Newswise offices will be closed on Thursday, November 25th for the US Thanksgiving Holiday. All wires scheduled for the 25th will be distributed on Friday, November 26th.

Prof Forecasts Merry Christmas (Shopping) Season for All
Everything is in place for a merry Christmas shopping season for store and Internet retailers, shoppers and gift recipients, says a Purdue University retailing expert. Only a major jolt to the world economy could spoil the favorable retail environment.
—Purdue University

Expertise, Perspective on Sears/Kmart Merger
ISU experts can provide perspective on the Nov. 17 announcement that Kmart Holdings Corp., Troy, Mich., is buying Sears, Roebuck & Co., Hoffman Estates, Ill., for $11 billon. The merger will create the third-largest retailer. The merger offers both challenges and opportunities.
—Iowa State University

How Takeover Bids Change Stock Prices of Firms
While stock prices of firms almost always go up immediately after an announcement of a takeover bid by another company, a new study shows that there’s a lot of variation in just how far the stock prices may change.
J. of Corporate Finance
—Ohio State University

Diabetes Among Older Americans Cost $133.5 Billion in 1990s
Diabetes is harming the nation's economy as well as its health, according to a University of Michigan study showing that lost productivity among diabetic Americans born between 1931 and 1941 cost the country nearly $133.5 billion by the year 2000.
Health Services Research, Dec-2004
—University of Michigan

Holiday Shopping Experts: Vanderbilt University
Research estimates are that consumers using the Internet for shopping will spend a record $21 billion online for gifts during the 2004 holiday season. Professor of Management Donna Hoffman notes that the success of online retailing has been helped by multichannel retailers who promote all of the different avenues through which they sell.
—Vanderbilt University

IFT Compress World Largest Scientific Food Expo
In keeping with the evolving corporate demands to do more with less, the Institute of Food Technologists is responding to the business climate experienced by exhibiting companies at the IFT FOOD EXPO(r) and enhancing its popular show by compressing the three-and-a-half day exhibition to three days only.
IFT Food Expo
—Institute of Food Technologists (IFT)

Another Record Year For L’Oréal’s E-Strat Challenge
The launch of play for the fifth edition of the L'Oreal e-Strat Challenge.
—L'Oreal