Pfizer Inc. to halt Celebrex advertising

The maker of best-selling arthritis pain reliever Celebrex has immediate plans to stop advertising the drug, after a study showed high doses of Celebrex were associated with an increased heart attack risk.

New York-based Pfizer Inc. spent more than $70 million advertising Celebrex to U.S. consumers in the first nine months of this year.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which said Friday it was considering warning labels for Celebrex or withdrawing the drug from the U.S. market, agreed with Pfizer’s decision to halt advertising.

Mutual funds

Edward Jones faces suit, despite deal

California filed a lawsuit Monday accusing the brokerage house Edward D. Jones & Co. of accepting $300 million in improper payments to push its clients toward certain mutual funds.

The announcement came the same day Edward Jones agreed to a $75 million settlement with federal prosecutors in Missouri over allegations related to the company’s mutual fund sales practices.

California’s lawsuit claims St. Louis-based Edward Jones instituted a policy in 2000 in which brokers would receive commissions, contest points and vacations as incentives for selling certain funds. The mutual fund companies, in return, paid the firm for preferential treatment. Such fees are legal, but the arrangements must be properly disclosed.

Energy

Williams Cos. backs out of pipeline pact

Natural gas producer Williams Cos. said Monday one of its units agreed to stop developing a $209 million gas pipeline with British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority.

The project, handled by Williams Gas Pipeline, had been on hold since September 2003 as Canadian regulators determined the energy needs of Vancouver Island.

Under the agreement, British Columbia Hydro and Power will assume the $34 million in development costs.

Shares of Williams Cos. rose 12 cents to $16.37 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Economy

Indicators reverse five-month decline

A gauge of future economic activity that had declined for five straight months reversed course in November, signaling that the nation’s financial engine continues to gain power even as the growth rate has slowed.

The Conference Board, a private research group, said Monday that its Index of Leading Economic Indicators rose 0.2 percent in November — slightly better than economists had been expecting — following revised declines of 0.4 percent in October and 0.2 percent in September.

The indicator, which is intended to predict economic activity during the next three to six months, now stands at 115.2 versus its all-time high of 116.5 in May.