TO tears a hole
in its portfolio. The activist investor said his hedge fund sold
20 million shares in Mondelez International Inc MDLZ.O after
the market closed, which would yield $834 million at current
prices.
- Republicans on Wednesday didn't budge in their refusal to
consider Judge Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama's choice
for the Supreme Court, before this fall's elections. Following
this, the GOP's strategy could shift dramatically.
- It is just the start of the U.S. mosquito season, but
companies that make bug repellent are already running factories
near capacity as they anticipate surging demand in response to
the spread of the Zika virus.
- Peabody Energy Corp BTU.N warned Wednesday that it could
go bankrupt, signaling the end of an era for listed U.S.
corporate coal companies, even as their mines continue to fuel a
big chunk of the country's power stations.
- A sales consultant who said he paid bribes on behalf of
aircraft maker Embraer SA EMBR3.SA told Brazilian prosecutors
that he believes the company's top managers, including Chief
Executive Frederico Curado, knew of the illicit payments, which
were tied to the sale of military aircraft to the Dominican
Republic.
- Novartis AG NOVN.S has faced a problem in getting
doctors to prescribe its heart-failure pill, Entresto, since
winning regulatory approval for it in July. The drug had $21
million in sales in the six months following its launch, a
fraction of the $126 million expected by industry analysts.